Publishing News and Health Update - The Slave in My Mirror: A Memoir

Kickstarter Progress, Unexpected Complications

While it is so exciting to announce that Bryant’s memoir, decades in the making, is in the final stages of editing and layout for publication, boosted by a Kickstarter campaign that has already reached and exceeded the base fundraising goal just a few days after the quiet launch, we also have some difficult news to share.

As you will see in the video on the campaign page, Bryant has had some serious health complications, and due to rapid unexpected developments he has not been able to participate in this crucial phase of the publishing process. We, Bryant’s family, are continuing to oversee the project and are 100% committed to seeing the book through to publication and distribution.

This is a powerful book. It is fully written and in the final stages of editing. It follows Bryant’s life as a journalist, editor, activist, and speaker, with rich stories about his family history, the politics and events from the past, and people he’s worked closely with over the years - Arthur Ashe, James Baldwin, Cab Calloway, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, among others. All of these stories and experiences are important not only in terms of looking back and remembering history, but absolutely tie into the current racial and political landscape of the present day.

Bryant is so grateful for everyone’s generous support, and so thrilled that the project’s first goal was met so quickly. We are here to support Bryant, and we are heartbroken that he is not likely to see the project through to completion, but he has said many times that he is grateful that his story will be carried on and shared.

Again, the base goal to cover up-front editing and publishing costs has been met. You may preorder books through the Kickstarter page to be first in line when it is released. After the campaign is complete and books are in production, it will be available print-on-demand. Ebook versions may be released at the same time or a later date.

Bryant would like any additional funds raised to be used for sharing and distributing his story as widely as possible, and of course we are all grateful for the support of all of you, his friends, family, colleagues, clients, supporters who know how amazing a person Bryant is. Please share and help us spread his story with the world.

Below is copied from the campaign page, please click through the links to learn more.

With much love and gratitude,

Bryant’s Family

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Kickstarter - The Slave in my Mirror - Help to publish my memoir

Summary

I am a former reporter with The Boston Globe and editor with The New York Times now living in Jacksonville Florida. 

The Slave in my Mirror: A Memoir

“The Slave in my Mirror,” (300 pages) explores experiences integrating The Globe and The Times in the 60s and 70s, and activities during the Civil Rights Movement in Boston, my birthplace, in New York and in the Mississippi Delta. 

I plan to use the Kickstarter funds to self-publish my completed memoir. I have the support of my entire family to help me see this project through to publication and distribution to my supporters. 

Memorable experiences with well-known people include James Baldwin, Sen. Edward Brooke, Charlayne Hunter Gault, John Lewis, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Arthur Ashe and Abe Rosenthal.  Situations depict organizing in the Mississippi Delta and Boston, dealing with racism at The Globe and The Times and tensions as a complainant in Rosario v. The New York Times, the successful suit by minority Times journalists.

The core of the memoir is my identity as a Black man of 84 as I gaze retrospectively into my mirror which reflects expanding consciousness of psychological, cultural and spiritual meaning. My evolving comprehension extends from slavery and leads to commentaries on contemporary issues such as mass incarceration of Black women and men; internalized racism in Black culture; reassessments of the Civil Rights Movement; the significance of Black Lives Matter and other revelations.

My journey culminates in discovery of my ancestral Rollins Family, freed slaves in Florida, who were successful during Reconstruction, occupy the same property today and worked on land in Jacksonville where I unknowingly worked starting in 1998. This and other synchronistic discoveries are healing and redemptive, elevating my perception of myself, ennobling my slave heritage and illuminating the racial challenges we face today.

Bryant, Shirley Stetson (his wife) and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu

Bryant is in the sunglasses at a 1967 SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) meeting

Kickstarter - The Slave in my Mirror - Help to publish my memoir