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An Ode to America's Longest-Serving Black Congressman
by John Conyers III
In this moving work, part clear-eyed assessment, part memoir, the son of iconic African American Congressman John Conyers Jr. shines a spotlight on his father and his political legacy, and reveals how, as his son, he eventually learned to leverage his own voice in a world that his father helped create.
A respectful, thoughtful, yet clear-eyed reframing of a national hero's personal and political odyssey, My Father's House is John Conyers III's love letter to his father and a record of his own journey. Conyers reveals a towering figure in modern American political history and an ordinary family man; a leader whose work in Washington necessitated his many absences as a father from a son coming of age in Detroit.
John Conyers III introduces us to John James Conyers, Jr. the legislator, who changed lives and made history, and of his equity-focused work that remains to be done. We meet Conyers the politician and mentor who worked with and counselled a network of powerbrokers—often from the family home on Seven Mile Road in the Motor City—including President Bill Clinton, Congressmen Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Charlie Rangel, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, feminist Gloria Steinem, entertainer-activists Harry Belafonte, Berry Gordy, Stevie Wonder, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Chris Tucker, Vivica Fox, and a slew of other players in Washington, DC, and across the nation.
A resonant political, historical, and family story, My Father's House explores how John James Conyers, Jr., was at once a man of deep and abiding spiritual faith, human talents, and human weaknesses. As he places his father among this land's greatest lawmakers, he also demystifies and grounds the Civil Rights giants of that era, reminding us of their noble yet deeply flawed humanity. This exploration of John James Conyers, Jr., told through John Conyers III's eyes and experiences, is essential to a thorough understanding of modern U.S. politics and the cultures and human lives it continues to shape.
"Urgent and packed with historical resonance, My Father's House is a memoir that will stand the test of time." —Bakari Sellers, New York Times bestselling author of My Vanishing Country and The Moment
"It's not an easy assignment to capture a legacy of this magnitude, but John Conyers III brilliantly contextualizes his father's enormous, historical imprint with humanity and vulnerability. It is not so much a memoir as it is a love letter that allows us an intimate look into a cherished and tender relationship between father and son, and between a dedicated public servant and his city." —Jemele Hill, Author and contributing writer for The Atlantic
This information about My Father's House was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
John Conyers III is an accomplished entrepreneur and dedicated political organizer deeply rooted in the Detroit community. He's a proud graduate of Detroit Renaissance High School and pursued studies in Philosophy at Morehouse College and The New School. John is committed to revitalizing Detroit's economy through Jobs, Justice, and Peace. He's also an avid basketball enthusiast, mentoring youth in valuable life skills. Additionally, as the son of former Congressman John Conyers, Jr., and former City Council President Monica Conyers, John brings a unique perspective to community service and humanitarian causes given his family's generational civil accomplishments.
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