John Blake was a "closeted biracial person" until he met his white mother

<p>I don't know if I've ever read a book quite like John Blake's "More than I Imagine."</p><p>The subtitle is: "What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew"</p><p>John is a senior writer at CNN. In this conversation, John and I talk about:</p><ul><li>his very difficult childhood growing up in West Baltimore in the 60's and 70's</li><li>how he grew up disliking white people even though his mother was white, in part because he was told after his mom disappeared that her family disliked black people</li><li>how meeting his mother at age 17 for the first time began to broaden his understanding of racial difference</li><li>his view that facts don't change people, relationships do</li><li>the point that an emphasis on relationships does not mean policy changes aren't necessary, or that everything can be fixed through relationships or interpersonal kindness</li><li>his wild ghost story</li><li>his roller coaster faith journey, and how interracial churches were the demonstration of faith's reality he needed to believe in Christianity</li><li>how there was a "golden age" of racial integration in America's schools from the early 70's to the late 80's, but how America believed a lie that it wasn't working and how we have now resegregated to 1968 levels, much of that due to our own choices</li><li>how he believes racial integration is crucial to how our country grows stronger, and how our pulling apart and into racial segregation is causing many of our problems</li></ul><p><br></p><p>This book is a great, great read. John is a great writer, and his story is incredibly personal and well told. It's riveting.</p><p>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.</p>