Dr. Bettye Kearse and Eduardo Montes-Bradley will join OLLI at UVA in November to present. The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President's Black Family, the book (Kearse) and documentary film (Montes-Bradley). Kearse and Montes-Bradley met at Montpelier. Kearse will introduce and discuss her book, and Montes-Bradley his film, and both will participate in a Q and A with attendees following the screening.
This program is a member benefit, provided free to all OLLI members. In addition, and while space is available, OLLI members can invite/register a plus-1 to attend and learn more about The Other Madisons, and other programs that come with OLLI membership.
About the book:
Winner of the 2020 International Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society Book Award for Non-Fiction Autobiography and Outstanding Book Award from The National Association of Black Journalists, The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President's Black Family took some thirty years of research, writing, and rewriting. It is both a personal family history and an homage to millions of silenced, invisible African Americans. This memoir is an intimate work of narrative nonfiction that discovers, discloses, and embraces a more inclusive and complete American story.
For thousands of years, West African griots (men) and griottes (women) have served as human links between past and present by speaking the ever-expanding stories of their ancestors and history of their people. Without generations of American griots and griottes who stayed true to this West African tradition, Kearse’s family would not know about their ancestor who was stolen from Africa or that they are descended from President James Madison and one of his slaves. They would not know how their family saying, “Always remember—you’re a Madison. You come from African slaves and a president,” began during slavery, nor how it evolved with the changing times.
In recounting the struggles, perseverance, and contributions of eight generations of her family, Kearse’s The Other Madisons illustrates that enslaved Africans possessed hope and inner strength by which they survived, and talents by which they contributed mightily to America. They passed these same qualities on to their descendants.It is Kearse’s dream that The Other Madisons will inspire those descendants to nurture and use their own inner strengths and talents not only to fulfill their hopes but to make contributions to our country and the world.
