Report on Book Signing at Kentucky Center for African American Heritage in Louisville

Thanks to each of you who prayed and sent words of encouragement about the book signing in Louisville. The event was made more special by a change in family plans that allowed Miss Harriet to go with me, along with our 7-year-old daughter.

Having relished the hospitality of Dennis and Juanita White in their auspicious home on Friday night, we followed the turn by turn driving directions of our Garmin GPS unit to the residence of Stanley and Rose Cooper for an unforgettable fufu feast on Saturday afternoon.

Then it was on to the main event, guided by our Garmin GPS unit, that gave us turn by turn directions to 1701 Muhammad Ali Blvd to the attractive, evolving facility that is the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. Thanks to a rainy Saturday, attendees trickled into to the hall at first, but before long a good crowd had gathered. Miss Harriet reminded me to get the guestbook out to record people's names, phone numbers and email addresses.

By then the books were out, spread out on the front table, draped with black cloth, Miss Harriet seated in one of two chairs behind the long table. Favor hung out somewhere in the crowd, meeting and making new friends, seemingly the only one not that interested in the main event. Juanita White stationed herself behind the refreshment table, as Martina N. Kunnecke, the center's Director of Exhibits and Collections, introduced the event and me.

Starting out I did a scan of the historic, unique founding of Liberia as Africa's first republic, established to resettle former African slaves. I pointed out lingering elements of inequity that would later set the stage for Liberia's blood military coupe d'etat of April 1980 and the 14-year brutal civil war that was ignited nine years later. I highlighted our flight from war, along with the some of the strains and sub-themes of refugee life. Finally, I related how my war diary/journal turned into a book … how Bruce Horst, the owner of the articles website WryteStuff.com, connected me to Jean Purcell of Opine Publishing.

The audience listened intensely to every word of my extemporaneous, relaxed talk, which seemed rather too informal at times. But I wouldn't have it any other way. The floor opened for Q&A, one of my favorite parts of a book signing event. Questions ranged from the personal and specifics of war survival to philosophical issues like belief in God in the face of pain and suffering.

For me the most thought-intensive question was one about African tribalism, which seems to underlie most conflicts on the world's second largest continent. How can Africans overcome divisive, and often deadly, tribalism? As shown in the book, tribalism quickly emerged as the leading fuel that inflamed the Liberian civil war. Not only that, but since the war, the curse of tribalism appears to still be a key factor in many aspects of Liberian life and politics, as demonstrated in Liberia's 2011 presidential elections. My brief response is that confronting the beast of tribalism is one of the goals of Mission Liberia, the outreach that Church For All has launched to play an active role in lifting post-war Liberians out of poverty. Refugee Was My Name has found a big-enough cause in Mission Liberia.

Finally came the best part of any book signing event: people standing in line, buying books, and having their books signed by the author. How thrilling it was to shake hands, share smiles, personalize chats, meet old friends, make new friends. Though we fell short of our target of selling 100 books, we did achieve the important goal of establishing  connections that we believe will yield much fruit in the future of this book. For example, a school teacher promised to have her class read the book. Another person, employed within a Catholic organization that works with immigrants, plans to share the book with her colleagues. Overwhelmingly, the Louisvillians were friendly, supportive, encouraging.

Then it dawned on me: I had completely forgotten to read from my book! The huge misstep sort of froze me for a while, knowing it was too late to correct the blunder. Why didn't anyone say something? How can it be a book signing without a reading by the author, especially when that was a centerpiece of how the event was promoted? 

Somehow I composed myself and took comfort in the self-promise, I will not ever repeat that blunder for the rest of the life of this book!

The last person to get a book autographed was Rita Phillips, the Operations Manager, of the KCAAH, who purchased a copy of the book for the Center's library. Then Rita informed us that Mrs. Michelle Obama, will be visiting the Center on February 23^rd . That's when Miss Harriet brought up the idea of how we can get an autographed copy of Refugee Was My Name into the hand of the First Lady.

We're looking into that...

Thanks again, Juanita White along with Dennis White for your organizing efforts, and for hosting us so generously. Thanks, Martina Kunnecke, for placing me on the KCAAH 2012 Black History calendar of events. And thanks, Rita Phillips, for welcoming me, Miss Harriet and our daughter to the Center, with open arms. Blessings to each and all.


Upcoming Book Signing Events:

• Zarephath Christian Center, Zarephath, New Jersey, on Saturday, February 11, at 7 PM. Traveling by plane on Friday, February 10.
• Owensboro Community College, on Thursday, February 16, at 11 AM and 6 PM

Thanks again, everyone, for your valued support and prayers.