If you are in the Bay Area, I hope you will come. I'm organizing this.
The San Leandro Community Action Network & Zocalo Coffee House invite you to
A RECEPTION & BOOK SIGNING
in honor of
BRIAN COPELAND
and his new book
Not a Genuine Black Man:
Or, How I Claimed My Piece of Ground in the LilyWhite Suburbs
The reception will take place on
Thursday, August 17th 7 PM at
Zocalo Coffeehouse, 645 Bancroft Ave. San Leandro
Copies available for purchase at the event.
" Based on the longestrunning oneman show in San Francisco history now coming to OffBroadway a hilarious, poignant, and disarming memoir of growing up black in an allwhite suburb
In 1972, when Brian Copeland was eight, his family moved from Oakland to San Leandro, California, hoping for a better life. At the time, San Leandro was 99.4 percent white, known nationwide as a racist enclave. This reputation was confirmed almost immediately: Brian got his first look at the inside of a cop car, for being a black kid walking to the park with a baseball bat.
Brian grew up to be a successful comedian and radio talk show host, but racism reemerged as an issue only in reverse when he received an anonymous letter: “As an African American, I am disgusted every time I hear your voice because YOU are not a genuine Black man!” That letter inspired Copeland to revisit his difficult childhood, resulting in a hit oneman show that has been running for nearly two years which has now inspired a book. In this funny, surprising, and ultimately moving memoir, Copeland shows exactly how our surroundings make us who we are."
Reviews
“A beautiful mix of wry humor and heartbreak, indignation and inspiration, a singular story of extreme isolation that speaks to anyone who’s ever felt out of place.”
San Francisco Chronicle"