As a boy in Brooklyns Red Hook projects James Mc Bride knew his mother was different. But when he asked about it shed simply say Im light-skinned. Later he wondered if he was different too & asked his mother if he was black or white. Youre a human being she snapped. Educate yourself or youll be a nobody! & when James asked what colour God was she said God is the colour of water. As an adult Mc Bride finally persuaded his mother to tell her story
- the story of a rabbis daughter born in Poland & raised in the South who fled to Harlem married a black man founded a Baptist church & put twelve children through college.