At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White

In her first book, The Presidency in Black and White, journalist April Ryan examined race in America through her experience as a White House reporter. In this book, she shifts the conversation from the White House to every home in America. At Mama's Knee looks at race and race relations through the lessons that mothers transmit to their children. As a single African American mother in Baltimore, Ryan has struggled with each gut-wrenching, race-related news story to find the words to convey the right lessons to her daughters. To better understand how mothers transfer to their children wisdom on race and race relations, she reached out to other mothers--prominent political leaders like Hillary Clinton and Valerie Jarrett, celebrities like Cindy Williams, and others like Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, whose lives have been impacted by prominent race-related events. At a time when Americans still struggle to address racial division and prejudice, their stories remind us that attitudes change from one generation to the next and one child at a time.

About the Author :
April Ryan, a thirty-year journalism veteran, has been the White House correspondent for twenty years for American Urban Radio Networks (AURN), covering three U.S. presidents who have called on her by name. She is also the Washington Bureau Chief. Along with her responsibilities at the White House, April hosts the daily feature, "The White House Report," which is broadcast to AURN's nearly 300 affiliated stations nationwide. She is regularly featured on political news shows and is a frequent speaker around the country. Her first book, The Presidency in Black and White, was published in 2015. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the proud mother of two girls. Chris Matthews is anchor of MSNBC's Hardball. He is the author of several books, including Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America, and Hardball: How Politics is Played By One Who Knows the Game, and others. Previously, Matthews spent 15 years at the San Francisco Examiner and two years at the San Francisco Chronicle. He received a degree from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Chris Matthews is anchor of MSNBC's Hardball. He is the author of several books, including Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America, and Hardball: How Politics is Played By One Who Knows the Game, and others. Previously, Matthews spent 15 years at the San Francisco Examiner and two years at the San Francisco Chronicle. He received a degree from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mia Ellis is a member of the Resident Acting Company at Trinity Repertory Company. Based in Providence and New York, she is also a teaching artist and writer. Some of her film and television credits include Elementary, Person of Interest, What Would You Do?, and Louder Than Words. Mia is a graduate of the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Acting Program.

Review :
Ryan's emotionally-rich exploration of the influences race, identity and family have on our life experiences reminds us just how powerful an imprint mothers make on us all.-- "Vanessa De Luca, Editor-in-Chief, Essence Magazine"