Description
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword: Former Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick Reminisces vii
Preface: A Grandson Learns His Duty xi
Introduction: An Ancestor Speaks from Beyond 1
1 The Lasting Anger of an Abandoned Son 10
2 Irene: Baker Forever, but Never a Boss 32
3 Searching for a Band of Brothers 44
4 A “Coloured” West Indian in the Realm of the Irish and the Jews 65
5 The American Tennis Association as a Brotherhood/Sisterhood 83
6 Climbing the Ladder to Elective Office 91
7 On a Mission in the 1950s: Desegregation of Housing 97
8 Master of Black Compromise 108
9 The 1960s, Political Reform, and Personal Tragedy 126
10 Irene, in the End, Became His Connection to Home and Mother 149
11 Author Commentary. Downtown Brooklyn: Soul of the Boss, Soul of a People 155
12 Author Commentary. My Other Grandfather, a Priest and Writer I Hardly Knew 159
Conclusion: Century of Promise, Century of Hope 172
Acknowledgments 183
Notes 187
Bibliography 199
Index 207
Photographs follow page 96
