James D. Richardson is a former senior writer with The Sacramento Bee and a retired Episcopal priest. He is the author of "The Abolitionist's Journal: Memories of an American Antislavery Family" and "Willie Brown: A Biography." His articles have appeared in numerous publications including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee and CalMatters. He was recently the keynote speaker at the Fall convocation at Huston-Tillotson University, the historically Black college founded by his ancestors in Austin, Texas. He and his wife, Lori, live in Sacramento, Calif.
The Abolitionist's Journal: Memories of an American Antislavery Family:
The tragic truth is that white Americans have never fully faced the barbarity of slavery, or its aftermath, and how powerful Southern planters fought a vicious civil war to preserve it. The legacy of slavery—the walls of a caste system based on skin color—still permeates American life. Yet there is another legacy as well: Those who fought to end slavery and dismantle the structures wrought by racism throughout our nation's history. Author James D. Richardson’s book explores the stories of his nineteenth-century abolitionist ancestors, asking hard questions about his own upbringing and racial justice issues in our own time.
Awards: Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellow
Communities: Person with a Disability
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