One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life - Book Review

Just finished reading this interesting book by Bliss Broyard (2007). As I am also one of those who has always found my own family history interesting, Bliss's book "One Drop" was a joy to read. Although, as with any book of its size (514 pgs.), there was some edge-of-boredom when the author went from introducing her father to documenting New Orleans and the south's racial history. It seemed the book abruptly shifted from a family history toward an American history story. But I was able to adjust my perspective, stick with it through the many family introductions and gobble up the history Bliss uncovers. It was definitely educational on many levels.

I learned much about Creole and Louisiana culture of the past. And I was surprised to find included in this book the history of Creoles who'd migrated from the Santo Domingo/ Haitian revolution (1791-1804). Who knew that blacks/mulattos migrated to Louisiana during that violent time when Haiti fought for independence from Napolean's France. Actually, not surprising after thinking about it. The Louisiana Purchase came about partly from France's financial need for preparations of war with England. 

What "One Drop" does is give an honest telling of what it meant for this white woman descended from mixed race peoples (Creole) to discover and connect with the family her Passing for white creole father broke ties with in order to gain advantage in his career as a writer. The author was not told of her father's secret until after his death.

Not only does the author question why her father made the choices he made, but she also found herself questioning how she felt about her newly discovered mixed blood and relatives who identified as black. Her book is a good mixture of tracing one's roots, uncovering a father's secret, family relationships and race in America, past and present.

For those of us who find an interest in any or all of the themes appearing in "One Drop," this story of a daughter diving into the family secret and finding her place in a racially conscious America is exciting.

I must say I read this over a period of about a month and a half. It went with me on vacation. It is a big book to lug around but held my interest enough to adjust to its size and weight and begin just picking it up as I went out on excursions, driving or walking.

What I liked most about "One Drop" is the honest view the author gives of her father from those she met with after his death, including newly discovered family. And I suppose in learning about who her father was outside their immediate family shed light on parts of herself she was still discovering. After all, we all carry some traits of our parents' talents and faults. And I believe Anatole Broyard would be proud of his daughter Bliss Broyard reconnecting with the family he chose to push aside.

I have read of blacks who Passed, both in real life and in fiction (Passing by Nella Larsen), but never have I read it told by the child of one who Passed and wasn't let in on the secret until after the Passing parent's death. Many times, while reading "One Drop," a reader must try to imagine what it must have felt like for the father who was Passing, as well as the daughter discovering part of her identity and having feelings of acceptance or rejection from the creole family abandoned by her father. 

Also, I found it very interesting when the author came across other creole family members who'd chosen to either pass or not acknowledge their black heritage. It was pleasing to see the author embrace her black heritage without prejudice while at the same time remaining true to her white upbringing.

All in all, I enjoyed traveling with "One Drop." The author is a gifted writer with a clear voice.  I 

I find it hard to rate this book because it's not a fictional story or novel, but a true story well researched and told. It is a biographic of an American creole family and a daughter who was raised white before finding out about her mixed blood creole family, past and present. On this the book more than delivered for me. I connected with it and any wavering of interest was likely my own fault. I spent two weeks with the worst almost flu-like cold (no fever) while reading this book. And the one-week vacation saw me enjoying the place and company of friends more so than reading.

I hope to write a letter of thanks and appreciation to Bliss Broyard for sharing her family's story. And I must reward her for having the courage to take on a subject as taboo, and at one time illegal, as white/black comingling relationships.

The writing definitely gets 5 stars

The story, though drawn out, gets 4 stars

The research and references get 5 stars

The author connected all the parts and pieces in a very readable way. 

When Grits and God Redirected R&B Singer Al Green

Every now and then I check into my facebook account and find a gem of a story. I am old enough to remember the tragedy of Al Green and his girlfriend, with all its scandalous rumors and accusations. I wasn't old enough to recognize the grace, mercy and blessing of God's interruption in Al Green's life, Until now.

Historical Fragments

May 6 at 9:00 PM ·

On the night of October 18, 1974, Al Green was soaking in his bathtub at his Memphis home when his girlfriend Mary Woodson walked in and threw a pot of scalding grits across his body. Second-degree burns. His stomach. His arms. His back. She then took her own life with his gun.
He was thirty-three years old and the most hypnotic soul singer alive.
Between 1971 and 1974, Al Green had done something almost no artist manages — he made intimacy sound inevitable. Let's Stay Together hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. His falsetto didn't beg. It didn't chase. It simply arrived, and you believed every word. Twenty million people bought his records. Radio couldn't get enough.
And then he stopped.
Not because the voice was gone. Not because the hits dried up. He stopped because the man on the records and the man in the mirror had quietly become two different people — and he could feel the gap widening every time he performed.
In 1976, Al Green became an ordained Baptist minister and founded the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Memphis — a few miles down the road from Graceland. Record executives called it career suicide. Fans called it a waste. Green called it the only honest thing he had left to do. He believed he had been spared that October night for a reason, and he wasn't going to spend that reason on another world tour.
The cost was immediate and real. Sales collapsed. Radio moved on without him. For nearly a decade, he refused to perform his old love songs — treating them like a chapter he no longer had the right to revisit. He preached. He recorded gospel music that sold quietly and healed deeply. He built something that no chart position could measure.
Then, slowly — and entirely on his own terms — he came back. The voice was intact. Older. Steadier. No longer performing. Just present. In 2008, Lay It Down earned him two Grammy Awards. He now holds 8 Grammys total, has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
But those numbers aren't really the point.
The point is that Al Green was at the absolute peak of his fame when he chose to stop. Not because he lost the gift — but because the gift had been performing a version of him that wasn't true. Most artists, most people, keep going. The applause is too loud. The money is too good. The identity is too comfortable to let go of.
Al Green heard something louder than the crowd.
And the reason his music still sounds like the most honest thing in the room — is because the man singing it finally is..
Jonah: When God Loves You Enough To Interrupt You, Part 1
When God redirects your path, it is a form of divine protection, not rejection, steering you away from unseen dangers toward a better purpose. These moments often feel like closed doors, frustration, or unexpected detours, but they are opportunities to trust His, not your, ultimate plan. Embrace the shift by seeking peace, accepting the new direction, and trusting that His timing is precise, even when the path is unclear.

"The Tokyo Toe" is kicking In Raiders Camp

 

Kansei Matsuzawa - The Tokyo Toe - University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

The Raiders have had some great legs (punters & kickers) over the years. Ray Guy is the only punter in the Hall of Fame last I checked. But I swear, you just can't make this stuff up. Kansei Matsuzawa, aka "The Tokyo Toe," taught himself how to kick by watching Youtube videos. Now the record-tying University of Hawaii All-Star has a chance to make an NFL roster. Go kick some A$$ Toe, I'm rooting you make the team.

So, when and where can I get a Raiders Tokyo Toe T-shirt/jersey? Pronto!

The Autumn Wind is a Raider,

Pillaging just for fun.

He'll Kick you 'round and upside down,

And laugh when he's conquered and won.

Golden Tempo Wins Kentucky Derby 2026

 

Jockey Jose Ortiz, with "The Horse Whisperer" stenciled along his racing breeches legs, performed a stunning down the stretch come from behind charge to overtake twelve horses and win the Kentucky Derby. Amazing!

There is so much to unpack here. Jose, riding "Golden Tempo," at 23-1 closing odds, a longshot, was in last place as the pack entered the final turns. Jose's brother, Irad Ortiz Jr. was riding Renegade, the favorite in this race at 5-1 odds. 

It looked as if both brothers made outside charges around the same time with Irad pushing Renegade toward taking over the pack leaders. It would be another odds favorite winning another Kentucky Derby. But wait! Out of nowhere! Jose and Golden Tempo come barreling down from outside to overtake Irad and Renegade just seconds from the finish line. And it was Golden Tempo to finish by 3/4 length.

Results:

1. Golden Tempo (23-1)

2. Renegade (5-1)

3. Ocelli (70-1)

4. Chief Wallabee (7-1)

Just as stunning and celebratory is Golden Tempo's trainer Cherie DeVaux, who is the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby, with this being the 152nd race. Of the $3.1 million for the winner, 80% goes to the horse's owners. The trainer gets 10% and the jockey gets the remaining 10%. Way to go Cherie and Jose, well-earned and obviously well deserved.

But make no mistake, it's the four-legged one who fought the good fight, finished the race and merits the title, Derby Champion.

Golden Tempo  -  2026 Kentucky Derby Champion 

Is GOLDEN TEMPO the Best Closer? | Kentucky Derby Contender Profile 

Ortiz Wins 16 Races, Named Jockey of the Week - BloodHorse

Be Best Melania! Speak To Your Husband...

 

USA News Daily is a Youtube Channel that shoots straight from the hip when reporting on this White House. After the attempted violent attack at the White House Correspondents Dinner this weekend the White House set their sights yet again on late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, blaming him for an age difference joke he told which they mistook or contrived to mean "hateful and violent rhetoric."

Melania claimed on social media that Kimmel’s “hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country” and that “his monologue about my family isn’t comedy.”

Monday, the comedian/host kindly clarified his joke for the first lady while pointing out where her "Be Best" public-awareness campaign against violent rhetoric should be targeted. Mic Drop!

"I Agree that Hateful and Violent Rhetoric is Something We Should Reject. I Think a Great Place to Start to Dial That Back is to Have a Conversation With Your Husband About It." - Jimmy Kimmel

Breakthrough On The Color Front - Times Book Review 1954

Recently purchased a 1954 First Printing copy of this book. It is very interesting with so much info on military race relations that was rarely published during that era of segregation. I initially purchased it for a teenage nephew who is interested in American History. However, I am hesitant to gift him it due to the fact our military is currently caught in the clutches of leaders taking orders from a commander-in-chief who is demonstrating racist, segregation-era tendencies. The gift will have to wait for a cleansing in political leadership as not to frustrate the hopes and aspirations of an already disillusioned young man of color.

Following is the book's dust jacket synopsis preceded by a message from the office of the Secretary of Defense:

"We feel that in publishing this report, Random House is making a contribution to national defense through solidarity."  --James C. Evans, Civilian Assistant, Office of the Assistant, Secretary of Defense.

This is the first complete, authentic story of one of the most significant racial developments in modern American history - an achievement in human relations that has up till now been shrouded in strict military secrecy.

After a long and ugly record of acute racial tensions in our Armed Forces, the last decade has seen an unparalleled about-face in military policy and practice. Despite bitter resistance from tradition-encrusted "brass" and stubborn politicians, men of vision like Franklin D. Roosevelt, James V. Forrestal, Stuart Symington, Christopher Sargent, Lt. Gen. Anthony C, McAuliffe and Harry S. Truman have opened the road and there can be no turning back.

The author spotlights each phase this struggle - Army, Air Force, Navy, political maneuvers, civilian repercussions, foreign relations, etc.- revealing for the first time the full extent and nature of the contest for complete racial integration. Today integration of all servicemen, of whatever race, is the firm policy of every branch of the military - and it has now been proved that military efficiency and democratic ideals do go hand in hand.

As Mr. Nichols says: "Perhaps, most of all, it is the story of the coming of age of the American Negro; of Negroes who battled through nearly two centuries for the 'right to fight' for their country; of Negro men and women who, despite grave abuses, generally kept their sense of national loyalty and dignity and, when the white ranks of the military parted to receive them, marched in and took their places - proudly and, for the most part, quietly."

About the Archive

This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.

Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.

February 14, 1954

By S. L. A. MARSHALL

BY producing a first-class study of a major problem in American race relationships Lee Nichols, who works the night desk for The United Press in Washington, has demonstrated that any time a good report- er aspires to write a book he will find rich material kicking around underfoot. Some months ago, he read a casual press release from the Pentagon which put him on the trail of what he calls "one of the biggest stories of the twentieth century." Potentially it warrants no lesser description. He followed it through the bureaus, reading staff papers and interviewing hundreds of officials until he had collected most of the main facts. His book tells how, under the pressures of the Korean war, the United States armed establishment, almost unnoticed, achieved the long-awaited reform and made an end to military race segregation.

Also, to measure the significance of this unheralded victory, the reporter turned historian. How things stand today and except for a few marginal discriminations which will shortly pass the services now adhere to a standard of equal treatment is profiled against the prolonged struggle toward that object.

Mr. Nichols traces the long story of the Negro's participation in the American armed forces from that day in 1770 when the Negro Crispus At- tucks was the first person shot and one of five killed at the Boston Massacre that preceded the Revolution. Negroes fought in all our wars, he reminds us— the Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American and both world wars. And he shows how in these conflicts and the peacetime years be- tween Negroes made slow but steady progress toward full integration in Army, Navy and Air Force. An important factor in the advance was President Truman's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services.

BY 1953, Mr. Nichols says. "The racial barrier had been virtually wiped out in the Air Force and in the Navy outside the almost entirely Negro Steward's Branch. The Army was far along the road to elimination of its all-Negro units * * * There were no longer any all- Negro Marine units."

To most Americans that part of the Nichols story which is newsworthy will come as a heartening revelation. Couple it with the announcement from Tuskegee Institute that it has quit publishing the Lynch Let- ter because lynchings are no longer an index to race relations in the United States; the two together suggest that we may be doing much better than we know. Neither item is likely of publication in the Soviet press. But since the pivotal events of which Nichols writes occurred three years ago, and until now the nation has had only small bites of the story, there is room for remark that on the home front we are extravagantly wasteful of our own successes.

It is in the backward glance that Mr. Nichols, though ardent toward his subject and exceptionally sympathetic toward the services, fails somewhat of objectivity in relating why things did not move faster. There is insufficient recognition that the problem was vast indeed, that time itself had to provide part of the solution, and that the retarded pace was due less to mean prejudice within the military structure than to the mountainous social obstacles which lay without. Because my name and role find mention in the book, some personal reflection should be pardonable. In minor capacities, I have had some experience with race problems within the services, first as commander of a Negro company in World War I, next as writer of the policy which formed the 442d (American-Japanese) Combat Team in World War II and, last, as an analyst of the integrated units in Korea. I would simply bear witness that I always found goodwill toward the object among my superiors and associates in the Army, and that where action was slowed it was because of reasonable doubt that А valid opportunity existed.

In calling the Army the mule of the service team prior to Korea, Nichols would seem to imply that it was least willing to undertake social reform. That discounts wholly the great difference between Army relationships with the people and those of other services. It is a much more sensitive body because of size and propinquity; its relative social inertia is inherent in its role.

In Korea success was made possible by failure. There was a critical shortage of white rifle replacements. Integration was mothered by necessity. Once it had proved good under ordeal by fire, all concerned rallied to the opportunity, though some were slower to see it than others. Had there not been abundant goodwill, the Far East Command would not have reformed its policy, nor could its example have inspired like action elsewhere. True progress within a General Staff is possible only when a case can be made on the basis of superior data; then all doors swing open. But it is a truly felicitous thing that a nation can change its ways because of the deathless courage of a few mixed rifle squads in the name- less ridges north of Parallel 38.

Chapter 15: The Role of the Secretary of Defense 1949-1951

Fernando Mendoza Officially A Raider

 

"The Autumn Wind" narrated by John Facenda [Full Version]