Say I'm Dead

A Family Memoir of Race, Secrets, and Love

By: E. Dolores Johnson

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

Fearful of prison time - or lynching - for violating Indiana’s anti-miscegenation laws in the 1940s, E. Dolores Johnson's Black father and White mother fled Indianapolis to secretly marry in Buffalo.

Her mother simply vanished, evading an FBI and police search that ended with the declaration to her family that she was the victim of foul play, either dead or sold into white slavery. When Johnson was born, social norms and her government-issued birth certificate said she was Negro, nullifying her mother’s White blood in her identity. As an African American, she withstood the advice of a high school counselor who said that Blacks don’t go to college by graduating from Harvard.

Then, as a code-switching business executive feeling too far from her Black roots, she searched for her father’s Black genealogy. Johnson was amazed to suddenly realize that her mother's whole White side was - and always had been - missing. When confronted, her mother's decades-old secret spilled out.

Despite her parents’ crippling and well-founded fears of rejection and reprisals, and her Black militant brother’s accusation that she was a race traitor, Johnson went searching for the White family who did not know she existed. When she found them, it’s not just their shock and her mama’s shame that have to be overcome, but her own fraught experiences with Whites.

©2020 E. Dolores Johnson (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

What a story!

This story is so powerful. I was caught up from the very beginning. I cried and laughed as this beautiful story was being told and always wanted everything to turn out right for Delores and her family. Her courage was remarkable.

What a Journey!

From the moment I started the book, I couldn’t stop listening. E. Dolores Johnson’s detailed account of so many pivotal moments in her life kept me wanting more. Her development of the different persons in her life gave me a deeper understanding of what life was truly like for that person. Dolores story gave me hope that despite the hardships and triumphs in her life, if you just keep pressing and trusting God with the outcome the journey will take you places you never thought possible!

Yaaaaas!

A great story. I wonder what happened with Delores at The Mecca? I’m grateful of current statistical data included in The Epilogue. Blessed for the power of the written word.

Awesome Book!

Best narration I’ve ever heard! The story is like a modern day Joseph from the Book of Genesis. Powerful and educational!

A rare 5 star read!

I rate maybe 5 books a year as 5 stars and I read about 300. This is well written, structured, narrated. An overall fascinating story!