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Book Information | About the book | Reviews | ||||||||||
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Looking
Beyond Race The Life of Otis Milton Smith Otis Milton Smith and Mary M. Stolberg Foreword by Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. |
In Looking Beyond Race, Otis Milton Smith (1922-94) recounts his life as an African American who overcame poverty and prejudice to become a successful politician, going on to become the first black vice president and general counsel of General Motors. Born in the slums of Memphis, Tennessee, Smith was the illegitimate son of a black domestic worker and her prominent white employer. Although he identified with his mother's blackness, he inherited his father's white complexion. This left him open to racism from whites, who resented his African American heritage, and blacks, who resented his skin color. This memoir, which Smith dictated during the three years before his death in 1994, provides a moving tale that will appeal to readers interested in African American history, politics, labor relations, business, and Michigan history. | "Otis
and I attended Booker T. Washington High School together in Memphis where
he was a serious, articulate, and highly motivated student. Later I knew
him in Detroit where I pastored a church, and he was a legal trailblazer
as a member of the state supreme court and as general counsel of General
Motors. I ran into him often through my civil rights work. He was steadfast
and uncompromising about truth and justice and brought dedication and zeal
to all he did. This book is a fitting tribute to his life." —Benjamin Hooks, former executive director of the NAACP and chair of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights |
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Lakes Books Series |
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