Say I'm Dead

"With unflinching honesty, E. Dolores Johnson shares an enthralling story of identity, independence, family, and love. This timely and beautifully written memoir ends on a complicated yet hopeful note, something we need in this time of racial strife." De'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of In West Mills Say Im Dead is the true story of family secrets, separation, courage, and transformation through five generations of interracial relationships. Fearful of prison timeor lynchingfor violating Indianas antimiscegenation laws in the 1940s, E. Dolores Johnsons Black father and White mother fled Indianapolis to secretly marry in Buffalo, New York. When Johnson was born, social norms and her government-issued birth certificate said she was Negro, nullifying her mothers white blood in her identity. Later, as a Harvard-educated business executive feeling too far from her black roots, she searched her fathers black genealogy. But in the process, Johnson suddenly realized that her mothers whole white family wasand always had beenmissing. When she began to pry, her mothers 36-year-old secret spilled out. Her mother had simply vanished from Indiana, evading an FBI and police search that had ended with the conclusion that she had been the victim of foul play.