The Cleveland Jewish Book Festival is back for its 25th year! Join R. Derek Black to discuss their memoir, The Klansman’s Son.

The Klansman’s Son is an astonishing memoir of a childhood built on fear and of breaking from a community of hate. Derek Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. Their father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and started Stormfront, the internet’s first white supremacist website. Derek built the kids’ page. David Duke was also their close family friend and mentor. Racist hatred was all Derek knew. Derek traces a unique insider account of the rise of white nationalism and how a child indoctrinated with hate can become an anti-racist adult, committed to combating antisemitism.

R. Derek Black (they/them) is a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Chicago. Since 2016, they have spoken to many audiences at universities, foundations, institutions, museums, synagogues and churches. They received the Elie Wiesel Award and a humanitarian award from the Anti-Defamation League. The Klansman’s Son is their first book.

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This event is free, but please register ahead of time here.

This event is part of the Cleveland Jewish Book Festival, supported in part by an Ohio Humanities Ignite Grant!

Curious about other grants? Visit our calendar or browse our list of grantees!