After the election of Barack Obama, All Things Considered host Michele Norris set out to write a book about "the hidden conversation on race" that is going on in this country.By Up to Date
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After the election of Barack Obama, All Things Considered host Michele Norris set out to write a book about "the hidden conversation on race" that is going on in this country.
The result of her work is The Grace of Silence, a memoir in which she explores family secrets, from her father's shooting by the Birmingham police within weeks of his discharge from service in World War II to her grandmother's peddling pancake mix as an itinerant Aunt Jemima.
Michele traveled from her childhood home in Minneapolis to her ancestral roots in the Deep South to explore "things left unsaid" by her family when she was growing up. She learned how silence became a form of protection for her parents, who strove to provide better lives for their children.
Up to Date host Steve Kraske welcomed Michele Norris to discuss her new memoir and what it's like to speak to millions of people through the radio every day.