Between Freedom and Equality

This book is a unique and original history of Washington, DC, and the African American experience. It connects George Pointer, born into slavery in MD in 1773, to his descendants, some of whom live just outside DC. Pointer bought his freedom at nineteenand spent his life on the Potomac, working for Geo. Washington's Potomac Co., navigating boats through the treacherous falls. Using extensive archival research, Torrey & Green trace Pointer's family through DC history, showing the birth of DC and of a young US, showing how their lives unfolded within this extraordinary history. Family connections include enlistment in the Colored Regiments during the Civil War, farm life in then-rural DC, life in integrated neighborhoods that are then deliberately segregated, and more. It ends in the 1960s, just before MLK's speech in the the capital. The authors shared this story with the living family. Several descendants, in particular James Fisher, have been active after learning their history. He has already been inthe media commenting on what it means to learn all of this and how it changed him. He is likely very willing to participate in promotion of the book. The authors strongly support this--