KAREN BRAILSFORD
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​PUBLISHERS MARKETPLACE
JUNE 23, 2021
​
HIS NAME IS GEORGE FLOYD
by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
​
Non-fiction: Biography
​

WP reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa's HIS NAME IS GEORGE FLOYD: ONE MAN'S LIFE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL JUSTICE, a biography of George Floyd, placing his life in the context of this country's larger history of systemic racism in housing, health care, education, prisons, and policing, to offer a look into the forces and experiences that shaped Floyd while contrasting his trajectory with that of Derek Chauvin and the events that ultimately brought the two men together, to Ibrahim Ahmad at Viking, at auction, for publication in May 2022, by Karen Brailsford and Todd Shuster at Aevitas Creative Management on behalf of The Washington Post (NA).

Rights also to Andrea Henry at Transworld (UK), at auction, by Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein; to Fischer (Germany), in a pre-empt, by Uwe Neumahr at Agence Hoffman; to Marginesy (Poland), in a pre-empt, by Piotr Wawrzenczyk at Book/lab Literary Agency; and to Like (Finland), in a pre-empt, by Willem Bisseling at Sebes & Bisseling.

Read the award-winning Washington Post series, "George Floyd's America," that inspired the book. ​ 
​
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​Associated Press
​George Floyd biography to be published in 2022 

November 10, 2021

NEW YORK (AP) — Two Washington Post reporters are working on a biography of George Floyd, from his family history in the tobacco fields of North Carolina to his murder last year in Minneapolis by a white police officer. 
Viking announced Wednesday that “His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice,” by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, will come out next May, nearly two years to the day of Floyd’s death.
The book expands upon the Post’s six-part series “George Floyd’s America,” winner of a Polk award for justice reporting. 
“George Floyd’s gruesome, videotaped death changed the world, as millions were moved by the raw humanity of a dying man pleading for air,” Olorunnipa said in a statement. “As we’ve examined his life over the past year, we’ve learned how his struggle to exhale as a Black man in America began decades before a police officer’s knee landed on his neck.”
AP News
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​penguinrandomhouse.com
About HIS NAME IS GEORGE FLOYD

A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic racism shaped George Floyd’s life and legacy—from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing—telling the singular story of how one man’s tragic experience brought about a global movement for change.

The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin. The video recording of his death set off a series of protests in the United States and around the world, awakening millions to the dire need for reimagining this country’s broken systems of policing. But behind a face that would be graffitied onto countless murals, and a name that has become synonymous with civil rights, there is the reality of one man’s stolen life: a life beset by suffocating systemic pressures that ultimately proved inescapable.
 
This biography of George Floyd shows the athletic young boy raised in the projects of Houston’s Third Ward who would become a father, a partner, a friend, and a man constantly in search of a better life. In retracing Floyd’s story, Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa bring to light the determination Floyd carried as he faced the relentless struggle to survive as a Black man in America. Placing his narrative within the larger context of America’s deeply troubled history of institutional racism, His Name Is George Floyd examines the Floyd family’s roots in slavery and sharecropping, the segregation of his Houston schools, the overpolicing of his communities, the devastating snares of the prison system, and his attempts to break free from drug dependence—putting today’s inequality into uniquely human terms. Drawing upon hundreds of interviews and extensive original reporting, Samuels and Olorunnipa offer a poignant and moving exploration of George Floyd’s America, revealing how a man who simply wanted to breathe ended up touching the world.
Penguin Random House website
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WASHPOST PR BLOG
The Washington Post’s biography of George Floyd to be published by Viking

November 10, 2021

​Viking has announced the upcoming release of The Washington Post’s biography of George Floyd, “His Name Is George Floyd." More information from Viking:
​

Viking is pleased to announce His Name Is George Floyd, a landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa. Executive Editor Ibrahim Ahmad at Viking acquired North American rights from Karen Brailsford and Todd Shuster at Aevitas Creative Management.
​
Placing his narrative within the larger context of America’s deeply troubled history of institutional racism, this new book will reveal how systemic racism shaped George Floyd’s life and legacy—from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing—telling the singular story of how one man’s tragic experience brought about a global movement of change. His Name Is George Floyd will be published on May 17, 2022.

The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin. The video recording of his death set off a series of protests in the United States and around the world, awakening millions to the dire need for reimagining this country’s broken systems of policing. But behind a face that would be graffitied onto countless murals, and a name that has become synonymous with civil rights, there is the reality of one man’s stolen life: a life beset by suffocating systemic pressures that ultimately proved inescapable.

This biography of George Floyd shows the athletic young boy raised in the projects of Houston’s Third Ward who would become a father, a partner, a friend, and a man constantly in search of a better life. In retracing Floyd’s story, Samuels and Olorunnipa bring to light the determination Floyd carried as he faced the relentless struggle to survive as a Black man in America.

Developed out of The Washington Post’s award-winning six-part series “George Floyd’s America,” His Name Is George Floyd examines the Floyd family’s roots in slavery and sharecropping, the segregation of his Houston schools, the overpolicing of his communities, the devastating snares of the prison system, and his attempts to break free from drug dependence—putting today’s inequality into uniquely human terms. Drawing upon hundreds of interviews and extensive original reporting, Samuels and Olorunnipa offer a poignant exploration of George Floyd’s life and lasting impact, revealing how a man who simply wanted to breathe ended up touching the world.
​
Samuels says, “When we first set out on this reporting journey, we told George Floyd’s friends and family that our mission was to understand his soul. And in trying to understand George Floyd’s life, we learned about a man who was complicated, loving, ambitious—someone who never gave up on a dream to make a difference in this world, despite the barriers that stood in his way. We are thrilled to introduce readers to the person we got to know and to illustrate what his life and legacy can teach us about race, racism, and the pursuit of the American dream.”

Olorunnipa says, “George Floyd’s gruesome, videotaped death changed the world, as millions were moved by the raw humanity of a dying man pleading for air. As we’ve examined his life over the past year, we’ve learned how his struggle to exhale as a Black man in America began decades before a police officer’s knee landed on his neck. We are excited to work with Viking to tell that story, revealing both a life that mattered and the systems that so tragically denied its worth.”

Brian Tart, President and Publisher of Viking, says, “We are honored to partner with The Washington Post and their reporters, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, to tell one of the most important stories of our generation—the sometimes hidden but always devastating effect of systemic racism on the individual.”

Robert Samuels is a national political enterprise reporter for The Washington Post who focuses on the intersection of politics, policy, and people. He previously told stories about life in the District for the Post’s social issues team. Samuels joined the Post in 2011 after spending nearly five years working at the Miami Herald.

Toluse Olorunnipa is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the Post in 2019 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he spent five years at Bloomberg News, where he reported on politics and policy from Washington and Florida. Olorunnipa is also an on-air contributor to CNN.

For pre-order, visit here. For further information, please contact: Lindsay Prevette at lprevette@penguinrandomhouse.com / 212.366.2224
WashPost PR blog
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KIRKUS REVIEWS  (starred review)

An intimate look at the life of the Black man whose murder sparked worldwide protests and a reinvigoration of the movement for racial justice.

April 6, 2022

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd died beneath the knee of White Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The video of the killing made Floyd “a global icon for racial justice,” write Washington Post journalists Samuels and Olorunnipa. Through painstaking research and more than 400 interviews, the authors sought to learn, “Who was George Floyd? And what was it like to live in his America?” As a child, Floyd dreamed of making a name for himself. “He was young, poor, and Black in America—a recipe for irrelevance in a society that tended to push boys like him onto its margins,” write the authors. “But he assured everyone around him that, someday, he would make a lasting impact.” As an adult, Floyd faced challenges related to addiction, mental health, education, employment, poverty, and criminal activity. Samuels and Olorunnipa trace more than 300 years of American history and Floyd’s family history, placing his death within the context of the systemic racism that shaped his life. The authors got haircuts from Floyd’s barber, visited the communities he called home, and talked to his extended family, friends, lovers, teachers, and acquaintances “to help the world to see Perry [as Floyd was known] as they saw him.” Writing with cogency and compassion, the authors free Floyd from the realm of iconography, restoring his humanity. In these powerful pages, he emerges as a sensitive man with ambitions, successes, and failures. Both his loving nature and his despair are palpable, conveyed in heartbreaking detail. The recounting of his death is devastating to read, and the
 aftermath, despite his killer’s conviction, is somber. Sadly, the congressional police reform bill named for Floyd remains unpassed.

A brilliant biography, history book, and searing indictment of this country’s ongoing failure to eradicate systemic racism.the aftermath, despite his killer’s conviction, is somber. Sadly, the congressional police reform bill named for Floyd remains unpassed.

Kirkus Reviews starred review
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Write Volumes is a group of eclectic writers who are passionate about viewing the world through varying perspectives, ideas, and thoughts. Writing is a way to understand, inspire, and transform ourselves and possibly others which we can try to do in volumes-- in the sense of decibels or quantity. Please join us in engaging the world through reading and writing. Together we are and can Write Volumes.


Random stuff by and about me. 
​

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Fly Mommie Blog
by @QUINKENZO
January 26, 2018
Tell us a little about yourself?
My Instagram (@iamkarenbrailsford) bio pretty much sums it up: Writer. Spiritual Therapist. Intuitive Creator. Proud Mama. Delighting in all things synchronistic, magical and miraculous.

What excites you most about Motherhood? Read MORE →

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Your Issue Here: Working With Hollywood to Deliver Your Message to Millions

​I spent six months researching, reporting and writing this guide targeting non-profits desirous of promoting their causes in film and television storylines and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Your Issue Here.pdf
File Size: 2917 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


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Click for Entertainment Weekly's story about the Essence article
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Celebrating Mom
May 2012
​
​The Superhero: Karen Brailsford
After being cast as Rue in The Hunger Games, rising star Amandla Stenberg is on everyone’s radar. With so much attention, the 13-year old says her mom is key.

​My mom reminds me that all things are possible. If I'm feeing unsure, she'll say, "Hey! You're Rue!" Within months after reading The Hunger Games, I went from telling my mom I could see myself as this character to actually getting the role. My mother reminds me that if I could manifest such an important role because I wanted it so much, all of my dreams are possible. I once made a cartoon drawing of my mom as a superhero. I called her Karen Possible. It still hangs on her office bulletin board. Read MORE →

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Should Kids See ​The Hunger Games?
With Michele Martin
April 12, 2012
The violent theme of The Hunger Games incited lots of controversy. As Rue’s mom, I had something to say on the matter. Click the NPR logo to listen in. Read STORY →

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Hungry for More About The Hunger Games? A Q&A With Amandla Stenberg ( AKA Rue)
by Karen Springen
January 19, 2012

My former Newsweek colleague wrote this piece and I shot the photo which was later published in a communications textbook. Read STORY →

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So Not Lindsay Lohan: How to Raise A Child Star
February 21, 2011

I'd forgotten that I can be seen hovering nearby in this photo of Amandla with director Olivier Megaton on the set of Colombiana, her very first film. I wrote about the experience for this mommy blog. Update: Zoe Saldana was amazingly sweet and cool. Read BLOG →

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Author, Author
Michael Chabon and Ayelet Walman

December 16, 2002

​I spent the day in Berkeley, CA, with the literary world's dynamic duo of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, arriving in time to watch her whip up pancakes for their children. At the end of a very long day, he signed and presented a copy of "Summerland," his new novel, to Amandla. Read STORY →

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Open Book
Anne Lamott

November 25, 2002

The author of Bird by Bird and Operating Instructions is a wizard at showing us how to observe, write and live fully. What I gained from my extraordinary afternoon with her? A deep appreciation for her engaged, engaging soul—and for Wheat Thins, which she nibbled on throughout our interview. Read STORY →

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Shock Waves
​Alice Sebold

August 12, 2002

Lovely cover, devastating story. Seven years before Alice Sebold's debut novel The Lovely Bones​ became a movie starring Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Stanley Tucci, I sat down with Sebold at her home in Long Beach, CA. Read STORY →

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Secrets to Date By
by Jula Jane
February 7, 2008
​(one week before Valentine's Day, naturally)

I edited this book. It was fun. And the cover really popped. I have nothing more to say, except for this: My favorite chapter title is "Match.con."

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Make A Joyful Noise
Rev. Matthew Fox

April 14, 1997
​
Rev. Matthew Fox, not to be confused with the actor from Party of Five and Lost , is a very generous and gracious soul. How do I know this? Twenty-three years after I profiled him for People, he agreed to read Sacred Landscapes of the Soul ​and write a blurb for it. Talk about divine orchestration. Read STORY →

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​Hollywood Blackout
March 11, 1996

I was a member of the team that produced People's 1996 headline-generating special report. We called some 130 sources to discuss the lack of representation in Hollywood. When we returned to the topic five years later, not much had changed. And as many strides have been made since, one could argue the same is true a quarter-century later.
Read STORY →

Babies Who Have Babies Special Report
October 24, 1994

Babies Having Babies: Five Years Later
October 11, 1999

This image will forever be etched in my mind: The teen mother I was assigned to cover is sitting cross-legged on her living room floor. Propped up by a colorful Boppy pillow and nursing on each breast is a baby. Twin girls. How's this for perspective? When I visited the young mother fiver years later, my daughter was a year old and I was in my my mid-thirties. A 16-year old Jamie Lynn Spears would give birth eight years later. The reality series Teen Mom  was a decade away. ​Read STORY →

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In His Father's House
Andraé Crouch

October 23, 1995

Spending time with THE Andraé Crouch, whose songs I sang as a child on the Sunbeam Choir at Fort Motte Baptist Church, was a revelation. Read STORY →

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The Wainscott Weasel
by Tor Seidler
Illustrated by Fred Marcellino

November 14, 1993

"It's just possible that not since a spider named Charlotte saved a pig named Wilbur from the slaughterhouse has there been a more tender tale of interspecies love and devotion." And I loved the illustrations, too. Read REVIEW →

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Spike Lee
November 1992

I talked to Spike Lee about his then upcoming film Malcolm X for Interview magazine. A silly moment: He teased me about my key chain, statuette I'd gotten in Africa. "That's a fertility symbol. You'd better be careful!" he warned me. "That stuff works." Read STORY →

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Last Summer With Maizon
by Jacqueline Woodson

July 29, 1990

At the end of my New York Times Book Review of this 1990 debut novel, I enthused, “Let’s hope Jacqueline Woodson’s pen writes steadily on.” Thirty-three books later, Woodson won The Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest in children’s literature. Read REVIEW →

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​Black & White: How Integrated is America?

March 7, 1988
​
​Recently I felt compelled to order a copy of this issue of Newsweek, which I reported. It arrived the day of George Floyd's memorial service in Minneapolis. As I turned the pages, memories began to flood my awareness. The subtitle for the lead story reads "Twenty years after the murder of Martin Luther King, blacks have gained a fragile new middle class and a troubled 'underclass,' while the civil-rights movement itself has fallen into a neglect that hurts everyone". Sidebars included stories on IBM, an affirmative action "success story," and a closing piece written by Jonathan Alter and reported by Karen Springen and yours truly entitled "Why We Can't Wait Any Longer: Arguments heat up about how best to confront the despair of the underclass."

    Let's stay together. Get news and inspiration.
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© ​Karen Brailsford 2020-2022
​
  • Home
  • I am
  • Praise
  • Inspire
    • Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit (talk + guided meditation)
    • Inner Visions >
      • An Appreciation
      • Forward
      • Life As We Know It And See It
      • Precipice and Presence
      • Sentient and Prescient
      • The I Am of Resonance
      • The Glass Is Always Full
      • You Will Know
    • Sacred Landscapes (excerpts) >
      • Spiraling
      • Sacred Landscapes of the Soul
      • Go Directly to Jubilee
      • Bring the Party
      • A Life Is God Writ Large
      • Soot into Soil
      • In the Here and Now
      • Creation Story
      • In This Skin
    • Still I Rise by Maya Angelou (recitation)
    • Go Directly to Jubilee! (talk)
    • God's Love Keeps Lifting Us Higher and Higher (talk)
    • Paintings
  • Book Agenting
    • Aevitas Creative Management
    • Writer's Digest
    • His Name Is George Floyd
    • Kamala's Way
  • Write Volumes
    • Short Stories >
      • It Takes All Kinds
      • All is Nothing
      • Ever After
      • Dinner Parties
      • Shades of Love
    • Essays >
      • Floating Like Butterflies
      • Mommy, Still
    • Poems >
      • Covid: Covert No More
      • Harriet and Me
  • Media
    • Download Kit
    • Articles and books >
      • Unity >
        • Rising in Joy
        • Blessed by a Dress
        • This Is How You Pray
        • For A Reason, for a Season, or for a Lifetime
      • People: Voices From the Fight Against Racism
    • Podcasts, radio and video >
      • The Peace Studio Summit 2021
      • The Jenny McCarthy Show
      • In the Flow With Rev. Skip
      • Waking Up in Daily Life
      • The Only One in the Room
      • Bridges & Blessings with Rev. Julie
    • Press
  • Blog
  • Connect