Black and White

About the Book

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arguably the greatest American of the 20th century and perhaps the greatest American ever. His appearance in this novel is fictional, however. In actual fact, he did not lead a march for civil rights and voting rights in Birmingham, Alabama on July 4, 1962 nor did he give a speech there on that day. Indeed, in the Birmingham of Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor, the “Bull” Connor notorious for his use of police dogs and fire hoses, the march depicted in this novel could not have been held. But this novel is not a documentary and it is not history. It is a work of fiction that seeks to express the glorious spirit of the civil rights movement and to depict the selfless dedication of the white people who were part of that movement.

This novel is dedicated to the many white people who participated in the struggle for the civil rights and voting rights of African Americans in the United States and especially to those who lost their lives or sustained grievous injury in that struggle.

About the Author

Allen A. Lang was born in Montreal, Canada in 1933, came to the United States as a student in 1956, and became a U.S. citizen in 1971. He lives in New York City. An accountant by profession, he holds degrees in several different fields from McGill University and Columbia University, including a Master of Arts degree in English literature from Columbia. Although the three stories in this volume were written and revised over a period of thirty years, they are here published for the first time.