“A Roots for a new generation, rich in storytelling and steeped in history.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“A compelling saga that gives a voice to those that history tried to erase . . . Poignant and eye-opening, this is a must-read.”—Booklist In The Other Madisons, Bettye Kearse—a descendant of an enslaved cook and, according to oral tradition, President James Madison—shares her family story … Kearse—a descendant of an enslaved cook and, according to oral tradition, President James Madison—shares her family story and explores the issues of legacy, race, and the powerful consequences of telling the whole truth.
For thousands of years, West African griots (men) and griottes (women) have recited the stories of their people. Without this tradition Bettye Kearse would not have known that she is a descendant of President James Madison and his slave, and half-sister, Coreen. In 1990, Bettye became the eighth-generation griotte for her family. Their credo—“Always remember—you’re a Madison. You come from African slaves and a president”—was intended to be a source of pride, but for her, it echoed with abuses of slavery, including rape and incest.
Confronting those abuses, Bettye embarked on a journey of discovery—of her ancestors, the nation, and herself. She learned that wherever African slaves walked, recorded history silenced their voices and buried their footsteps: beside a slave-holding fortress in Ghana; below a federal building in New York City; and under a brick walkway at James Madison’s Virginia plantation. When Bettye tried to confirm the information her ancestors had passed down, she encountered obstacles at every turn.
Part personal quest, part testimony, part historical correction, The Other Madisons is the saga of an extraordinary American family told by a griotte in search of the whole story.
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Bettye Kearse’s searing eye for truth educated, awakened, and stunned me. The heroics and pain of the author’s kindred — descendants of slaves and a president — illustrates a family and country built on the shoulders of slavery. An unbroken line of ancestral oral history combined with Kearse’s research illuminates ten generations, from slavery to the present, in a continuing-battle against racism in which all Americans should fight. Kearse’s generosity in presenting her hard-won truth is a gift I’ll always remember with gratitude. I loved this page-turning book.
A fascinating root-seeking odyssey. In this poignant search for a lost tie to a founding father, Kearse reckons with the equivocal link between DNA and family and illuminates the work of racial repair confronting us all.
Inheriting the role of griotte — family storyteller — from her mother, Bettye Kearse set out to preserve and deepen the knowledge about her family that oral tradition traces back to President Madison and an African slave named Mandy. As she travels to Virginia, Portugal, and Ghana, she shares with readers her research, her reflections, and her poignant emotional responses to her family’s past. Her quest, at once personal and historical, is both engrossing and very moving.
The story of an American family descended from enslaved people and a President, rich in life lessons, from the importance of passing on family history, to the human traits that can shine the light of hope in the darkness and bring us closer together as a nation. An extraordinary tale told by Dr. Bettye Kearse, a geneticist and Medical Doctor who became her family’s griotte, the African term for an oracle, responsible for transmitting family history across the generations. One of those rare works that rips apart the things that separate us from one another as human beings while celebrating the differences that make us the individuals we are. Highly recommended.
Made up fiction, designed to fit the current Social Justice and BLM climate. Totally made up story passing as legitimate history. Offers about as much proof as me saying “I am related to God, the Queen of England, Robert E. Lee, Jesus Christ, Ronald Reagan and 2 of the 7 Dwarfs.” Why because someone in my family with a made up title says so. just liberal fantasy, when is this site going to quit offering me books about black history, I could care less about their history or experience in America. Unless it was something honest like “every other group has done well in America except I’d, but we’ll blame everyone else” or “how 13% of the population commits 60% of crime and demands 100% of the sympathy.”
This book by Bettye Kearse is an important addition to the archives of American history. Mr. Kearse is a descendent of the enslaved cook at James Madson’s plantation and, according to oral tradition, of President James Madison. I have read a number of books on Sally Hemmings. Of particular note was the National Book Award winner, The Hemingses of Monticello, a history of the Hemmings family who were enslaved at Monticello. That book is an academic history, and this one is a personal account of the oral history and artifacts passed down to Bettye Kearse by her family. Her family took the name Madison and recalled a sexual attack by Madison that led to the birth of one of her ancestors. In addition, Kearse retells the story of the trip from Africa on a slave ship and stories of enslaved life on Madison’s plantation, as passed down through the generations. It is wonderful that she was able to pubish this story, as so much of the history of enslaved persons is untold — including the passage from Africa — and unknown. A very interesting read and an important contribution to our history as a nation.
It is amazing what Kearse knew from family stories about her family history and even more startling what she learned from her research. A terrific alternate history and memoir.