Not a Genuine Black Man: My Life as an Outsider by Brian Copeland

This is the memoir of Brian Copeland, a local broadcast personality. He writes about his experience growing up in San Leandro during the 1970s. His family was one of the few African-American families living there at the time.

Copeland recounts the discrimination directed towards him and his family in a way that conveys the seriousness and unfairness of it all. However, he tells the stories with humor which makes the book accessible and safe, I would think, for people of all different ethnic backgrounds to read. It made me more aware rather than angry.

This is the 2009 selection of the Silicon Valley Reads program. I am excited that people all over the county will read this book. I think it's an important book. Racism is still alive in many different forms and this book does a great job of opening up a discussion around a sensitive topic.