THE MAN WHO CHANGED COLOR with Bill Fletcher Jr. | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
May 9, 2023 6:00 pm
Location
450K
450 K St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20001
May 9, 2023 6:00 pm
450K
“A shipyard is a dangerous place to work under the best of conditions and Bill Fletcher adds yet another level of terror. He tells a suspenseful story for shipyard workers and newspaper reporters. It’s even more meaningful if you know the Cape, Boston, and New Bedford. Fletcher’s approach to the racial issues is especially masterful. A good read from many perspectives.” – Brigid O’Farrell, author of She Was One of Us: Eleanor Roosevelt and the American Worker
"Much like Walter Mosley did in creating his crime-solving protagonist Easy Rawlings as he navigates the color lines in postwar LA, Bill Fletcher brings us a murder mystery through the eyes of investigative reporter David Gomes. Fletcher leans on his vast knowledge of both labor history and the revolutionary struggle of Cabo Verde to introduce readers to a fascinating and often overlooked convergence of cultures on the shores of Cape Cod.” − Sean Gonsalves, longtime reporter, researcher and Cape Verdean author
Only Bill Fletcher Jr. would write a mystery novel that delves into the complicated relationships between Cape Verdean Americans and African Americans, liberation movements in Cape Verde and fascists from Colonial Portugal and Greece taking root in the United States, and shipyard working conditions that include a worker falling to his death. In The Man Who Changed Colors, all these issues intertwine as investigative journalist David Gomes keeps asking questions about that shipyard worker’s death. His dogged pursuit of the truth puts his life in danger and upends the scrappy Cape Cod newspaper he works for. Spend a season on Cape Cod and Boston with this gripping, provocative crime novel by the author of The Man Who Fell From The Sky.
Bill Fletcher Jr. is joining us on the Busboys stage to share his long awaited sequel with investigative reporter David Gomes. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Fletcher will be signing books following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of THE MAN WHO CHANGED COLOR will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is IN PERSON and will NOT be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Bill Fletcher Jr. is a longtime labor, racial justice and international activist. Fletcher is an editorial board member and columnist for BlackCommentator.com and a senior scholar for the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. Fletcher is the former president of TransAfrica Forum, and is a founding member of the Black Radical Congress. He is the co-author (with Fernando Gapasin) of Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and A New Path Toward Social Justice (University of California Press) and ‘They’re Bankrupting Us!’ And 20 Other Myths about Unions (Beacon Press). If you want more investigative reporter David Gomes, you can find The Man Who Fell From the Sky available online and in store. Bill lives in Mitchellville, MD.
May 22, 2025 7:00 pm
