"Find the Flower that Blossoms" is an extremely provocative look at the role race plays in present day American society through the eyes of White Ashley Summers. Its also a glimpse into the struggles Ashley endures in attempting to control her alcoholism and emerging sexual addiction. You will find that initially, Ashley is very unsure of herself and her delicate self esteem is easily shattered. As a result, since she doesn't hold herself in very high esteem, you may find it difficult at first to relate to her, but give her time. Grow with her throughout the story and I'm sure you will conclude that she is well worth investing into as she fights to balance herself and hang onto her sanity, integrity, and her relationship with her Black boyfriend turned husband Adisa. No matter what nationality or gender you are, by the end of this book I think you will realize that there's a little bit of Ashley in all of us.
- Can be purchased anywhere on earth by going to amazon.com, barnes&noble.com, etc.
- Now available through e-book KIndle version via amazon.com
- Will be in e-book format as soon as early May 2011
- Is on the University of Wisconsin's "Go Big" Reading list for 2011
- A strong narrative that will make you think and question how you see the world today!
- Now available through e-book KIndle version via amazon.com
- Will be in e-book format as soon as early May 2011
- Is on the University of Wisconsin's "Go Big" Reading list for 2011
- A strong narrative that will make you think and question how you see the world today!
Book reading/signing event scheduled for Saturday, December 17, 2011. Java Nation. 4130 SW 117th, Beaverton, Oregon. 97005. 1pm to 3pm.
The background to "Find the Flower that Blossoms" revolves around the life of Ashley Summers as told by Ashley herself. This young White woman was content in her small and closed off life in a small, high income, ski resort town, but like most people, she wanted to meet the mate of her dreams. This happened when she met Adisa Omawale, a Black man from the inner city who moves to her town to head up a project to build a low income housing project and migrate 800 Black residents to the exclusively White town. When word of the project becomes public, the town's opposition to the project is overwhelming. The intense rejection of the idea eventually merges into the creation of a terrifying neo-Nazi skinhead group intent on stopping the project and harassing and intimidating Ashley and Adisa. When the police prove indifferent to the terrorism of the fanatical group, Ashley's best friend attempts to help by infiltrating the group, but when Ashley unwittingly exposes her friend's undercover role to a corrupt cop in league with the racists, Ashley's friend is brutally murdered. This is where this story takes off. It's the story of Ashley's struggle to maintain her balance after the death of her friend while holding her relationship with Adisa together. It's the story of how race issues manifest themselves in society today, particularly within this interracial relationship.
The book is available through amazon.com, barnes&noble, borders.com, etc., as well as through bookstores. This story has made some significant reading lists already, including the University of Wisconsin's 2011 "Go Big" reading list. It's a must read for anyone interesting in understanding current day race issues and working to improve social interaction.
I'm presently working on a sequel to "Find the Flower that Blossoms." The sequel is entitled "Beautiful Flower, Deadly Thorns."
A newspaper review of the book is posted below.
Bend Author Ponders Race, Romance in New Novel Share | 'Find the Flower That Blossoms' is inspired by experiences in Central Oregon Brian Stimson Of The Skanner News March 24, 2011Just last week, when Ahjamu Umi walked into a restaurant in Bend, it happened again.
“Hey, it’s Michael Jordan,” said the man in the cowboy hat.
Without missing a beat, Umi shot back, “Hey, it’s Garth Brooks.”
Being one of the only Black men in town, Umi says he’s grown accustomed to such encounters. But with so few minorities in Bend, racial tensions are low or not even talked about. And that got Umi thinking, “What if a large number of Black people came here?”
That’s part of what inspired Umi to write the novel, “Find the Flower That Blossoms” about the travails of an interracial couple from a small, elite Central Oregon ski resort town that soon finds itself home to a housing project with 800 low-income Blacks from Los Angeles.
“The point of it is, a town like Bend, and there are a ton of them all across the country, they’re fine with things the way they are where there are not that many people of color and not many people have to deal with it,” he said. “But my fictional account, what if a large number of low-income Blacks were to come here, what would happen? I think, even in real life, if something like that happened, I don’t think the result would be that different.”
Umi says he’s basing that theory off of his experience in Central Oregon, as well as conversations he’s had with a number of people of color.
“Historically when you raise this, people don’t want to hear it, they’re upset, they’re intimidated by it,” he said. “Everybody always tries to make it like me raising the issue is the problem, but you wouldn’t get that upset about something unless there was something to it, and that’s the whole point of me raising it.”
In the book, the White female protagonist, Ashley, finds herself attracting the attention of the Patriotic Front when she begins dating a Black man assigned to manage the low-income housing project. Mirroring many real-life racial struggles, extremist violence claims the life of Ashley’s best friend and the book follows the couple’s struggles to overcome the tragedy that has befallen their lives.
“I think Bend is, on the surface, it’s a wonderful place, everyone gets along, but underneath, there’s the same kind of potential for racial problems that exist in Mississippi or anywhere else for that matter,” he said.
In the book, Ashley drowns her sorrows in the bottle. Then she uses sex to ease her pain. Without revealing too much of the book’s plot, the couple discovers new ways to find peace in their lives.
When he was a younger man, Umi says he was involved in mentoring and gang outreach in Los Angeles.
“My experiences as a youth got me into mentoring, I mentored gang members and negotiated gang truces in the Bay Area,” he said. “So as a result of that, I was exposed to the criminal justice system, and that motivated me to get a master’s degree in economics and I wrote my master’s thesis on the economics of imprisonment in California.”
For a number of years, he worked in the banking industry and is now transitioning into loan modifications.
“The writing has been therapeutic,” he said. “The banking industry is conservative, my whole life I’ve been the only Black person working where I work, so you have to develop a certain personae to exist there, especially working down in Bend. It’s a totally different language. If I laugh out loud, it’s like everybody looks around like there’s a problem.”
Umi is a speaker on diversity and race for businesses and groups, and operates a blog, www.pentopeople.blogspot.com. The book, published by Publish America, is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
“Hey, it’s Michael Jordan,” said the man in the cowboy hat.
Without missing a beat, Umi shot back, “Hey, it’s Garth Brooks.”
Being one of the only Black men in town, Umi says he’s grown accustomed to such encounters. But with so few minorities in Bend, racial tensions are low or not even talked about. And that got Umi thinking, “What if a large number of Black people came here?”
That’s part of what inspired Umi to write the novel, “Find the Flower That Blossoms” about the travails of an interracial couple from a small, elite Central Oregon ski resort town that soon finds itself home to a housing project with 800 low-income Blacks from Los Angeles.
“The point of it is, a town like Bend, and there are a ton of them all across the country, they’re fine with things the way they are where there are not that many people of color and not many people have to deal with it,” he said. “But my fictional account, what if a large number of low-income Blacks were to come here, what would happen? I think, even in real life, if something like that happened, I don’t think the result would be that different.”
Umi says he’s basing that theory off of his experience in Central Oregon, as well as conversations he’s had with a number of people of color.
“Historically when you raise this, people don’t want to hear it, they’re upset, they’re intimidated by it,” he said. “Everybody always tries to make it like me raising the issue is the problem, but you wouldn’t get that upset about something unless there was something to it, and that’s the whole point of me raising it.”
In the book, the White female protagonist, Ashley, finds herself attracting the attention of the Patriotic Front when she begins dating a Black man assigned to manage the low-income housing project. Mirroring many real-life racial struggles, extremist violence claims the life of Ashley’s best friend and the book follows the couple’s struggles to overcome the tragedy that has befallen their lives.
“I think Bend is, on the surface, it’s a wonderful place, everyone gets along, but underneath, there’s the same kind of potential for racial problems that exist in Mississippi or anywhere else for that matter,” he said.
In the book, Ashley drowns her sorrows in the bottle. Then she uses sex to ease her pain. Without revealing too much of the book’s plot, the couple discovers new ways to find peace in their lives.
When he was a younger man, Umi says he was involved in mentoring and gang outreach in Los Angeles.
“My experiences as a youth got me into mentoring, I mentored gang members and negotiated gang truces in the Bay Area,” he said. “So as a result of that, I was exposed to the criminal justice system, and that motivated me to get a master’s degree in economics and I wrote my master’s thesis on the economics of imprisonment in California.”
For a number of years, he worked in the banking industry and is now transitioning into loan modifications.
“The writing has been therapeutic,” he said. “The banking industry is conservative, my whole life I’ve been the only Black person working where I work, so you have to develop a certain personae to exist there, especially working down in Bend. It’s a totally different language. If I laugh out loud, it’s like everybody looks around like there’s a problem.”
Umi is a speaker on diversity and race for businesses and groups, and operates a blog, www.pentopeople.blogspot.com. The book, published by Publish America, is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
