More than 30 Durham Public School students recently published a novel that combines fact, fiction and illustration.
“Running For Hope” (John Hope Young Franklin Scholars Program/ 2015) is a creative attempt to explore the life story and impact of historian John Hope Franklin while documenting the modern-day challenges of growing up as a teenager living in a diverse community. It interweaves the fictional story of 9th grader Kendrick Parker with illustrated scenes from Mirror to America, an autobiography by John Hope Franklin.
The 30 students are members of the John Hope Franklin Young Scholars program that aims to provide local teenagers with new ways of exploring history.The program is funded and run by Duke University through the Center for African and African American Research.
Host Frank Stasio talks to two young scholars who contributed to the book, Khari Talley and Eden Segbefia, and program facilitator Alexa Garvoille.
If you're interested in learning more about John Hope Franklin's contributions, you can attend a lecture tonight by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, long-time collaborator with John Hope, co-author of the book From Slavery to Freedom, and head of the African and African American Studies Program at Harvard. She will be talking about John Hope's impact on American history.
