Madison Park: A Place of Hope
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In this inspiring memoir, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush recounts the lessons he learned from his small Southern hometown.
Welcome to Madison Park, a small community in Alabama founded by freed slaves in 1880. Eric Motley came of age in this remarkable place, where lessons in self-determination, hope, and an unceasing belief in the American dream taught him everything he needed for his life’s journey—a journey that led him to the Oval Office as a Special Assistant to President George W. Bush.
Eric grew up among people who believed in giving and never turning away from a neighbor’s need. There was Aunt Shine, the goodly matriarch who cared so much about young Motley’s schooling that she would stand up in a crowded church and announce Eric’s progress—or shortcomings; Old Man Salery, who secretly siphoned gasoline from his beat-up car into the Motleys’ tank at night; Motley’s grandparents, who spent the last of their seed money on books for Eric; and Reverend Brinkley, a man of enormous faith and simple living. It was said that whenever the Reverend came your way, light abounded.
Life in Madison Park wasn’t always easy or fair, and Motley reveals personal and heartbreaking stories of racial injustice and segregation. But Eric shows how the community taught him everything he needed to know about love and faith.
Welcome to Madison Park, a small community in Alabama founded by freed slaves in 1880. Eric Motley came of age in this remarkable place, where lessons in self-determination, hope, and an unceasing belief in the American dream taught him everything he needed for his life’s journey—a journey that led him to the Oval Office as a Special Assistant to President George W. Bush.
Eric grew up among people who believed in giving and never turning away from a neighbor’s need. There was Aunt Shine, the goodly matriarch who cared so much about young Motley’s schooling that she would stand up in a crowded church and announce Eric’s progress—or shortcomings; Old Man Salery, who secretly siphoned gasoline from his beat-up car into the Motleys’ tank at night; Motley’s grandparents, who spent the last of their seed money on books for Eric; and Reverend Brinkley, a man of enormous faith and simple living. It was said that whenever the Reverend came your way, light abounded.
Life in Madison Park wasn’t always easy or fair, and Motley reveals personal and heartbreaking stories of racial injustice and segregation. But Eric shows how the community taught him everything he needed to know about love and faith.
Product Details
- Title : Madison Park: A Place of Hope
- Authors:
- Motley, Eric L.
- Isaacson, Walter
- Publisher: Zondervan
- Publication Date: 2017
- ISBN: 9780310349648
Eric L. Motley grew up in the freed slaves’ town of Madison Park, Alabama. From this beginning in the black community, he rose to become a special assistant to President George W. Bush at the White House. Eric is the deputy director of the National Gallery of Art based in Washington, D.C., and a former executive vice president of the Aspen Institute. He is a graduate of Samford University, and he earned a master of letters as a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and a PhD as the John Steven Watson Scholar.