Former Clevelander Gail Lukasik kept a longtime promise to her mother, Alvera.
Former Clevelander Gail Lukasik kept a longtime promise to her mother, Alvera.
It was a family secret she struggled with for years, feeling shame around a decision her mother made.
However, after Alvera’s death in 2014, Lukasik set out on a genealogical journey of self-discovery and redemption, as told in her book, “White Like Her, My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing.”
Geauga County Public Library held its third annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Jan. 20 with a book discussion by Lukasik inside Newbury Auditorium.
“I’m honored to be speaking at the Geauga County Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration,” Lukasik said.
The event kicked off GCPL’s Geauga Civil Rights Series, a collection of programs across the county celebrating Black History Month by hosting speakers and programs initiating community conversations about race, equality and social freedom.
The series is sponsored by the Geauga County Library Foundation.
“I’ve always admired Martin Luther King Jr. and his fight for racial justice,” Lukasik said. “His tenacity, fearlessness and message of love continue to inspire me.”
In King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, he shared his vision of a country where there was equality for everyone regardless of race.
On Aug. 28, 1963, King directed a march of 250,000 demonstrators to Washington D.C. where he delivered this speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
King was 39 years old in 1968 when an assassin took his life in Memphis, Tenn.
It would have been his 91st birthday this month.
King was a strong advocate of change through nonviolent civil actions based on his Christian values.
Lukasik said it was very apropos to begin with a quote from King’s speech before sharing her story.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter,” she said, repeating the quote two more times for emphasis.
She said her book is her mother’s story and how Alvera thought she had to be silent about the things that mattered to her.
“I am breaking her silence by telling her story,” Lukasik said.
Lukasik was born in Cleveland, grew up in Parma, and after marrying, settled in a northern suburb of Chicago.
She became a college English professor and mystery writer, which eventually lead to the desire to solve her own family’s mystery.
While growing up, Alvera avoided talking about her ancestry, Lukasik said, adding she believes everyone needs to know their family’s heritage regardless of where that journey leads them.
Lukasik made a shocking discovery in 1995 while scrolling though the 1900 Louisiana census records. Alvera’s father, Azemar Frederic, of New Orleans, and his entire family were designated black.
Her research intensified as she sorted through the records.
For 17 years, Lukasik told only her husband, two children and two close friends that her mom was passing as white. She said her mother had no pictures of Frederic and always wore pale-colored makeup to bed every night on her face.
Lukasik promised her mother she would keep the family secret until Alvera died.
Her book’s story is set against the historical backdrop of the Jim Crow South, chronicling her journey to uncover the truth of her mother’s racial heritage and to understand her mother’s decision to pass for white.
The story chronicles a woman searching for who she really is in a world at times divided by one’s skin color.
“My story and my mother’s story is one of family lost and found due to a racist culture and racist laws, such as the One Drop Rule, which was in effect during the Jim Crow Era in the South,” Lukasik said. “I hope people see how racism splits families apart, tarnishes communities and divides our country.
“When I began my journey to find out about my maternal grandfather, Azemar Frederic, who was from New Orleans, I never expected to discover I had an African heritage,” Lukasik continued. “That discovery changed how I looked at race and myself. It’s enriched my life and became the inspiration for my book, ‘White Like Her, My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing.’”
Lukasik appeared on PBS’s “Genealogy Roadshow” and united with her mother’s long-lost family. She said writing the book helped her understand herself more and led her to take a deeper look at racial identity in the country.
Lukasik said she finds solace in knowing the truth of her own heritage.
“As if in self-defense or maybe retaliation for my father’s racism, she imbued me with a moral imperative to respect all people, regardless of their color,” Lukasik said.
“The Washington Post” named her book one of the most inspirational stories of 2017.
“The book is not only about Gail’s personal family journey in America’s racialized society, but also a genealogical adventure that brings to light historical events and policies that perpetuated racism. It’s very honest, and, I think, brave,” said Becki Gierman, executive director of the library foundation. “The book also has local appeal. Her family was from Parma.”
Lukasik shared her mom’s story on the “Megyn Kelly Today Show” and on BBC World Service’s program “Outlook.” Itis featured in a documentary called, “History of Memory,” which won an award at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.
“Because of ‘White Like Her’ and the worldwide interest in my mother’s story, FGW Productions has optioned the book for a TV dramatic series,” Lukasik added.
Gierman said she believes it is important members of the community “deepen and broaden” their understanding of the history of racial injustice in order to help create “a future free of race-based oppression.”
“With this series, we’ve created opportunities throughout Geauga County for our residents of all ages to get involved in learning about racial equity and what they can do to transform our world into a better place,” she said.
