I Cannot Tell A Lie: The True Story of George Washington's African American Descendants

THE FIRST PRESIDENT
Documented national history states that the nation's first president had no children. But the oral history of the descendants of this African American family tells a different story.

THE CONTROVERSY
Many people will believe the story of George Washington fathering a slave son. Others will find it difficult, if not impossible, to believe that Washington had an intimate relationship with a slave named Venus. Their fateful union during the era of antebellum slavery produced a son, West Ford.

THE SECRET
As time and space distanced the Ford family from its beginnings at Mount Vernon, each generation continued to walk a precarious line, bearing the weight of their heritage and battling issues of skin color, status, and identity. Linda Allen Bryant, a descendant of West Ford, pens her family's narrative history in I Cannot Tell a Lie. Their genealogy is rich in adventure, love, tragedy, sacrifice and courage-a story that will haunt you long after you turn the last page.

Author: Linda Allen Bryant
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 07/14/2004
Pages: 486
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.58lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.14d
ISBN: 9780595318995

Review Citation(s):
Black Issues Book Review 05/01/2005 pg. 41