Rick Schmidt
'BLACK PRESIDENT--The Story of JFK’s Secret Sons' begins with President Kennedy’s seduction of Sarah Little, a devout, married, African-American woman. Two-and-a-half years later he is dead. Against all conceivable adversity, their son rises from poverty to attain America’s highest office. Victory in the White House has its roots in the lost innocence of the past... Weaving together important US events and personalities, this is a breathtaking journey through fifty years of subterfuge, civil rights scandals, assassinations and conspiracies, from the Bay of Pigs to the Twin Towers and beyond; a journey via Marilyn Monroe’s bedroom, J. Edgar Hoover’s wardrobe, JFK’s cabinet meetings and the quagmire of Vietnam. Filmmaker/Author Rick Schmidt serves up a stirring, topical must-read for those who love--or hate--America. Imagine a faction novel that includes the childhood-to-adult story of twin Black American boys sired at one of the thousands of trysts conducted by President John F. Kennedy, and you have Rick Schmidt’s first novel (originally released as 'BLACK PRESIDENT' in 2008 by Picnic Publishing, UK). And because of the timeframe--it begins in the early 1960s--the 'N-word' is used in appropriate fictional cases, to illustrate the oppressive racist language used freely in those times. It’s definitely not a book for the faint of heart. And YES, it IS disturbing to read it in print, to imagine the pain it caused all those to whom it was directed back then, not to mention the present-day racism that still prevails in America. Are things getting worse regarding race relations? Just how sick are some of the inhabitants of this country (other places where enlightenment is not forthcoming)? In any case, this novel actively discusses reparations for past (and present) crimes/slavery of African Americans, as well as for indigenous peoples, the many Native American tribes who suffered greatly at the hands of corrupt policies and individuals, over a span of five+ centuries.
