True justice isn’t found in fixing broken systems; it’s about complete restructuring. Referencing Audre Lorde’s quote, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” Deemed bold, brutal, and unflinching, Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane is a work of historical fiction about enslaved people who fought back against unimaginable cruelty. Ibram X. Kendi calls it “a resistance story for the ages.” A powerful tale, “Yes, this book will make you uncomfortable, but discomfort is the extravagant price of truth,” says Cane, whose work challenges the way history has been written, falsified, or erased, and how collective opposition is possible. “With shades of Kindred, James, and The Prophets, this story belongs to a long tradition of resistance that traces back to 1526,” writes Keith Boykin, “when enslaved Africans burned down their captors’ settlement in what is now South Carolina.” What one reader shared about this fascinating debut work: “A MUST READ …I can’t emphasize enough. It’s four short stories inspired by real-life enslaved people who dared to fight back … the characters are incredible. I’m going to think about this the rest of my life.”
Inferno Of Justice: Burn Down The Master’s House
1:00 pm
Presented by CityLit Project
Clay Cane
Clay Cane is a two-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, radio host, and political analyst. He is the host of The Clay Cane Show on SiriusXM Urban View, channel 126, and his work has been featured in The Washington Post, CNN.com, and BET. Over the course of his career, Cane has interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris, Beyoncé Knowles, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, Denzel Washington, and many others. He is the author of the instant New York Times bestseller Burn Down Master’s House: A Novel and The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult, also a New York Times bestseller. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rutgers University with a B.A. in English and African American Studies, Cane is originally from Philadelphia.
Instagram: @claycane
Andy Shallal
Anas “Andy” Shallal is an Iraqi-born artist, activist, social entrepreneur, and founder/CEO of Busboys and Poets, a restaurant, bookstore, and performance venue in the Washington Metropolitan area. He opened the first location in 2005 as part restaurant, part agent for social change. With nine locations in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, Busboys and Poets has become a home for progressives, artists, creatives, and intellectuals. Shallal is a 2018 Frederick Douglass 200 award winner for those who best embody Douglass’ spirit, a TEDx speaker, and the founder of several peace and justice organizations. His memoir, A Seat At the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets, has been called “A fast-moving memoir” by Ralph Nader, “magnificent” by Alice Walker, and “a singular story, told here with the focus on big ideas and love of community that have propelled him over the years,” by Publishers Weekly. He is on the board of trustees for the Institute for Policy Studies, Palestine House of Freedom, DAWN, the Anacostia Coordinating Council, and a founding member of Think Local First DC, a local business association serving in advisory and leadership roles to advance progressive business and labor practices. Shallal received his B.S. in biology from Catholic University of America and an MBA from The Robert Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Instagram: @andyshallal
X: @andyshallal
