The Promise: How One Woman Made Good on Her Extraordinary Pact to Send a Classroom of First-Graders to College

by Oral Lee Brown with Caille Millner

(Read it for a book discussion)

East Oakland, California sets the stage for one woman’s grand act of kindness: pledging to send a first grade class to college. Oral Lee Brown will tell you that she had a wake-up call in 1987 when she met a little girl who was hungry. After buying the young girl sandwich fixings, OLB realized that some of the children in her community had no chance in this world. After all, if they don’t have food for lunch at home, how could they possibly have nourishing relationships with their parents and plans for college?

The Promise tells the tale of how OLB sent that first grade class to college. And when I say how, I mean the logistics: how she picked and “adopted” the class, how she raised money, how she became involved in the lives of those students, etc.

It is a nice story. It is an inspiring story. But that’s all. I’ll let you know how the book discussion goes. . .

1/19/07