MORE THAN I IMAGINED

WHAT A BLACK MAN DISCOVERED ABOUT THE WHITE MOTHER HE NEVER KNEW

By John Blake

An award-winning journalist tells the story of his quest to reconcile with his white mother and the family he’d never met—and how faith brought them all together.

John Blake grew up in a notorious Black neighborhood in inner-city Baltimore that was the setting for the HBO series The Wire. It was there that he became a self-described “closeted biracial person,” hostile toward white people while hiding the truth of his mother’s race. The son of a Black man and a white woman who met at a time when interracial marriage was still illegal, Blake knew this much about his mother: She vanished from his life not long after his birth, and her family rejected him because of his race.

But at the age of seventeen, Blake had a surprise encounter that uncovered a disturbing family secret. This launched him on a quest to reconcile with his white family that centered on two questions: Where is my mother, and where do I belong? More Than I Imagined is Blake’s propulsive true story about how he answered those questions—with the help of an interracial church, a loving caregiver’s sacrifice, and an inexplicable childhood encounter that taught him the importance of forgiveness.

Blake covered some of the biggest stories about race in America for twenty-five years before realizing that “facts don’t change people, relationships do.” He only discovered that after experiencing what he calls “radical integration.” It was the only way forward for him and his family—and it’s the only way forward for America as a multiracial democracy. More Than I Imagined is a hopeful story for our difficult times.

Praise for More Than I Imagined

“This memoir surprised me over and over again. John Blake’s life reads like a thriller, but is packed with pockets of compassion and wisdom like his reporting at CNN.”

— Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist

“In this riveting and provocative memoir, John Blake transcends preconceived notions about race and the Black and White “divide.” More Than I Imagined takes the reader on a compelling and courageous journey that bears witness to the realities of systemic racism, the complexity of identity within that system, and the possibilities of reconciliation. In so doing, Blake’s story beautifully underscores that the personal is always political.”

— Robin DiAngelo, New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility

“John Blake has written an incredibly moving memoir that both examines and complicates our understanding of race in America today. It is a book overflowing with empathy and full of humanity. It is well worth reading.”

— Clint Smith, New York Times bestselling author of How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with The History of Slaves Across America

“John Blake incisively covers news of today’s racial divide, but it’s his own story that truly deserves to be broadcast.”

— Heather McGhee, New York Times bestselling author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

“John Blake takes us on a heartbreaking, powerful journey of personal, familial, and possible national redemption. Truth-telling and putting in the work to confront those uncomfortable truths are at the core of this engaging and wrenching memoir.”

— Carol Anderson, Ph. D, author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide

“John is sensitive to the moment and can read the racial and religious winds as they change. He has thought deeply about his own bi-racial identity and his experiences growing up in Baltimore—and he brings these keen insights to the topics he’s covering. Amid the recent surge of attention given to faith and race, John Blake provides the kind of steady and studied analysis that we need to understand these critical topics.”

— Jemar Tisby, New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism

“John Blake’s memoir takes us on a twisting personal journey, with a surprise around every bend.  In the process, you realize he’s living out the tattered history of race in America.  Then comes the biggest surprise of all: this is a book of gutsy hope and not despair, reconciliation and not hatred.  Both sides of the racial divide need the voice that Blake is uniquely qualified to offer.”

— Philip Yancey, author of What’s So Amazing About Grace?

“More Than I Imagined testifies to the deepest truth that America cannot change unless Americans change. John Blake’s tender, powerful reckoning with his family’s history, secrets, myths, and divisions shows how we as a country can find a pathway to wholeness.”

— Eric Liu, author of Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy

More Than I Imagined impacted me far more than I could have possibly imagined. John Blake is spot-on when he writes, “facts don’t change people relationships do.” I needed this book. Our nation needs this book. Thank you, John. Highly recommend!”

— Andy Stanley, pastor, founder of North Point Ministries (NPM) and author of Not In It To Win it: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines the Church