What a privilege it is to present an interview with my guest (and good friend), Nancy I. Sanders! We'll be discussing her book, America's Black Founders. Get ready for some jaw-dropping information.

Q: Nancy, in your new book, America’s Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes and Early Leaders, how did you go about choosing those particular unsung heroes?

A: I’ve been doing research about the early years of our nation, and the names of these founding fathers and mothers were everywhere I turned! Today, in the city of Philadelphia, there are historic markers with their names on them. In various city and state archives, there are historic documents with their names and their signatures on them. In newspapers from that era, there are articles written by them. In the records of the Revolutionary War, there are documentaries about their heroic deeds. The African Americans I included in my book from the founding years of our nation were community leaders and influential men and women of their day. I simply brought their amazing stories out of the dusty pages of history and into the light of our generation.

Q: How exciting! Nancy, give us a time-line for this book, from coming up with the idea to its publication.

A: Here’s how it happened:


 April, 2005: I first got the idea to write this book. I felt God calling me to share the story of Richard Allen, a great man of faith and strong Christian leader who was also a Founding Father of America. I let the idea germinate and grow inside me until I felt it was strong enough to share.
 March, 2006: I pitched the idea for this book over the phone to Chicago Review Press, the publisher of my book, A Kid’s Guide to African American History, and the publisher requested a proposal.
 October, 2006: I submitted the proposal to the publisher.
 November, 2007: Editor Jerry Pohlen called me on the phone and offered me a contract. We set a one-year deadline. Wahoo!
 January through December 2008: I wrote the book. A lot of prayer went into working on this manuscript, and I spent a lot of time sitting at the feet of Jesus while working on this book. Because Richard Allen and most of the men and women in this book were strong Christians who devoted their lives to sharing the Gospel, I wanted to make sure I was listening to God’s heart as I worked to tell their story through this manuscript.
 December, 2008: I finished the book and submitted it for my deadline.
 January, 2010: America’s Black Founders hit the market, already racking up presales of over 1700 books.

From the time I first got the idea for this book in April, 2005 until I signed the contract in December, 2007, I worked on other book deadlines. Then I cleared my plate of most other deadlines so that for an entire year, I could devote my energies and focus on the intense research needed to write this book. It was a very challenging, yet very very rewarding journey to take.

Q: America’s Black Founders, features 21 activities. What significance are these activities to this era in history, and how did you go about writing them?

A: Each activity in this book holds important significance surrounding the history of America’s Black Founding Fathers and Mothers. For instance, there is a recipe for Pepper Pot Soup in my book. This was a hearty dish that George Washington requested be cooked for the troops at Valley Forge during that long, cold winter when many of the troops wer