COVER AUTHOR: Deborah Riley Draper

Deborah Riley Draper is an award-winning filmmaker and advertising agency executive. Drap- er’s next project is Coffee Will Make You Black. Draper penned the screenplay adaptation of April Sinclair’s seminal novel about an African-American girl growing up in 1960’s Chicago. Pro- duced by Octavia Spencer, Tate Taylor and John Norris, Draper will direct the film as well.

Draper’s 2019 short film Illegal Rose stars Jasmine Guy and is currently on the festival circuit, garnering a best actress award at the DTLA Film Festival.

Draper is 2016 Film Independent Lab Fellow and Variety Magazine’s “2016 Top 10 Documakers to Watch”. Her 2017 NAACP Image Awards nominated documentary, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, tells the untold story of 18 African Americans who defied Hitler and Jim Crow to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games. The film is one of only 3 nominees for the 2017 Peace and Sport Award in Monaco, presented by HRH Prince Albert.

Draper’s debut film, Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution, opened New York Fashion Week and Toronto Fashion Week in 2012. Versailles ’73 appeared at festivals and fashion weeks around the world. The film premiered on Logo TV in September 2015 and aired on the Aspire Network in 2017. MOMA, SCAD, Guggenheim Bilboa and the de Young Fine Arts Mu- seum of San Francisco and many other museums integrated the film with their major fashion exhibitions. Fox Searchlight optioned the feature film rights.

Deborah Riley Draper’s advertising acumen and creativity can be found in major campaigns and projects for Lamborghini, Coca-Cola classic, ExxonMobil, REI, AT&T, and adidas. She has earned two regional Emmys, a Gold Effie, and several Addy Awards and has stewarded multi- million dollar campaigns for over 14 years, driving earned media, brand share and sales rev- enue for clients.

Deborah Riley Draper is a Facebook 2018 SEEN Initiative Fellow, 2016 Guest Filmmaker Lec- turer at Indiana University, 2016 Spelman College Digital Moving Image Salon Celebration of Excellence Award Recipient and 2014 Distinguished Visiting Professor at Johnson & Wales Uni- versity in Entertainment Marketing. Draper, a Savannah, GA native,  is the Atlanta Chapter lead of  Film Fatales and a die-hard FSU Seminole.

How can readers get in contact with you? (mail, email, website) WWW.COFFEEBLUFFPICTURES.COM

Tell us about your manuscript to published author journey.

My book started as a documentary film. Usually, a book is published and producers option it to become a film. My journey was the opposite. I spent 4 years researching my documentary in archives and libraries in Germany and the United States and interviewing spectators, athletes, scholars and family members of the African American members of 1936 American Olympic team. I wrote, directed and produced a documentary based on this research. The 88-minute film premiered at the LA Film Festival in 2016 and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 2017. Blair Underwood, one of the executive producers of the film and the narrator, recommended Simon & Schuster take a look at the film. They loved the film and then learned I had years of research that didn’t make it into the documentary.

What inspired your book?

The lives of the 18 African American who defied Hitler and Jim Crow to win hearts and medals at the 1936 Olympics. I wanted their lives to live on in as many forms of media as possible.

What did you learn while writing this book?

Writing a book is very different from writing a screenplay. We had to find a conversational, approachable style that would suit anyone from thirteen to eighty who reads this book while maintaining a level of scholarship and rigor.

What did you hope to accomplish with this book?

Bring to readers a powerful story about unknown heroes that will enlighten us all about the importance of standing up for what’s right and being the one who may not get the fame but the one who clears the path for the others. That is a hero’s journey.

What would you like readers to take away from your book?

I want readers to take away that these incredibly courageous athletes are seminal figures in the fight for access and inclusion in sports and changed the fight for equality for everyone who was marginalized or underrepresented. Their power was in their commitment and their excellence.

Which part did you have the most fun writing about?

I had the most fun writing about the lives of Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes as black women in a sports story set in 1936.

What do you believe makes your stories stand out?

 Vivid characters, research and empathy. I try to find the hidden nuggets that tie the story to people in a universal way.

What are three things you wish you’d known before you reached where you are now?

The impact of clean eating, saying no is more powerful than saying yes and always get 7-8 hours of sleep.

How do you find balance with your writing and life?

This is a constant struggle. But, I find putting everything in google calendar with reminders helps. None of this works without

self-care, which is so hard when you just can’t write when you get in a groove.

How do you stay consistent with your book promotion?

I do the best I can. I look for 1-3 opportunities with significant presence each month.

What advice would you offer to someone whose first book is about to be released?

You are the chief marketing officer of your book launch. Put the same amount of energy into marketing the book that you put into writing it.

What are your favorite social media platforms and how are you using them for promotion?

Instagram is my favorite. I am posting and will do stories around the book tour events.

What three literary events would you recommend a writer in your genre attend?

The Library of Congress National Book Fair, Brooklyn Book Festival, LA Times Book Festival

What’s the most interesting change in your life as a result of being a published author?

I am waiting to see. I am looking forward to exploring the opportunities.

What about writing do you wish non writers would understand?

Writing is a personal journey that requires mental toughness, persistence and courage. It is like training for an Olympic competition. There is no perfection but there is an expectation of perfection.

Can you give us one do and one don't for those writing the book in the heart?

1. Do not get discouraged by the process, enjoy it. 2. Do accept that not everyone will love what you do and that is perfectly ok.

When you're not writing, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I love to travel, especially beach destinations, window shopping and spa days.

Oprah always asks, what do you know for sure?

That you should always give yourself permission to try something new and different from anything that you have done before. And, naps, walks and listening to great music truly are medicine.

Any last words for our readers?

Always greenlight yourself. And, remember not every project, person or place is good for your soul.

Discover the astonishing, inspirational, and largely unknown true story of the eighteen African American athletes who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, defying the racism of both Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of a segregated United States, sixteen black men and two black women are torn between boycotting the Olympic Games in Nazi Germany or participating. If they go, they would represent a country that considered them second-class citizens and would compete amid a strong undercurrent of Aryan superiority that considered them inferior. Yet, if they stayed, would they ever have a chance to prove them wrong on a global stage? 

To be better than anyone ever expected?

Five athletes, full of discipline and heart, guide readers through this harrowing and inspiring journey. There’s a young and sometimes feisty Tidye Pickett from Chicago, whose lithe speed makes her the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games; a quiet Louise Stokes from Malden, Massachusetts, who breaks records across the Northeast with humble beginnings training on railroad tracks. We find Mack Robinson in Pasadena, California, setting an example for his younger brother, Jackie Robinson; and the unlikely competitor Archie Williams, a lanky book-smart teen in Oakland takes home a gold medal. Then there’s Ralph Metcalfe, born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, who becomes the wise and fierce big brother of the group. Drawing on over five years of research, Draper and Thrasher bring to life a timely story of perseverance and the will to beat unsurmountable odds.

From burning crosses set on the Robinsons’s lawn to a Pennsylvania small town on fire with praise and parades when the athletes return from Berlin, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice is full of emotion, grit, political upheaval, and the American dream. Capturing a powerful and untold chapter of history, the narrative is also a celebration of the courage, commitment, and accomplishments of these talented athletes and their impact on race, sports and inclusion around the world.

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