BLACK KLANSMAN est le livre autobiographique de Ron Stallworth, un officier de police afro-américain qui, dans les années 70, a réussi à infiltrer le KKK en se faisant passer pour un suprématiste blanc au téléphone, avec l’aide d’un collègue juif qui se rendait aux réunions à sa place.
Cette incroyable histoire a attiré l’intérêt de Spike Lee qui tournera une adaptation cinématographique avec, à l’affiche, John David Washington, fils de Denzen, Topher Grace, Adam Driver et Jasper Paakkonen ! La production et le scénario seront assurés par Jordan Peele et l’équipe de GET OUT, l’un des plus grands succès au box-office en 2017. Le film est prévu pour l’automne 2018.
D’abord publié en 2014 par un éditeur indépendant, le livre BLACK KLANSMAN sortira dans une édition revisitée chez Flatiron en juin 2018 :
The extraordinary true story of the African American police officer who goes undercover to investigate the KKK, the basis for the forthcoming major motion picture directed by Spike Lee, and written by Jordan Peele
BLACK KLANSMAN
A Memoir
by Ron Stallworth
Flatiron Books, June 2018
When Detective Ron Stallworth comes across a classified ad in the local paper looking for new Klan recruits in the Colorado Springs area, he responds with interest, using his real name while posing as a white man. His inquiry sparks a quick and welcoming response from the recruiter, and Ron begins to gain the Klan’s trust. Eager to recruit him, the Klan recruiter asks for a face-to-face meeting, necessitating Stallworth’s partner to play the “white” Ron Stallworth, while Stallworth himself conducts all subsequent phone conversations.
During his seven months of undercover work, Stallworth sabotages cross burnings and attempts by the Klan to further expand their membership, and weaponize a militia. As Stallworth rises higher and higher in the Klan, he realizes just how deeply seeded the hate group is in Colorado government. As the Klan holds a public rally headed by Grandwizard David Duke, Stallworth’s investigation comes to a tragic climax.
Ron Stallworth’s amazing story reads like a crime thriller, and is a searing portrait of a divided America and the extraordinary heroes who dare to fight back.
Ron Stallworth is a 32-year, highly decorated, law enforcement veteran, who worked undercover narcotics, vice, criminal intelligence and organized crime beats in four states. As the first black man accepted into the Colorado Springs police department and its youngest detective ever, Ron became the Jackie Robinson of his time and place, overcoming fierce racial hostility to achieve a long and distinguished career in law enforcement.
Few authors are as beloved as Shel Silverstein. His inimitable drawings and comic poems have become the bedtime staples of millions of children and their parents, but few readers know much about the man behind that wild-eyed, bearded face peering out from the backs of dust jackets.