- Welcome to American Black Journal.

I'm Stephen Henderson, your host.

The Life and legacy of the late Michigan Congressman, John Conyers Jr., is the subject of a new book that was written by his son, John Conyers III.

It's titled, "My Father's House: An Ode to America's Longest Serving Black Congressman."

In the book, John shares his memories of growing up as the son of one of the country's most iconic civil rights leaders.

He also delves into politics and leadership today in 2025.

I'm pleased to welcome John Conyers III to American Black Journal.

Welcome to the show.

- Thank you for having me, Stephen, I greatly appreciate it.

- So I'm really intrigued by the idea of writing this book.

Anyone writing about their parents, I think faces an enormous number of hurdles and challenges in terms of how to tell that story, why to tell that story, and just even where to start.

But for you, that takes on an added dimension of difficulty, I think, because of who your dad was, who he was, not just to you, but who he was to the city an to the country.

So let's start there.

Let's start with the idea of this book.

What brought you to this moment where you felt like this was a story you needed to tell?

- Well, I did not want to write a book book about my father.

That's not how it came to be.

It came into being, he started working on a book, and in the process of us working on that book and basically being near the, you know, the goal line to, you know, getting a book deal and all the things, he passed away.

And so, after he passed away, it really turned into, well, if you want this story to be told, and I think it is important that Black people tell their own stories.

- [Stephen] Yes.

- And we get to dictate the direction in which a legacy goes.

And all those things.

My agent said to me, if you want the story to be told, you are gonna have to write it.

- [Stephen] You're gonna have to do it.

- Write the book.

- Yeah.

- And so we used a lot of material, or I used, I repurposed a lot of material from, you know, what my father had begun, and then figured out how we contextualized, I figured out how we contextualized him kind of after that, and what stories were important.

And then obviously I understand what my politics are and who I am, separate and apart from my father and how he's shaped who I am.

And so that became like how we.

- Yeah.

- We have now.

- So now that the book is done, do you feel like it is a primarily personal take on your dad?

Or is it a mix of that and the sort of external view of him as well?

- I think the purpose, for me, at least, with the book, number one, I try to be as objective as possible, right?

One of the things that is a tenant and core pillar of my life is like accountability, right?

And so when we, when I was examining not only my father, myself, and whomever else in this work, it was important for me to be as objective as possible so that, you know, the bias that people think that this book would be written with.

- Sure, sure.

- Could kind of be removed.

I tried to focus on his career and things that occurred that he was present for and situate him rightfully so, and as he was, at some of the most seminal moments.

- Yeah.

- Of this country's history, from being the first person to introduce articles of impeachment on President Nixon, to being the author of the MLK holiday, being the father of the Medicare for All movement.

Right?

Like these are the things that are factual.

And I just tried to bring them to the forefront for folks to understand that, you know, a Black person, a Black man, is who started this fight.

- Yeah, yeah.

I mean, just having you rattle off those few things.

I mean, there were so many things that he did that were either first or, or significant for other reasons.

I'm really curious for you, as his son, which things for you stand out about him in terms of his public persona, the things that he did that you think most identify him for, sort of what he believed and what he wanted to do.

- Well, I think those are two different things.

I think.

- [John] Yeah.

- What stands out to me is Medicare for All and probably reparations.

I think that, again, part of writing this book, I think the folks that have carried on the work that my father started have largely removed him from that narrative.

And so it was important for me to write this book to reach, introduce him to those things.

Whether that's reparations or Medicare for All.

- You feel like he's been being erased from those narratives.

- 100%, right?

I think that.

- I hear his name a lot.

- I don't hear, when you talk about Medicare for All, I don't hear John Conyers.

I hear Bernie Sanders, I hear AOC.

- Right.

- And I was present when Bernie, you know, it was actually at Fellowship Chapel where Bernie and my father had a conversation about, you know, hey, you know, John, I think I'm going to really lead into the Medicare for All thing.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And so I think it's important that, like, I'm grateful to Bernie for caring.

It's very important work.

- [Stephen] Yeah.

- But 22 years ago, my father is the person before Bernie.

- [Stephen] Who said, hey, this is.

- He introduced the bill.

And I think it is important that like, while Bernie is carrying that mantle and a AOC, she's carrying that mantle, we don't forget the person who is responsible.

And the literal framework for that was a Black man from Detroit.

- [Stephen] Yeah.

- And then when we talk about reparations, very grateful to Ayanna Pressley, grateful to Erica, Erica Lee Carter and Sheila Jackson Lee for carrying on the torch.

But for 22 straight years, John Conyers introduced that legislation, every year, right?

And so I think to not have him be a part of that conversation consistently, I think it does a disservice to the work.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, let's talk about now, and you know, not just what your father's work means to those movements now, but what it means to you.

I mean, as you point out, you're someone with your own, with your own politics and beliefs.

- I mean, above my politics, what my father's work signifies to me, and I hope signifies to so many other folks, is that, you know, the work you do, you may not get to see the fruits of it.

- [Stephen] Sure.

- Right.

- But you have to lay the foundation for someone.

If we're talking about people picking up the mantle and carrying the torch, even though they're not necessarily speaking about my father, the foundation was laid for them to carry that work on.

- Yeah.

- And I think it is vitally important that we pick up or we do work that we may not be here to see the fruits of, right?

Because that is work that needs to be done regardless.

And so, you know, that's kind of where I land on what is important or what my takeaways are from that.

- Yeah.

- From my father's work.

- What would your dad think about, and this is a lot, this may be an unfair question.

What would your dad think about where we are right now?

I mean, we are at such a crossroads, I think, not just in terms of policy issues, not just in terms of race, but in terms of the very foundation of what makes us a nation.

And I'm not sure that everyone believes that we're going to be a nation, at least in the same way in the future.

I think about the things that your dad had to fight so hard to change people's minds about or get them to consider.

What would he think of this moment and what would he be called to, I guess, in this moment?

- Well, he wrote an article about Donald Trump when he was in office, when he served.

So there we, I have a little,.

- We know what he thought.

- I know what my dad thought of.

I think it's bigger than Trump.

I think this is about us as Americans.

- Well, I think, I mean, when you say, you know, the country may not be the same.

I think obviously the country's not the same as it was 10 years ago, or 20 or 30 years ago.

So I think change, and one thing my father taught me, it's like change is a constant.

- [Stephen] Yeah.

- It's always gonna happen.

I think that we get to decide, you know, we have elections coming up this year.

We have elections next year.

We get to decide the direction that the country's going to go in.

I hope that there are people that learn from, you know, what has transpired and what the six months since president Trump has taken office.

And so I think it's really important that folks get engaged.

I think that would be my father's thing.

And then the other thing is, we're talking, we're looking at the rule of law in so much that's happened.

My father encouraged every person that he came in contact with to go to law school.

- [Stephen] Yeah.

- And so I think, you know, we need more folks that are going to uphold the law and understand the law and fight for the rule of law, yeah.

- Yeah.

I know for sure he would be very proud of what you're doing.

- I appreciate you saying that.

- And of the book.

What do you hope people who maybe don't know your dad that well or don't know his legacy that well, might pick the book up, read it, what would you want them to take from it?

- What I would want people to take away from the book, and one of the things that I talk about consistently, is that like, as a Black man or a Black person in America, we have a right to take up space in this country at the highest levels.

And when you get to those spaces, it is incumbent upon you to take up space and speak up on behalf of folks that look like you, that come from where you come from and as much as you possibly can, come out on the right side of history.

I think that is what I hope my takeaway, I hope their takeaway is.

And then the final thing when we talk about my politics is understanding that like, you know, we have the ability to shape this country.

The book is about a guy who did that.

- Right.

- And so we need more folks that are willing to step into that space and take up space and change and shape the direction of this country.

- Yeah, yeah.

All right, well, congratulations.

- Thank you very much.

And thanks for joining us on American Black Journal.

- Thank you for having me.