“A Good Run” is a coming of age book of a Black boy whose first childhood memory is riding a segregated train from Shreveport, Louisiana to San Francisco, California during the Great Black Migration in 1946. The book takes the reader on a journey through Ben’s remarkable life growing up in the San Francisco public housing projects, the move to their Bayview Hunters Point home, and school days in the San Francisco public schools.

His life takes a sudden change when Ben discovers, thanks to his basketball coach, that he is a talented middle distant runner. A track scholarship to San Jose State University exposes him to expert coaching, intellectual discourse, and social activism. The book provides readers insight into the rewards and challenges of a Black student athlete during the turbulent 60’s. The book transitions from college life to a young Black man with a college degree and the tension between career advancement and political activism.

Ben’s life experiences are set in the historical context of major events of the 1960s to the turn of the century. The book, like his life, is indeed a “Good Run,” leaving the reader informed and inspired; as if they have been on a nice run with Ben over the course of his life and American history.

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