"This Leaves Me Okay" with Walter Pryor and Stacey Abrams

Pryor and Adams will discuss "This Leaves Me Okay," a reflective memoir that explores the lesser-known Arkansas Black rural experience.

About this Event

On Wednesday, July 30 at 6 p.m. CT, the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Presidential Library will welcome Author and Arkansan Walter Pryor for a conversation about his book, "This Leaves Me Okay," moderated by Stacey Abrams.

Pryor and Adams will discuss "This Leaves Me Okay," a reflective memoir that explores the lesser-known Arkansas Black rural experience through the eyes of a grandson as he reflects upon the life of his grandmother. Lucille "Mama Ceal" Hatch Eldridge wrote to her grandson Walter Pryor weekly for nearly 30 years, from his boyhood until she died at 80. As a live-in maid, raising other people's children, she had little leisure time to write. Yet, her letters, sprinkled throughout “This Leaves Me Okay,” helped Pryor profoundly to feel he mattered. Pryor weaves his grandmother’s stories in with the civil rights and societal struggles she and others encountered.

Pryor shares the demoralization of knowing Mama Ceal's great-grandchildren must still grapple with too many of the race and equity challenges that she had to face. He asks, and the story answers: how did this woman, who was devalued in American society, figure out how to make her small world better and stay hopeful for her family's future?

BOOK: Pryor will sign copies of "This Leaves Me Okay," following the program. Click here to purchase your copy from the Clinton Museum Store, available for pick up at the event or post-event delivery.

The program will be available on our YouTube channel the following day.

ASL interpretation is available during our events.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM for “This Leaves Me Okay”

“This Leaves Me Okay puts the reader into a rural corner of the deep South. There, like a time traveler, we accompany his grandmother Lucille through the Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights eras. We learn about what it means to be Black in White America from one determined Black woman who found the space to make a life for herself and a path that changed the lives of her descendants.”
—Eric Holder, co-author, Our Unfinished March, former U.S. Attorney General

“A poignant reflection on the power of familial love…and the Black experience in America.” —Kirkus Reviews

“In his grandmother’s letters, Walter Pryor will forever hear his ancestor’s voice. These short, priceless, timeless notes, written in beautiful non-standard English, expose the way old Black people once communicated. The joy of these letters is that they are unfiltered and uncorrected. Now, as Walter tells the story of the woman who loved and nurtured him, we, the reader, get to see how so many Black, rural women lived vicariously through the children they raised. This is a song of praise, a celebration of a warrior spirit who meant for her “boy” to prosper. As Momma C prepared to go to Washington, D.C., to see her baby graduate, I literally cried. I felt her pride, her joy, her belief that God had not let her down. Read this book, and you’ll know how Black people survived.” —Dr. Daniel Black, author, Isaac’s Song, Perfect Peace; professor of African American Studies

Stacey Abrams is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, and political leader. She served eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as minority leader, and was the first Black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in United States history.

Rooted in values instilled by her parents and the belief that her job is to do as much good as she can, Stacey works to open doors of possibility and create solutions, opportunities and strategies that help others transform their potential into power. 

Dedicated to expanding possibility and progress for current and future generations, Stacey has founded several solution-driven entities spanning the impact, for-profit, and entertainment sectors. 

As a non-profit founder, Stacey has launched multiple organizations devoted to democracy protection, tackling social issues, and building a more equitable future in the United States.

Walter Pryor is a son of the South, the Black Church, and a strong family unit of resilient, formidable women. He is a cum laude graduate of Hendrix College, the only Black student in the college’s history to have been awarded the President's Medal, and a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center.

Currently serving as the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Southern Bancorp, his 30+ professional career has spanned a myriad of sectors in the legal arena, having worked in both large and small law firms, the U.S. Department of Justice, Capitol Hill, corporations, and higher education.

He is passionate about education and has devoted a significant amount of time to volunteer work in that space. Pryor currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Hendrix College as vice chair and the Board of Directors of the Washington Children's Foundation. He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Latin School of Chicago, the Board of Directors of Legal Prep Charter Academies in Chicago, and the Board of Trustees of National Collegiate Preparatory Public Charter High School in Washington, D.C. He and his wife Juliette have two adult children, Adjua and Wade Osei, and divide their time between Chicago, Charlotte, and Martha’s Vineyard.

"This Leaves Me Okay" (Heliotrope Books, 2025) is his first book.

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