Ray Guerrero

The Politics of Power Ray Guerrero

In the early 1990s, Black women were only allowed to work in traditional church roles. Then they began to fight in earnest for access to ecclesiastical power and now LaNia Jackson s shattered the stained glass ceiling. Climbing through the ranks as the first female Assistant to the Presiding Elder of America's largest Black church had its price. Her husband Ken pushes her to take a sabbatical to start their family. Her heart says yes. Her ambition shudders at the thought. The thirty five year old knows she has to make life changes. But before she can figure it out the international missions director's church trial on charges of theft to pay off underage sodomy victims, is interrupted by his death. Is the charismatic but ruthless U. S. Presiding Elder Harold Whitestone, involved and guilty of murder? Would she really go as far as helping cover up murder in the church's ecclesiastical ranks? She needs to know the truth. Her quest places her in danger while taking her from Dallas' pristine suburbs to the heart of its ghetto, from Mississippi clues to letters and photos from a Haitian mistress of a high ranking leader. Her resolve never to compromise her faith is surprisingly challenged when she is drawn to the jaw-dropping fine Edward Winston Steele who quotes Frederick Douglas and MLK yet runs multimillion dollar underworld operations from his South Dallas bar and Uptown Village penthouse. On the journey she also offers hope to high school student Jamal whose desire to make it out of the inner city seems stalled when he's captured by police and Red, Jamal's older girlfriend/part-time hooker. An ironic turn of events from unlikely sources intervenes to help unravel the mystery. Through the lens of church goers the beauty of the church's simple beliefs, uplifting music, and customs intersect Black life and church history in a way that is engaging, entertaining and informative.