Gilda Rogers pens memoir ‘Out of the Ashes Came Hope’

RED BANK – Gilda Rogers, the co-chair of the T. Thomas Fortune Project Committee and with the restoration of the T. Thomas’s Fortune house about to get underway, announces the release of “Out of the Ashes Came Hope”, the story of Monsignor William J. Linder, who founded New Community Corporation in 1965.

About Out of the Ashes Came Hope Book

Rogers, the ghostwriter of the book, has woven together the beauty and grace of humanity against the prevailing backdrop of race, rage and the ’67 Newark Riots.

The newly ordained priest, Father William J. Linder, who grew up in an all-white neighborhood in West New York, New Jersey, had never been to Newark, until 1963, when he was assigned to Queen of Angels, an all-black Catholic parish in Newark’s Central Ward.

This timely memoir illuminates the radical transformation of Father Linder once he lands in Newark and his life’s work as a messenger of God’s love for a downtrodden people. Today, New Community Corporation is one of the largest community and economic development corporations in the nation.

“This really has been a labor of love,” said Rogers who is also the author of ‘Arrested Development: The State of Black Achievement & Education in Hip-Hop America.’

“I’ve been working on this project with Monsignor Linder since 2012, and knowing all that he went through has been an inspiration to me for the T. Thomas Fortune Project.”

He stood up to racism

Considered radical, Monsignor Linder, 80, stood up to the Catholic Church and called it out as “racist,” once observing the difference in how Queen of Angels was treated in comparison to white parishes in the Newark Archdiocese. He also took on a corrupt white-political power structure in Newark.

“I grew up next door to Newark in Elizabeth and I remember the Newark riots, but I was a youngster,” said Rogers.

“To hear about it up close and what came out of this horrific event was – a phoenix rising – as the book cover depicts.”

How to buy Out of the Ashes Came Hope Book

The first discussion and book signing with Monsignor William J. Linder and Gilda Rogers will take place on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:30 at St. Joseph Plaza, 233 W. Market Street, Newark, NJ.

The book can be purchased on Amazon.