BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–As Birmingham, Ala., commemorates the 50th anniversary of the events of 1963, the memoir of the city’s most successful Black entrepreneur has been republished for the first time in four decades.
Green Power: The Successful Way of Dr. A.G. Gaston, originally published in 1968, tells the story of Gaston’s success from his first enterprise selling rides on a swing in his grandmother’s backyard, to the founding of the Booker T. Washington Burial Society, to the establishment of a myriad of businesses including a motel, a realty company, a life insurance company and more.
The reprint features a forward from Walter Howlett, a principal at A.G. Gaston Construction, one of the surviving businesses of the A.G. Gaston legacy. In the forward, Howlett writes: “School children need to read his life story. All of us need to know what can be accomplished when we are guided by principles and have a desire to meet the needs of those around us.”
All proceeds from the sale of the 2013 reprint of Green Power will go to the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club, a Birmingham-based nonprofit established in 1966 that provides enrichment programs for at-risk youth. The program is affiliated with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and it serves more than 1,200 students in the greater Birmingham area each year.
The republishing of A.G. Gaston’s book was initiated by energy company Alabama Power as part of its 2013 Power of Leadership initiative and is supported by the Alabama Power Foundation and Wells Fargo.
“Alabama Power is proud to play a part in honoring the human rights heroes who risked their lives to move our city and state forward,” said John Hudson, Vice President of Public Relations and Charitable Giving for Alabama Power. “We have a recurring theme of the ‘Power of Leadership’ in our activities that commemorate 1963, because we want to celebrate some of the unheralded leaders of the movement: pioneers of business. A.G. Gaston is a great example of a successful business leader and his book will provide inspiration to a new generation of leaders.”
The reprint is available on Amazon.com or directly through the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club. The price is $21.95.
