Father Brady: Love by Many, Hated by Plenty

Father Brady—Loved by Many, Hated by Plenty is a loving, exciting memoir of my years as a young, Irish-American Catholic priest in two Black parishes in the New Jersey towns of Orange and Montclair in the late 1960s and early 70s. I aim to underscore how essential it continues to be for folks of all ethnicities and belief systems to work together. I include true accounts that I lived and my own original photos of my life and times with Civil Rights leaders Coretta Scott King (and her children at breakfast) and husband Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And I share my recollections of my life threatening participation in demonstrations, sit ins, and sleep ins that inspired Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to write in a very personal letter to me, “The attack on your life in Newark was painfully familiar. It did sound like some of the bad times in the South… Your courage and determination to lovingly demonstrate the nonviolent brotherhood so desperately needed in this world is a source of inspiration and encouraging… I pray that you will continue in this work for you are certainly divinely inspired.”
On the inside cover of Coretta Scott King’s book, My life with Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta personalized it to me, “To Charley Brady: With deep appreciation for your concern and support of those ideals of love, justice, truth, peace, and brotherhood. May our common efforts hasten the day when Martin’s dream will be realized.”
Themes in my book continue to be timely. I am still recognized in Montclair as the “young White priest who walked the streets and showed us that Black Lives Matter.” One hundred+ former members of my programs begged me to write a book about our collaborative relationship. Over fifty of them are quoted in my book. Some even contributed chapters. Eleven contributors are ministers in various denominations residing all over USA. We saw democracy in action. We saw love in action. We have seen the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. in action. We have seen the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in action. Only by working together can we reach our common goals of racial justice.