Biography of Edward D.McClure

Born into a large, loving, deeply spiritual family in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York, Edward D. McClure learned the rules of the street, the moral structure of the black church, and viewed white privilege through his shoeshine box at Yale University. Then, he melded the diversity of his experiences into a philosophy that has sustained him as a cultural analyst, negotiator, and bridge builder through many decades of personal and professional achievements, including 25 years as a Community Relations Officer with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service (CRS).

Mr. McClure’s nature-centric philosophy that “diversity is normal” supports his commitment to equal protection under the law, as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment and subsequent civil rights laws. Coining the phrase “University of the Streets and Academia” (U-S-A) during his years with CRS, he consistently brought the “streets” and the “halls of power” together to address police/community relations conflict as well as issues arising from court-ordered school desegregation, Indian land claims, Ku Klux Klan rallies and immigration. In all of his work, his strategy was to create through written and enforced civil rights conflict management policies an atmosphere of trust, a climate for genuine dialogue and communication, and institutional support to fulfill Constitutional and statutory obligations.

See Mr. McClure's vitae.

The Freckles Concept

The book Freckles started from a simple question of the author, “Why are you so dark-skinned and I’m so light-skinned? My teacher told me you’re one big freckle.” Mr. McClure starts with a clear explanation that whether light, medium or dark, we are all part of Nature’s mosaic – each of us has some degree of melanin. Just as flowers are red, blue, yellow, or pink, the diversity of Nature’s design includes people of all colors.

Each of Edward McClure’s books - Freckles, We Love You Mama, and Police Community Relations - starts from a nature-centric view of Mother Earth and Father Sky, in recognition of a power greater than humankind. The books are meant to stimulate thinking and dialogue about how everyone’s interpersonal social and business transactions are influenced by their vision of nature. We all fall somewhere along a continuum of seeing ourselves in harmony with the diversity of nature or in an antagonistic relationship. The extent to which we see ourselves as a part of that whole affects how we view our obligations to each other as well as to a higher authority, whether in spirit or in the secular world. That vision is translated into how we handle relationships in our families, communities, on our jobs, as a nation and in the world.

Mr. McClure’s books are meant to stimulate discussion around public policy, civil rights obligations, race and diversity from top leadership to the average person on the street.