Clifton Taulbert

Clifton Taulbert attended school in the Mississippi Delta during the era of legal segregation. He would have failed, he believes, if not for the community of unselfish adults around him. Their presence gave rise to his first book, Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored, which was included in the United States's gift to Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison, and also became a critically acclaimed movie of the same name. Taulbert wrote a dozen more books, including the Pulitzer-nominated The Last Train North, as well as the award-winning Eight Habits of the Heart. Taulbert is president and CEO of Roots Java Coffee and the founder and president of the Building Community Institute, and has delivered training internationally, from NATO in Brussels to political organizations in Central America to Fortune 500 Companies and academic institutions throughout the United States.