Date: Thursday, August 20, 2026
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Central Time
Location: Online – FREE Registration
Cost: Free and open to the public
ABOUT THE DISCUSSION
How do we confront the narratives of resistance that have been systematically erased from the history of chattel slavery?
Clay Cane’s groundbreaking historical fiction novel shines an unflinching light on the enslaved individuals who rose up and fought back against their bondage in the American South. Centering real people and hidden histories , his work explores both the brutal realities of the plantation system and the powerful acts of rebellion that defined the struggle for freedom.
Join Whitney Plantation for a live virtual book club featuring award-winning journalist, historian, and author Clay Cane, and Dr. Ashley Rogers, executive director of Whitney Plantation.
Buy your copy of Burn Down Master’s House at the Whitney Plantation Store online or in person.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Clay Cane, journalist, historian, and author of Burn Down Master’s House
Clay Cane is an award-winning journalist, author, television personality, and the host of The Clay Cane Show on SiriusXM Urban View. A Rutgers University graduate and Phi Beta Kappa member, he earned a bachelor’s degree in English and African-American Studies. Cane is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans From the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump (2024) and the bestselling historical novel Burn Down Master’s House (2026).
Dr. Ashley Rogers, executive director, Whitney Plantation
Dr. Ashley Rogers is Executive Director of the Whitney Plantation. She has led the museum’s interpretation and operations since its opening in 2014, and in 2019 guided the institution through a transition from a founder-owned C-Corp to 501(c)(3). Rogers has been instrumental in long-range planning, writing the site’s first strategic plan and building its first board of directors. She has over ten years of experience in historic sites, and she has consulted with numerous organizations about issues of race, slavery interpretation, and equitable museum practice. She served on the advisory board for and co-authored the MASS Action toolkit, the Inclusive Historian’s Handbook, and James Madison’s Montpelier’s rubric for engaging descendant communities. She holds an MA in History from Colorado State University, and she earned her PhD from the department of history at Louisiana State University. Rogers serves on the board of directors of the Southern Mutual Help Association, a New Iberia-based organization dedicated to fostering healthy and economically vibrant rural communities.
