SHARING COMMON GROUND: Promises Unfulfilled but Not Forgotten. By Billy Keyserling with Mike Greenly. Billy Keyserling - after serving as a congressional staffer, a member of the SC House of Representatives and for three highly acclaimed terms as mayor of Beaufort, SC - has decided not to run for office again. Instead, he'll do his utmost to make a positive difference for society in a new way ... via this book. In a nation riled by deepening divides, racial tensions, the killings of Black citizens during law enforcement encounters and other examples of societal turmoil, Mayor Billy's book offers a new approach to helping citizens gain a shared understanding of our value to each other. SHARING COMMON GROUND is leading the engagement of Middle School students (grades 6-8) in discovering some currently buried American history. These kids uncover, learn about and interactively share with each other (along with families, friends and communities) the untold and often mistold stories freed slaves and their suffering and achievements in the Reconstruction era after the American Civil War. Current education largely ignores these impressive stories and what they can teach us about our fellow humans. Nor are most students today taught about the way that Black successes and rights were ultimately stripped away as new Jim Crow laws legalized segregation and unequal treatment. As noted by Dr. Eric Foner - DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History: Columbia University - this important book can be a positive step toward making America a more just society.