I am grateful to be alive and in relatively good health. Many black men who were born and raised under impoverished conditions don’t live long enough to tell their story of overcoming the many obstacles that clogged their path and the joy of the journey.
I am grateful to have been raised by a loving mother and father and caring brothers and sisters allowing me to share this same love and gratitude with my wife of 37 years, a son and grandchildren, and the community I have dedicated my life to serve
I am grateful to have traveled to many parts of the world, especially the black world of Africa, where I served in Mali, West Africa for three years with the United States Peace Corps. While living in Mali I learned to speak elementary French, worked on a major sanitation project for the capital city of Bamako, played basketball on a semi-professional Malian team, and became the first black American to be given a plot of land from the government.
I am grateful for having kept my pledge to do all I can in the way I can to advance the interest, aspirations and ideas of the black community and, by extension, marginalized people the world over. Read full story here.