MaDear and Dad believed in keeping in contact with family. We did not have a telephone or a vehicle, but they found a way. Letter writing was a common way to communicate. The stamps cost about three cents. Sometimes, three cents was hard to get. Poppa’s sister moved from Mississippi to New York City many …
MaDear and Dad were my first mentors and teachers. I’m grateful to them for their wisdom, nurturing guidance, and for teaching us our history. MaDear and Dad were both Christians, intelligent, hard workers, and ethical. They helped develop my value system and helped me build a solid foundation early in life. I was on the …
I still did not understand why we were living in poverty. At that age, I didn’t understand racism and oppression. We were the poorest of the poor. We were the poorest families in the communities we lived in and probably the schools we attended. I thought God had forgotten about us. The pictures I saw …
My earliest childhood memory occurred when I was around five. We lived in a rural area outside Memphis in a big white shack with a fig tree in the front yard. That tree produced delicious figs that kept our hungry bellies full. My oldest brother, Tippy, was ten years older than me and was known …
The South was called the Dirty South because of the way black people and other minorities were treated. Black people had separate water fountains, separate access to schools and facilities, limited opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation. I never understood how discrimination is allowed in the United States and supported based …
Everyone has a history. Good or bad, it’s our story. Having knowledge of history helps us to understand what our ancestors endured, understand other cultures, makes us better decision-makers, and better citizens. Some people are of the opinion that what happened long ago is in the past and has nothing to do we us today. …
Live your Best Life! You can choose to succeed in whatever you were meant to be. How many times do you meet people who are complaining about what they don’t have instead of enjoying what they do have? There are many opportunities in life. Doors close and windows open. Don’t spend so much time staring …