RESPECT TO MY ANCESTORS AND FAMILY AND TO MY FIRST BORN EMPRESS!

I would like to pay respect to may family and our Journey A to MMM journey. A to MMM refers to my families journey from Africa to Mississippi, Michigan and now Minnesota (whats up with them M states?).

My parents were born in Mississippi but migrated up North to Michigan in the 50’s for a better a life. I was born in Michigan in the late 60’s one of 4 siblings. I migrated to Minnesota, for pretty much the same reasons that my parents left Mississippi, which was for better opportunity and too escape more overt forms of racism (Michigan is very segregated and racist). I moved to Minnesota and met my Empress and we produced a beautiful young empress of some 20 months old.

My parents were share croppers in the Mississippi Delta. My folks use to tell me stories about how poor they were. They said for Christmas, they would simply get an apple and an orange.. They used to decorate their home (more like a shanty) exterior with newspaper doing Christmas. They said that everyone did it and that they all would marvel at the beauty of it.

My father said that the land owner would never pay them enough money to break out of their debts. There existance is what was know as peonage. This peonage and Jim Crow Laws is justifcation enough for reparations ad there are millions of living victims from it...my folks being among them. But I guess our nation will wait till they die off before they recognize the injustice...but then say its too late to do anything because all the victims are now dead....so to bad. Anyway, my Dad said that sometimes the land owner or other whites would come and try to take some of the food that my folks were allowed grow for their sustenance. But my grand daddy didn’t take not slit. He would chase them off with his shot gun, but that only made things worse in the long run. Everyone worked out in the field too. From the youngest to the eldest. One day the land owner came buy and asked my grand daddy why his wife was not out in the field working. My grand daddy told him that he did not see his wife out there working…so why did he expect to see his. Of course…massa didn’t like that and try to punish the family by paying them even less for the work.

My grand daddy used to sell coal on the side that they would make from burning wood. He would travel through the Mississippi Delta country side on the weekends selling coal. He even had a rap to his game. He would yell out “ Charcoaaaaaaaalllllllll Mannnnn…..travelin thru da land….I’m black….charcoal black…sell my charcoal two bit’s a sack! “ I am extremly proud of the perserverance of my folks to get through what they endured.

My folks never got much education…because they needed to be out in the field to help the family survive. When my grand folks died. My Daddy moved up North and Married my mother, who was from his home county back in Mississippi. That is how I got here. We lived in Detroit and Grand Rapids Michigan, originally my folks settled in Detroit then Grand Rapids. It always seemed like we lived in tough neighborhoods. There were two people murder right in front of our home on different occasions. Other times I would see robbing, stabbings, shooting periodically. Street fighting was a weekly norm among youth and even some grown folks over the year and Police shoot outs once penetrated our home. It did not seem that bad growing up though it was kind of exciting when your young and feel invincible. The innocent rarely got victimized...not like it is today. That was just slit that happened and you just figured everyone dealt with it.

I was the youngest and had a tough older brother who sold drugs. He had a brand new ride in the 8th grade. Not too many cats messed with me because of my brother. He used to tell me about shoot outs that he was in and tell me about some cats he was with getting their heads blown clean off in robberies because they would not give up the goods. If you looked at him though…you could never tell the life he lived. He was really lucky. Never did any major time or suffered any life threatening wounds. Every time my mom heard the sirens…she would freak out because he was never home. He would be gone on two and three weeks stretches at the age of 15. He come back home and he done been in Chicago our down South somewhere hustling.

My other brother was a pure athlete. He was only about 5’10’’ but could dunk a ball 360 without taking any steps. He had a lot of talent, but his knees and Asthma really slowed his future. Plus, he faked an address and went to this suburban school and the racist coach would not play him like he deserved. When he got to college, his college coach called the school and told the coach that he did my brother an injustice because he could not understand why he did not get more playing time with his talent.

Me, I was considered the smart one. I was not really smart. I just went to class and did the work. That alone would get you labeled smart where I am from. That and talking with proper English. Cats thought you was a genius just for putting together a properly formed sentence. However, I cut that out quick as I started to get older. I did not want to draw attention to myself by standing out as someone who was into the books. That did not help your street rep none what so ever.

I played sports too...football and track and field. I was really skinny to the point that my football equipment look like it swollowed me...but I loved football and thought I would become a professional. NOT!

I actually flunked the 11th grade. I actually had no vision of a practical future other than working in some factory. My pops was a janitor and my mom working in a factory and everyone in my community who worked were doing factory work. Those with the Auto manufacturing jobs were considered the rich and elite....and those jobs did pay very well.

I remember my uncles telling me all that I needed to do to get ahead in life. I had a hard time reconciling their knowlege with their status in life. If what they were saying was true...then why did they not do it...I thought. I remeber my first year in college thinking that an Engineer major trained people to conduct trains. I could not figure out what a person needed to go to college for to conduct a train. I had NO CLUE in regards to any profession other than factory work....and the only thing I knew about that was that you come home dirty and tired.

I finished my matriculation from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1993. For a couple of years I felt it was a wasted time in my life because I was still working in factories and not getting any opportunitied in line with my education. Thats when I moved to Minnesota and found it to be the most hospitable place that I had ever been.

When I got my first real IT job....I could not believe the salary they were paying me. I was really intimidated and thought that they would be making me work like a dog for that money(in retrospect...I learned my starting salary was peanuts in the industry). After about a year on the job, I learned that the people who really worked hard were the people without college degrees...like my folks and me before I landed that job. I was sent to training all over the country. I went to California about 4 times, Florida, Colorodo, Chicago and Atlanta. I stayed in expensive hotels, had large expense budget for food.

Originally, since we were responsible for making our own travel arrangments and accomidations, I would pick the cheapest places to stay and would eat at Mcdonalds and stuff....until I saw were the white guys were staying at and that they were expensing 50$ mills (one mean mind you). I did not go as far as them, because I know a brother cannot due what white folks do. As soon as I would have done it....I am sure that the whole thing would have come under review and scrutiny.

One of the biggest things that shaped my commitment to the struggle of black people was the striking differneces between were blacks and whites lived while I was growing up and the constant arrest and detainments I had by white police and security guards for things that I never did. When I worked in resteraunts around white people, they would also acuse me of always stealing their tips. The whites that I were around were extemly ignorant and racist...not all of them. But the majority...because they lived in isolation from black people and everthing they believed was based upon stereotypes. I developed a complex so severe that when ever I was around whites and something came up missing...I felt compelled to go out of my way to prove it was not me. I can see very easily how so many black people were locked up for stuff they did not do...I actually thought that would be my fate one day too