My history:
I was born in Trenton, Tennessee during the time when the cotton picking season, was the event of the year . I was raised by my grandmother and step grandfather on my father’s side of the family. I do not know my mother or any of my relatives on her side of my family. I grew up in a loving environment although there was very little verbal communication. There was a very high level of trust in our family as if they thought I could do no wrong . I knew my father until he passed away in 1987, but there never was much contact between us ever. Everyone said my looks and habits were identical to his. ‘Boy, you look like your daddy spit you out of his mouth’, was a word that I received often. My dad was very, very popular in our local area and in several other locations within the country. He had been a gospel quartet singer in his younger years but later became a preacher and rather quickly was called to pastor a church. His path of preaching the gospel and leading the saints lead him to pastor several Baptist congregations in immediate succession.
My dad was a strong singer with a lot of talent and a powerful preacher who did not shy away from leading his flock. I did hear him preach and sing a few times. Along with myself, some other survivors of my father are my stepmother, my sister, my step brother and the possibility of several other siblings that I do not personally know. Of the three that I know, I have more contact with my stepmother than the others but I love all of them. I wish I could tell you about my mother but I do not know anything to tell.
Growing up in our peaceful little town, with a population of about five thousands, I had many friends and associates, both male and female, all black of course, due to the dictates of ole’ Jim Crow (legal segregation). I would love to have had white friends along with my Afro-American friends but that was an unlawful thing to attempt after reaching somewhere around age twelve. If I am not mistaking the two races were allowed to socialize up until approximately age twelve. But I do not think the two genders were allowed to mix even at that early age. At that was my experience.
Throughout my childhood I was usually elected president of my class and in my teen years I was one of the few boys who had a car to drive, although we as most other Afro-Americans, were poor. The car was owned by my grandparents but they could not drive and trusted me with it almost whenever I chose to drive it, which was everyday. They purchased the car and I started driving them when I was about thirteen years old. I forged my age when I was fifteen years old by stating I was eighteen in order to get my drivers license so I could drive my grandparents to church and other places including long trips. I stayed out of trouble most of the time [big grin], never having anything with the law, although I had several paddlings up through high school. I was not a goody two shoes, it just appeared that way, but those who really knew me, knew I hung out in the streets until late at night having fun with the boys and men of all ages. We hung out in the cafes, drank beer, smoked cigarettes and etc. If you were old enough to put your quarter upon the counter, you were old enough to buy beer or liquor, so to speak. Liquor was illegal in my county at the time but beer was legal. I do not know if we even had a legal age limit for beer. There were plenty of boot leggers that sold illegal liquor.
As I grew into a mid to upper teenager, I started to feel that I just did not belong in the south, the southern part of the USA. I had always traveled a lot and I had an intense yearning for adventure. I learned that outside of the south, there was no legal segregation (Jim Crow) although thing were really bad everywhere for we Afro-Americans especially during that time frame. Like the other kids of my town, I grew up loving cowboy pictures and adventure films like Superman, Batman, Buck Rogers, and Mickey Mouse . I forged my age and tried to join the Army when I was fourteen. I wish that was the only lie I ever told but of course it wasn't. I rarely lied about anything and I still hate lying. Actually, I was following the lead of one of my close friends who had already done the same thing. But for me it was not to be. A neighbor saw me at the post office talking with a recruiter and she could not wait to inform my grandmother. Of course she did not have a cell phone, they did not yet exist. In those days you were blessed to even have a phone and you were really big stuff if you had a private line. In my early childhood, there were no private lines in my neck of the woods, that is something became available later on.
Well, I finally did leave for the Navy when I graduated high school and later turned eighteen. I was so anxious to get out of there, I left hitch hiking with five dollars in my pocket, going to live with one of my uncles in Indianapolis, Indiana. The job situation there just wasn’t getting it . I had tried two jobs that summer, one in Tennessee and the other in Indiana, and they both involved me getting wet and ended up with a high fever. So I made my way back to Tennessee to join the service. Several of my little buddies pretended they wanted to join the army, so we all went together to take the army entrance exam, but they all chickened out which left me standing there all along. So I joined the navy instead, which was always my first choice. I thought the navy would be more fun and I believe it was. One on my buddies did join the army at a later time.
Through all of this time and events, I had fallen deeply in love with my girlfriend who was to soon become my wife. While still at the ripe old age of eightteen, I became married with a brand new baby sleeping next to my bed which turned out to be a rather expensive alarm clock . I was s-o-o-o-o-o much in love with my wife and my baby. And of course I still love my sweet daughter as I also love my charming older son. By the way both my son and my daughter live in Tennessee and I now live in North Carolina by the way of New York and New Jersey. Well that is enough to digest at one time but if you want to continue reading click the ... More ... link below.
We encourage your feedback: Click or tap the ... more ... lto send it to us.
[ All rights reserved ]
I was born in Trenton, Tennessee during the time when the cotton picking season, was the event of the year . I was raised by my grandmother and step grandfather on my father’s side of the family. I do not know my mother or any of my relatives on her side of my family. I grew up in a loving environment although there was very little verbal communication. There was a very high level of trust in our family as if they thought I could do no wrong . I knew my father until he passed away in 1987, but there never was much contact between us ever. Everyone said my looks and habits were identical to his. ‘Boy, you look like your daddy spit you out of his mouth’, was a word that I received often. My dad was very, very popular in our local area and in several other locations within the country. He had been a gospel quartet singer in his younger years but later became a preacher and rather quickly was called to pastor a church. His path of preaching the gospel and leading the saints lead him to pastor several Baptist congregations in immediate succession.
My dad was a strong singer with a lot of talent and a powerful preacher who did not shy away from leading his flock. I did hear him preach and sing a few times. Along with myself, some other survivors of my father are my stepmother, my sister, my step brother and the possibility of several other siblings that I do not personally know. Of the three that I know, I have more contact with my stepmother than the others but I love all of them. I wish I could tell you about my mother but I do not know anything to tell.
Growing up in our peaceful little town, with a population of about five thousands, I had many friends and associates, both male and female, all black of course, due to the dictates of ole’ Jim Crow (legal segregation). I would love to have had white friends along with my Afro-American friends but that was an unlawful thing to attempt after reaching somewhere around age twelve. If I am not mistaking the two races were allowed to socialize up until approximately age twelve. But I do not think the two genders were allowed to mix even at that early age. At that was my experience.
Throughout my childhood I was usually elected president of my class and in my teen years I was one of the few boys who had a car to drive, although we as most other Afro-Americans, were poor. The car was owned by my grandparents but they could not drive and trusted me with it almost whenever I chose to drive it, which was everyday. They purchased the car and I started driving them when I was about thirteen years old. I forged my age when I was fifteen years old by stating I was eighteen in order to get my drivers license so I could drive my grandparents to church and other places including long trips. I stayed out of trouble most of the time [big grin], never having anything with the law, although I had several paddlings up through high school. I was not a goody two shoes, it just appeared that way, but those who really knew me, knew I hung out in the streets until late at night having fun with the boys and men of all ages. We hung out in the cafes, drank beer, smoked cigarettes and etc. If you were old enough to put your quarter upon the counter, you were old enough to buy beer or liquor, so to speak. Liquor was illegal in my county at the time but beer was legal. I do not know if we even had a legal age limit for beer. There were plenty of boot leggers that sold illegal liquor.
As I grew into a mid to upper teenager, I started to feel that I just did not belong in the south, the southern part of the USA. I had always traveled a lot and I had an intense yearning for adventure. I learned that outside of the south, there was no legal segregation (Jim Crow) although thing were really bad everywhere for we Afro-Americans especially during that time frame. Like the other kids of my town, I grew up loving cowboy pictures and adventure films like Superman, Batman, Buck Rogers, and Mickey Mouse . I forged my age and tried to join the Army when I was fourteen. I wish that was the only lie I ever told but of course it wasn't. I rarely lied about anything and I still hate lying. Actually, I was following the lead of one of my close friends who had already done the same thing. But for me it was not to be. A neighbor saw me at the post office talking with a recruiter and she could not wait to inform my grandmother. Of course she did not have a cell phone, they did not yet exist. In those days you were blessed to even have a phone and you were really big stuff if you had a private line. In my early childhood, there were no private lines in my neck of the woods, that is something became available later on.
Well, I finally did leave for the Navy when I graduated high school and later turned eighteen. I was so anxious to get out of there, I left hitch hiking with five dollars in my pocket, going to live with one of my uncles in Indianapolis, Indiana. The job situation there just wasn’t getting it . I had tried two jobs that summer, one in Tennessee and the other in Indiana, and they both involved me getting wet and ended up with a high fever. So I made my way back to Tennessee to join the service. Several of my little buddies pretended they wanted to join the army, so we all went together to take the army entrance exam, but they all chickened out which left me standing there all along. So I joined the navy instead, which was always my first choice. I thought the navy would be more fun and I believe it was. One on my buddies did join the army at a later time.
Through all of this time and events, I had fallen deeply in love with my girlfriend who was to soon become my wife. While still at the ripe old age of eightteen, I became married with a brand new baby sleeping next to my bed which turned out to be a rather expensive alarm clock . I was s-o-o-o-o-o much in love with my wife and my baby. And of course I still love my sweet daughter as I also love my charming older son. By the way both my son and my daughter live in Tennessee and I now live in North Carolina by the way of New York and New Jersey. Well that is enough to digest at one time but if you want to continue reading click the ... More ... link below.
We encourage your feedback: Click or tap the ... more ... lto send it to us.
[ All rights reserved ]
