I really thought that in my older years, after retirement I would lose my lust for adventure. Until I turned 60, I was willing to try almost anything. I never thought of traveling around the world, living in other countries, mountain climbing or parasailing... as being adventurous

I learned several languages, experienced many different cultures and traversed many philosophies without an inkling that my ever changing life was atypical of my family, my friends and people in general. 

I grew up not knowing that we were "poor" or "underprivileged" according to statistics and I still find it hard to believe. My parents both worked. They always provided for us. Although we wore hand-me-downs and mom bought our new clothes from "Johns Bargain Store's" basement, we were always clean, never missed a meal, lived in a nice home and went to school everyday.

The one thing that made us different became very clear to me at an early age. The discrimination I faced in school starting from the first grade (I didn't go to kindergarten) and subsequently every further grade right up and through college made it clear that America would always categorize me as a - take your pick -"Black",  "Negro", "jigaboo" not worth the air you breath... "n^%$#r".

As a kid coming up my parents were very strong on black pride and we were taught that not only were we Trinidadians, but African-Americans as well. As president of my elementary school parent-teachers association my father (a calypso saxophonist) helped to organized events with local artists like Ruby Dee, Ozzie Davis and Dizzy Gillespie.

Much to my good fortune my mom also had direct contact to another empowering source of black pride and unity. A man who spent his entire life fighting for justice and an end to the racial violence, bias and discrimination my family and my people experienced on a daily basis. I was directly wired to the main source, my cousin Louis Farrakahn.

That of course is a story of it's own. Let me briefly say that even now, the things I learned as a child have empowered me and instilled an undeniable pride for my history and the contributions of my people.

Need I say that making Juneteenth a federal holiday does not impress me in any way. Not only is it not enough, it's especially meaningless when Republicans the likes of Mitch McConnell oppose the John Lewis voting rights act that will protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of black voters. SLAVERY IS NOT OVER! 

As often, I'm straying from the focus of my blog. I want to tell you what were doing and the story of how we got here. I want to empower you so you know you can do it too and even more if you use your power of manifestation. Enjoy the video! Share our stories! Grow with us! And if our words inspire you, help us keep growing by subscribing to our Pateron Page. A dollar a month is all it takes to keep the wheels oiled and the stories and information flowing.