What About Me?

I have noticed considerably over the last 5 years of my life that I am somewhat different from others. I am the second son of a minister in his second marriage. All my life I've been raised in a conservative christian household and I converted to Buddhism three years ago. My family is very large and interracial on my father's side of the family. My mothers side of the family is more homogeneous and considerably smaller, but large in comparison to most. I know nothing of my heritage. My great great great grandparents were slaves on both sides of my family. That being said it's considerably hard to trace one's roots with all the ravaging effects of the transatlantic slave trade. This part of my heritage though, being the great grandson of slaves has shaped me more than anything. My grandfather on my mother's side of the family is where I received my name from . He was murdered by two policeman as he walked home from work in 1955. These are the inherited circumstances of a black male two generations from being considered an animal in his region,state, and "country." I have a strong desire to leave my hometown Birmingham and travel more.


The categories I fall under are straight , male, and African American. I actually hate to use that term "African American" because I think its silly. When I hear it I imagine caucasians lazily assuming all blacks were brought from Africa , neglecting Haiti, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica , etc. I come from a working class family of four. I learned the value of hard work at an extremely early age. This caused me to mature a bit faster than the other children growing up. I am twenty years old now and have been working since the age of seven. My parents own a cleaning service and have been training me almost 14 years now. My language is English and I try to speak "un poco" espanol. My mother and father taught me to be very active in civil rights and the community ,so I have been. I work at a non-profit called YouthServe where I help young people get involved in community service and social change. I have a lot of passion to be politically and culturally aware of my surroundings. The desire for personal education is held very dear in my heart. I consider the fact that some time ago in this country my people were prevented from being taught to read by law. Sometimes I am told I live in the past about race issues and civil rights ,but segregation was not long ago at all. My only disability is I'm too nice to people as a Buddhist and peace activist.