I was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1944. My family lived next door to my grandparents, with my grandfather being the last of the slaves in the South. My mother was a Reverend. In our house, there were more Bibles than food, and we felt religion everywhere.

Sometimes, my mother would buy a bible over buying something for us to eat. When this happened, as an independent child and the firstborn, I would put myself in charge of finding food for my younger brothers. I was never not looking out for my little brothers […]