TOPCAT

I began writing in the sixth grade. One of my favorite shows was Lost in Space, and due to the heavy race consciousness at that time, I realized that there were no Black People on the show and began writing a serial about a Black family marooned in space. One of my teachers became aware that something was distracting my attention from the lessons and she inquired. To make a long story short, I was granted a story telling session in which I could read installments from my story to the third grade.

It was the love of reading that made me want to write. My father was a merchant seaman with an eighth grade education. I was his oldest son. He was very demanding. His insistence and the very lenient child abuse laws at the time combined to create a child who read at 11th grade level in the third grade. I knew my time tables to 12 by second grade. And I was voraciously reading books that he brought me from all over the world. Plato, Socrates, Carlos Castenada, Kahil Gibran, Ann Rand, Machiavelli, and more.

My English three teacher discovered my love and cultivated in. I learned imagery, subtlety, and the manipulation of history while studying The Illiad.

I ghost wrote for college students, specializing in essays, and other reports. I was contracted to write a play for an actor who simply wanted something he could star in.

Dabbled several time in fiction. Have full length novel that was never published. I was sensitive about my writing at the time. I was also the junior member of the West Oakland Writers Workshop. I was maybe 20 at the time, and the list of authors in that Workshop was like a who's who of Black Literary giants at the time. Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, Charlie Russell, Ted Pontifle' and more. Many of the names were probably honorary members, I never saw them, but you can imagine my awe at being there.

I was working on a novel about Jesus returning as a Black, bald headed jogger. My three main characters were the re-incarnations of some of his apostles. And Jesus (named Mahdi in the story), was asking them why they had went out and told everybody that He was coming for them, when all He meant was that he was coming back for His apostles.

Religious introspection was my thing at the time. The workshop met at rotating authors homes and one author was critiqued at each meeting. Well they got wind of Mahdi one night and lit me up. My characters were not realistic, they said. Black people do not talk like that, they said. Yeah... my characters had college degrees, office jobs, nice cars, and impeccable diction. Those of you who know me, probably know what happened then. I went on offense, of course. Why would I write about some shit I see every day, I said. I write about the way I think it should be. And here almost 30 years later, I'm still doing that.

I write poetry, because it soothes me. I self publish for my friends. I still dabble in writing for the stage. I write songs for musicians. I love doing Spoken Word. And I am public speaker.

BLACK-TASTIC