For the last year and a half I have been chewing through books at a rate that, quite frankly, has surprised me greatly. I never really considered myself a reader but I now realize that I spent so many years reading what I had to versus works that actually held my interest. My form of entertainment in Puerto Rico was reading and I can recall spending whole days doing just that. Yes, I fell victim to the Harry Potter books but I also enjoy reading things that make me step back and soak in a different perspective. Basically, I enjoy learning new things that others have to share. The book that I am reading now has stopped me in my tracks and has really made me think. It’s an unbelievable story and although I tend to shy away from recommendations, I won’t in this case. It’s a bit corny at times and makes you question the detailed memory of a young man reflecting on his childhood, but in all, it’s a story that everyone should know about.

Reallionaire by Farrah Gray is a story of a young man raised in Chicago and started his own business at the age of 8. By the time he was 11 he was co-hosting a national radio show and he was a millionaire by the age of 15! Anyway, I’ll stop there. Not sure why I decided to share that with you but it was on my mind.

Here is my latest installment of Personal Pages. It’s not new to me, but it will be to you. Enjoy!

“I don’t believe leaders are born…their life circumstances and how they respond to them carve out there leadership qualities” ~ Farrah Gray

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Why don’t they play with me? Can’t they see that I can kick like them?
Run and hide all before the count of ten?

Eenie… meenie… minie… moe… catch a nigger by the toe… out goes Y.O.U.
It’s the boy in blue again. This boy’s so blue again.
If it were not for the others, I would not have put my shoe in.

But once I figure them out, you better believe I’ll be a shoe in.
Confident in my ability I’ll rise to the occasion.

“He has trouble developing socially mam. If you don’t understand you can talk to Mrs. McMahon.
She wrote the reports and saw it with her own eyes.
A witness to his improper behavior, yet an advocate for his demise.”

‘What a surprise, he’s never shamed us before and I believe I’ll take my son out the front door.
These halls will never be long enough for my boy.

Pictures of the past that bear no reflection of the present.
A pioneer he will be for the rest of his life, but this place will no longer be graced by his presence.’

Standing tall before the board, quietly celebrating the completed equation.
The other persuasion, or the non-Caucasian. My identity unraveled on every occasion.

Until one day when it finally made sense, I shouted loudly what had been on my chest…

I am from the land of the unfree and I wear it proudly on my sleeve.
Some asked me to leave, but how could that be?

Is this not the place I belong? Where we shed blood and spilled tears on and on!?

You “honor your heritage”, I write for my culture.
A non-fiction worst seller filled with hidden truths.