We All Suffer. If A Man's Wise,

Many A Young Person Tells Me He Wants To Be A Writer. I Always Encourage Such People, But I Also Explain That There's A Big Difference Between Being A Writer And Writing. In Most Cases These Individuals Are Dreaming Of Wealth And Fame, Not The Long Hours Alone At The Typewriter. You've Got To Want To Write, I Say To Them, Not Want To Be A Writer. The Reality Is That Writing Is A Lonely, Private And Poor-paying Affair. For Every Writer Kissed By Fortune, There Are Thousands More Whose Longing Is Never Requited. Even Those Who Succeed Often Know Long Periods Of Neglect And Poverty. I Did.

I Wasn't Going To Be One Of Those People Who Died Wondering What If? I Would Keep Putting My Dreams To The Test - Even Though It Meant Living With Uncertainty And Fear Of Failure. This Is The Shadowland Of Hope, And Anyone With A Dream Must Learn To Live There.

I Know That Statistically, It Has Been Proven That There Is A Tremendous Amount Of Black On Black Crime Within The Inner Cities.

In All Of Us There Is A Hunger, Marrow-deep, To Know Our Heritage- To Know Who We Are And Where We Have Come From. Without This Enriching Knowledge, There Is A Hollow Yearning. No Matter What Our Attainments In Life, There Is Still A Vacuum, An Emptiness, And The Most Disquieting Loneliness.

There Was A Great Deal Of Inbreeding Between The Indians And The Slaves. Genetically Speaking, Black People Are Some Part Black, Some Part European.