"Education is the key to opportunity, It's a ticket out of poverty." George H. W. Bush.
My life began in the inner city Housing projects in East Orange, New Jersey. I was born in a large household being the sixth of seven children. My father died when I was two year's old and my mother had to struggle to bring us up on her own. My mother was the third of nine siblings, born and raised in Brookneal, Virginia in abject poverty. As was the norm during her childhood years, children had to work in plantations and tobacco fields from their childhood through to their teenage years which left little to no time for a formal education. As a result, my mother could only manage to acquire a third- grade level education from which it was difficult for her to get meaningful and well- paying jobs. With no stable income and seven mouths to feed, Social Security became our primary means of survival with my mother receiving about $3000 a year which was barely enough and could only afford us a few basic necessities. Life in the housing projects was no picnic either; poverty, crime, aggression, and other vices were commonplace in the neighborhood. In addition, there was no diversity in the area with most of the people living in the projects belonging to either the African American or Hispanic races. The schools I attended had no diversity either, forming preconceived notions in our heads about our place and destiny in the American society. The projects had no role models or people to look up to and emulate. Those who were not involved in crime and other vices were demoralized and depressed with nothing to offer their children. Though I had a difficult time growing up, I am grateful to my mother who never let us devalue education. Her mission in life was to struggle to educate us and get us out of the environment of poverty and crime.
"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." Socrates.
Life in the housing projects was characterized by high rates of illiteracy, minimum wage labor intensive jobs, high rates of young pregnancy, crime, drugs, and incarceration. The schools we attended were overpopulated with an imbalanced student to teacher ratio and no diversity. The teachers also came from the housing projects and thus maintained the same mindset and status quo. They offered no encouragement towards academic excellence and instead focused more on sports. The students who achieved the minimal passing grade were celebrated and considered successful. Hence, not much was expected of me in the housing projects. As all the other children in the area, I was expected to continue the cycle of finishing school, getting a minimum wage labor intensive job at one of the factories in the area and living in my mother's apartment. For what seemed like the longest time, my life existed within the housing projects, the Strip Mall outside the projects and school. The cycle was well in place until, through my mother's urging and my own determination, I resolved to get a career, become a successful businessman and move out of the projects. I was passionate about sports which was supposed to be my ticket to college, however, my family's state of poverty forced me to join the Army. It was not long until I became passionate about the army life and rose through the ranks becoming Sergeant in less than three years and earning enough money to help my family out financially.
"Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn't settle for it." Anonymous.
All the members of my immediate as well as extended family all continued the cycle and lived the life expected of people in the projects. My grandparents on my mother's side lived in poverty and worked in the tobacco fields. I am unaware of my father's profession but neither he nor my mother attended high school. My mother worked in the tobacco fields and after marriage, she became a housewife and later a maid after my father died. Three of my six siblings managed to graduate high school though I am the only one who was able to graduate from college. My four sisters became housewives, my two brothers both work labor intensive jobs as is the case with a majority of my extended family members who live from pay- check to pay- check as is the norm in the housing projects.
My dreams while growing up were big and I believed there had to be more to life than what the housing projects presented me with. I would dream about being a successful businessman, owning my own house in a nice, crime- free and poverty- free environment. These dreams were the motivation I needed to excel in sports and I was also an honor student. My desire for a better life motivated me to search for and exhaust all means available in addition to keeping me away from drug use and peddling as well as other vices and crimes.
"Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom!" Oprah Winfrey.
My education which started in a school in the projects and ended in a college far away from where I was born and raised spun over a period of about twenty years and culminated in a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Information Systems. In 1983, I graduated from high school with honors and attended numerous colleges due to the frequent changes in duty stations while in the Army. I attended the University of Maryland, Central Texas University, Hillsborough Community College, Saint Leo University (B.S. CIS), Trident University, Burlington County Community College, Barton College (A.A.S) all within my 24- year Army career. I have been able to achieve various educational and other accolades such as: a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems, certification in Business Development and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and a graduate of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, director for USSOCOM's Global Network Operations (NetOps) Control Center (GNCC), a Command Sergeant Major (CSM) after serving 24 years of active duty with Special Operations Forces and Conventional C4ISR units, served combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, selected as the U.S. Drill Sergeant of the Year in 1991 which earned me an appearance on Good Morning America, Today's Show, Regis and Kathy Lee Show, and a feature in many magazines like Jet, Ebony, Sports Illustrated and Black Enterprise, a recipient of the Stephen Ailes Award and the Silver Signal Order of Mercury Award as well as the 1993 United States Army Special Operations Command Robert Sigholtz Award and finally, an honorary member of the 26th Infantry Regiment and an Audie Murphy Club Inductee, with awards and decorations which include the Legion of Merit award, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Master Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Path Finder Badge; Drill Sergeant Badge. I am also currently enrolled in a Master's program.
"The more obstacles I overcome, the stronger I become." Gracie Alvarez.
Life isn't without obstacles. Being an African America, my Caucasian Drill Sergeants would often remind me of my color and background and give me only the minimum score in tests no matter how well I performed. In Germany, my Platoon Sergeant also treated me as a second- class citizen, he assigned a racist Sergeant to be my supervisor and often tried to rate my NCOER as the lowest in the Platoon. Even with my 24- year military career and 3 years as a government civilian experience, when I entered the defense contracting industry, I was made to start at bottom unlike other white mid- grade officers who started as presidents, vice- presidents and directors. After working my way up to Director in the company, they opted to appoint a white, former officer with no business experience as the vice president of the whole region when the company was acquired by a larger company. Despite all these discriminations and obstacles, I was able to persevere, out- perform all others and start my own business.
Since I applied for and received the SBA 8a status, I have come to the realization that senior enlisted African Americans are in the habit of conforming to the status quo and wait to be hired by the former commissioned officers who are Caucasian and who become successful as the African Americans do all the hard work. This is also due to the fact that the Caucasians own most of the defense contracting businesses.
