It has been suggested that I share my personal stories here for folks like you. My 1st experiences in civil rights and human rights started in Cleveland. My parents, both had master degrees in social work, took me on a march with MLK when he cam to Cleveland in 1963. When I was 10 my grandmother showed me the open casket photos of Emitt Till to explain why she would never take me to Tennessee to visit the extended family. She explained that I would end up that way because I was raised to speak my mind to white folks. We were the 1st black family to move across the tracks in Shaker Hts. in 1965. My brother and I were the 1st black kids in our elementary school. I belonged to several church youth groups that helped the poor in Cleveland. About 90% of the folks we helped were black. I participated in church based cultural exchange programs with poor communities in West Virginia. I got my church youth group to donate $500 to the Black Panther free breakfast program for poor black kids.