Excerpts from Full Circle

INTRODUCTION – What’s Your Story, Morning Glory?

Just a mile from the Atlantic, Neptune sat on the other side of the tracks. For those of us who grew up there, life’s limitations seemed etched into the very streets. They whispered, “You won’t amount to much. Why even try?” Yet on certain mornings, when the salt air drifted across our neighborhood, it carried a different message. It awakened something in us, a sense that we were already whole, already someone, with possibilities as wide as the horizon. That quiet inner voice became my compass. Perhaps you have heard its call too.

I was a shy child in a family of bold personalities. My mother shared my quiet nature, but in a household where louder voices often prevailed, it was easy to feel unseen. After schoolwork, basketball practice, or neighborhood adventures, I often retreated to the sanctuary of my room. There, in the pages of books and the theater of imagination, I lived out stories of courage and justice—fantasies where wrongs were righted and the world was reshaped for the better.

Those dreams were audacious, especially in the world I knew. Racial divisions and “Whites Only” signs sent a clear message: stay small, stay in your place. Black children like me were barred from most schools and colleges. Some days, I wondered if there was space for someone like me in such a culture. Yet the words of Martin Luther King Jr. broke through that wall of doubt. His voice fed my spirit, planting in me the hope that even if my contribution was modest, I could help mend what was broken.

Home, too, offered lessons wrapped in paradox. My mother’s gentle voice would ask, whenever we seemed troubled, “What’s your story, morning glory?” It was her way of reminding us that our perspective shaped our reality, that the story we told ourselves mattered. My father’s stern directive—“You better get moving, there’s work to be done!”—was a different kind of wisdom. Together, they revealed that a meaningful life requires both inner reflection and outward effort.

This book gathers stories from my youth and early adulthood—years of wonder, hardship, and transformation. They reveal the roots of my lifelong commitment to purposeful living and leadership. They also bear witness to how fragile our intentions can be when pressed by circumstance, and how vital it is to draw strength from others who remind us of who we are.

To share them is to come full circle, offering gratitude to the many luminous souls who have guided me, sometimes with wisdom, sometimes simply with presence. I do not offer these stories as a finished traveler, but as a fellow seeker who has stumbled upon a few universal signposts worth passing along.

In that spirit, I invite you to reflect on your own story. The question my mother posed—“What’s your story, morning glory?”—is not just for children. It is a lifelong challenge to live with awareness, courage, and purpose. May these pages encourage you to mine your own memories, to discover meaning in them, and to celebrate the extraordinary gift of being alive.