THE NARRATIVE ARC | REFLECTIONS ON GENERATIONAL EFFECTS OF RACISM

When Heritage and Race Redefined Dad’s Life Journey

Is keeping hope alive still a viable transport when racism continues to crush dreams and people?

Dad, far left with his five brothers in front of their childhood home. Circa early 1900s (Author photo)

Dad lay still, eyes closed on a hospital gurney in the recovery room after brain surgery, with his head wrapped in gauze. His broad build over a six-foot two-inch frame covered by a stark white sheet reminded me of a biblical Goliath hindered by life saving tubes instead of a sling-shot of stone to the head.

He, too, slayed — not by David, but the societal era in which he was born.

A talented, educated Black man who never reached his full potential. He had collapsed in front of his home from a brain tumor. A brilliant mind muted again — he would never be the same.

Dad was the youngest and favorite of six boys, second generation
Angeleno — the only one to graduate from college in the 1940s. An accomplishment igniting fierce pride and joy in his mother’s heart. She knew the world would never spoil him the way she had.

He was a handsome charmer, often lauded for his extracurricular sportsmanship as a boxer, football player — later an avid…