POST 2:FROM ANTEBELLUM PLANTATIONS COTTON FIELDS TO NAVAL INTELLIGENCE: A JOURNEY OF FORTITUDE AND GRACE

I was born in the deep south of Southern Louisiana, raised on the remnants of Antebellum Plantations, doing sharecropping under the guise of the Jim Crow Laws. My memories are not a focus on playgrounds, Recreation Community Centers with swimming pools, or early school attendance, but of cotton fields and farming chores, and sun scorched days picking cotton under the weight of inhumane treatment and the history of injustice. As per my earlier blog, Education was a distant dream, withheld from young boys of color until reaching the age of ten years old, due to being shackled by the manacles of prejudice, discriminatory practices, and systemic racism

Yet even in those early years, something stirred within me-a quiet defiance, a belief that my worth was not defined by the chains around me but by the fire in my belly. A fire that became somewhat of an intestinal fortitude: i.e. The unyielding resolve to rise, to learn, and to serve. This became a woke alert, a vivid term for inner grit and determination, which is about the raw, unshakable resolve to push forward and reach through discomfort, uncertainty,  and fear. Such is the kind of strength that doesn’t flinch when life throws you curveballs and/or sets up roadblocks

Irrespective of the early school situation, I managed to finish high school near the top of my class at number 2, indeed a testament to and for perseverance. College followed, named to the honor roll for a couple of years. Then came the call to serve the country. I joined the US Navy. Where I rose through the ranks, becoming a US Naval Intelligence Officer, and committed to being a part of the Vietnam War

I have seen the world through the lens of hardship and the eyes of hope. I have both experience and know the sting of injustice, as well as the balm of forgiveness. However, through it all, I have never held hate and malice in my heart; I chose empathy and compassion, faith and trust, not just in and of myself but for the possibility of a better world. Because of the exposure to Agent Orange, I have suffered from an enormous number of bodily ailments, such as;

>Type Two diabetes

>High cholesterol

>PTSD {stress, anxiety, and depression}

>High Blood Pressure, AFIB heart condition, and irregular heartbeat

>Lower back pain, neck pain, right leg, and right shoulder pain

>Carpal Tunnel and Neuropathy in hands, fingers, thumb, and wrist

>Iron Efficiency in the body

> podiatric issues with toenails

I am an ongoing patient at VA Hines, Illinois, with Primary care and specialty care doctors once a week, with some every 3 months

I also coordinate and facilitate an annual 40-day Daniel Fast Lifestyle Change program. The program is inclusive of meditation, prayer, and reading of certain biblical passages.

The health benefits derived from the Lifestyle Change Program are:

> Detoxification and Cleanse of the body

>Purify and aid, and optimize other bodily organs, which actually do the work, i.e., the Liver, kidneys, Gut, Lungs, and Skin

We have recently added Chair Yoga and Tai Chi exercise routines