The book is finally here!!

I typed my very first words to this novel on Saturday, August 21 or 22 (can't remember) 2009. 525 gruelling days later I'm sitting here looking at a copy of this book and it's overwhelming!! It's hard for me to look at it because I'm only used to reading the book on my laptop. It looks so good! So professionally done and the print is so easy to read! Even though I've read it literally about 250 times, I still want to flip through the pages and relive the experiences I had while writing certain sections. This was my goal and I'm partially there. I don't see it as an individual accomplishment though. Many people have helped me get here. Some more positive than others, but even those that challenge you help motivate you to achieve whether they are your worse enemies or your closest loved ones.

I'm on a mission to make the most of this book. Not just to earn income, but primarily to use it as a platform to talk about the issues contained within it. I'm humbled at having this book published. My thanks goes to those who came before me and sacrificed so much so that I can be in this position. Ashay!!

My Book going Mainstream?

Ok...I got the word last night that Barnes & Nobles.com, Amazon.com, etc., would be listing my book which means you can go to either of those sites, type in either my name, the book title, or the book IB # and "Find the Flower that Blossoms" comes up. You can order the book directly from any of those entities now. How do I feel about that? Outstanding! I know I need the exposure and I feel like once people know about this book, they will buy it. Once they buy it, they will read it. Once they read it, they will be impacted! The book raises a lot of important questions and I look forward to facilitating many dialogues!!

The Role Race Plays in our Everyday Lives

Without even talking about the institutional racism that functions as policy in this society, just take a look at the little subtle things that perpetuate White supremacy. For example, yesterday my wife and I were walking through the personal products section at Target so I could get some shampoo. We came to the hair section and I noticed a sign that said "Ethnic Hair Products." I laughed when I saw this sign because all people have an ethnicity whether it's Italian, Swedish, German, Yoruba, Mandinka, Wolof, Mexican, Dominican, Vietnamese, or Arab, but in America, the term "Ethnic" is reserved for people of color. The inference here is that people of color represent a different category of people. This view of course assumes Europeoans, or White people, are the standard version of what a person should be and everyone else is different, or really less standard, or really less valuable, or really less relevant??

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Race in America

Since today is Dr. King's birthday I thought it appropriate to raise the question of who this man actually was. The mass media works very hard to present him solely as a voice for racial peace. Accepting people based on the content of their character is important, but that was only one aspect of Dr. King's work. His true contribution was a message of justice for the impoverished throughout the world from exploitation by multi-national corporate dominance. A part of this message includes King's uncompromised opposition to the Vietnam war because it typified the corporate agenda while sacrificing millions of Vietnamese people as well as 55,000 U.S. service people.

It's important to understand this aspect of Dr. King because the corporate media doesn't want you to know this about him. They are afraid that if you know this you will then start to question how they can advance the Iraq/Afghanistan/North Korea/Iran war agenda while trying to convince you they are in support of Dr. King's dream. Make no mistake about it. If Dr. King was still just talking about White kids and Black kids holding hands, he'd probably still be here today.

Is Love Colorblind?

My book is about the test of love between an interracial couple, a Black man and a White woman. Is it possible for two people to love one another regardless of their ethnicity or is it true that one or both of the people in such a relationship are primarily acting on stereotypical whims and are not really capable of truly loving one another?

Sex Addiction

What exactly is sex addiction? Maybe the best way to understand it is to see it the same way we look at alcohol abuse. A person with self esteem issues, or depression, or uncontrollable anxiety, etc., looks for something that can provide them an escape or relief from the trauma of constantly feeling inadequate and depressed. That relief comes in the form of masturbation and/or sexual activity with another person. The sexual activity provides a sense of excitement and distraction for the person and their anticipation of achieving sexual gratification provides them with the euphoria that they find impossible to accomplish in every other area of their lives. Then, on top of that, you have many people who also have an emotional dependency component where they become obsessed and co-dependent with the person they act out with.

What is your view and/or experience with understanding this addiction?

White People in Africa?

As people ask me about the book and how it ends, without giving it all away, I've told people that the main character, Ashley, and her husband Adisa move to Ghana, West Africa. Everyone I've mentioned this to has had somewhat of an awkward response. I'm not sure, but some of that may be because my main character is White. Since the overwhelming majority of people here know absolutely nothing about Africa, I think it's difficult for most people to see a move to Africa as realistic. A big part of making that a part of the story is to contribute towards eliminating negative and ignorant opinions about Africa. There's no justification for being ignorant about Africa. She is the mother of world civilization. She's the first place mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 2, verse 13), and she is the creator of some of the world's first civilizations. She is also the mother of some 50 million inhabitants of this country. If you want to decrease your ignorance about Africa history, try picking up some of the following books:

The World and Africa - W.E.B. Dubois
Africa, Mother of World Civilizations - Dr. Ben
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa - Walter Rodney
Neo-Colonialism - Kwame Nkrumah

Interracial Relationships in 2011..Is it still a big deal??

Well of course it is and if you question that all you have to do is live somewhere like Central Oregon like I do and be in one of those relationships. In the 2000 Census, Deschutes County where I live had the lowest percentage of African (Black) people of any county it's size in the U.S. What that means is every time my blond, blue eyed wife and I go out, we get stares. Most of the stares are out of curiousity, maybe one or two are antagonistic, but whatever the motivation, everyone stares, but that happens in San Francisco and L.A. too. I would love to hear other people's experiences around this issue.

What's happening for 2011?

It's another year. What's that mean in practical terms? Well...What we know is the majority of the world lives in poverty today and the outlook for most of the world's folks isn't very favorable. The haves are consolidating their control over the worlds resources and if you don't believe that, check out the fallout from the BP oil spill. That is going to play out like those scenarios always play out...The rich will continue to get rich and the working poor will suffer, suffer, suffer.

What do people think will be in store for 2011?