It was next to impossible for me to understand the African-American mindset...too many of them hated the exact things that they should love, I thought. Consequently, they loved the things that should be hated. It didn’t seem to matter whether they were educated or uneducated; street cats or PhD’s, rich or poor, or stuffed in between rich and poor. They all seemed to be comfortable with sex, yet fearful of love. Most of them seemed to be completely against marriage at any age, especially marriage before sex, or marriage between young adults.

You might not want to hear it, but I’ll tell you anyway. I learned to play my position. I’m not the top guy and I know it. But I’m good right here where I’m standing. You gotta get comfortable letting the top guys run the top. If not, you gotta find another arena to dominate in~Coach Vega

...a groundbreaking exploration of humanity’s oldest documented faith practice; African Spirituality...the author explores the topic across millennia from the times of the Ancient Black Egyptians to contemporary practices on the continent and in the Diaspora....as such, African Spirituality is shown to be an apt umbrella term for the various expressions the world over...

It doesn’t matter what you say. It only matters what you do when it comes to manhood. As long as you’re dependent, you will be considered a boy without options. You will be ruled and loved, but not respected. Our parents respect us when we begin to put into action all of the lessons they took the time to teach us, and when what we put into action brings about real results. ~Midnight

In a girl’s heart there is a desire for adventure. If she doesn’t get it, she creates it. But of course there is a difference between adventure and mischief. Bored girls create mischief...because they are not experiencing adventure, and they don’t know how to get it started. Some of the most evil, most jealous, and rudest girls in Tokyo were the bored ones. Those girls loved chaos, just sat around gossiping, lying, and commenting on the other girls who were actually living out their adventure.~Chiasa

I just needed to distinguish the lions from the tigers, the wolves from the hyenas, the hippos from the elephants and the rats from the snakes. And I needed to do it quick...~Midnight

Aunt Tasha was a foxy owl for sure. But I think her belief that she could read people would end up as her weakness...

The “angry hood chicks” each looked different, with varying degrees of attractiveness. However, on the inside they were mostly all the same. They talked rough, some of them even looked rough, but if the right or even if the wrong man showed them an ounce of attention or affection, he could get whatever he wanted real fast...

Renaming myself took effort. Even though it would not be my real name, I did not want the name of a fool, a clown or a sucker...I’m just one young man up against some hefty circumstances and some dirty players, but I’m still pushing, working, fighting, and most of all believing solidly that I can win...~Midnight

I was thinking about my father, and how he used to challenge me, just like how I was being challenged right then by this man. In both cases they were men who were much older than me, placing me in an unreasonable situation and challenging me to work my way through it and come out clean...I accept the challenge from him, same as I accepted the challenges handed down by my father. In both cases they were not challenges to be turned down or avoided. They were tasks all about manhood, and of course they involved risks.