Burgess Owens

As its citizens humbly recommit to an acceptance of guidance from the God of our fathers, our nation will once again see the miraculous resurrection of the proud, responsible, visionary black father. And with him, his family and community will be lifted.

Dubois, later in his life, would join the Communist party and renounce his American citizenship. His 'integration at all costs' message would, decades later, continue to influence the community's self-perception.

The visionary, industrious, Christian, and segregated black community of the early- to mid-1960s understood and embraced the importance of a positive self-perception. It was this same recognition that drove millions of young patriotic black men throughout our nation's history to be among the first to volunteer when our nation went to war.

My grandma actually put me in girdles when I was around nine or ten because I had hips even then, and she didn't want boys to be attracted to me. Having hips meant you were a full-grown woman, and I was too young for that.