I Am Becoming...Self Aware

In my childhood, I was fascinated by four things: the ThunderCats, graffiti, black history, and Regan Revere. Regan was the other black kid at my preschool. I had a huge crush on her -- haven't seen her since 3rd grade. I dated a girl in college who said she went to high school with Regan. She said Regan joined the Peace Corps after they graduated and moved to India. It's amazing how things turn out. I wanted to draw cartoons when I grew up or be a stand-up comedian. Somehow the images I wanted to draw became word paintings. And the graffiti murals covering the LA river that I desperately wanted to be a part of got traded for memory murals. I was fortunate enough to fall in love with hip-hop during the era of the mid-80s to early 90s. With the backdrop of a father who made sure I understood and appreciated my heritage, I was able to connect the dots from Fats Domino to Chuck D, from The Winans to Eazy-E, Negro spirituals to New Jack Swing. Rap, poetry, history, faith, and salvation were always connected to me. I think I'm seeing that more and more these days. These poems are almost like the dots for you to play connect the dots with. Only the good Lord knows what the image will be. As for me, all I know is I am becoming.