Up Close
As you may know from the home page, this site is built around my life. In this section I would like to share some of the biggest events in my life. In a person's life, many things happen, and some of those things take on considerable weight. Hop in your car, and drive through the streets and avanues of my life.
As you know, if you read the life section, I was adopted. Being adopted is different for each person. For me, I think it was a good experience. I had a good early childhood, and I got lots of support from people around me. As I grew into my teens, things started to go a bit crazy, but that is the life of many teens. When a person is adopted, they often wonder who their biological family is. I was able to find out many of the answers that I wanted. Before I found out the answers, I had that feeling of something missing. Here is a letter that I wrote in the spring of 2008 to encourage the state of New York to change the laws concerning adoption records. The letter was never published in the newspapers that I sent it to, but they summarized my feelings at the time.
I have always known that I was adopted; in fact, I remember when I was still in the foster care stage. I was never moved around. I was lucky enough to have just that one home. When a child is in foster care, a social worker is assigned to that case until an adoption goes through. Around 1985 or so, I sat in front of the judge who had the power to make the adoption legal. I was asked things like, "am I happy with this family, do I except the last name"< and other child appropriate questions. Upon the yes answers that I gave, the adoption was legalized. I was told about the older brother that I had, and a younger half sister, but I did not know exactly what happened to them. I was told about some of the condissions around my birth, and vague things about my natural parents. I did not ask too many questions about my natural family as I got older. I was happy with where I was. At some point I was told that I was around my brother when I was 7, and it was at some party, but I did not know much else. I was told about my brother helping to take care of me when I was a baby.
As I got older, I started to wonder about this brother more and more. I started asking more questions, but the answers did not tell me much. I did not understand why I was not in contact with my brother. If I was around him when I was 7, then it should have been easy for us to stay in contact. The older I got, the more answers I wanted to know. In 1994, a teacher suggested that I write Oprah Winfrey. I got the info, but I did not do much about it. In 1995, I spoke to a psychic. I asked him about my natural family. He did tell me that he saw that my natural mother died back in the 80's, and he also spoke a little about the manor of death.
I did not do much about finding my brother until 2002. At that time, I filled out a form that would put my name in some adoption registry, and if somebody was looking for me, the state would connect us. The paper was filled out, but I never sent it in for some reason. In 2005, I posted my info on an adoption website. They had private investigators', but I did not have the money to pay for them. In 2006, a year after my info was posted on that adoption site, a woman responded to me with info on a man that had my same original name. I spoke to the guy, but it did not seam like we could connect the dots and find a link. Around the same time, I was trying to see if I could get my original birth certificate. According to New York state law at the time, I was not able to get the original document; I could only get the amended one with my adoptive parents on it.
At the time that all this is going on, I had just been approved to become a mentor. I was going to be working with adopted or foster black teens. That would lead me to a private investigator that would do a very important favor for me.
To make a long story short, I was reconnected with my brother in March of 2007. It turns out that he too was adopted, and he had no contact with the natural family, although, his adoptive mother knew allot of info. Many questions that I had came together. Now that I knew his name, I did a search for him, and it turns out that he was on one of the adoption sites that I was on. He posted his info in 2002, around the same time that I was filling out that state registry paper.
In 2008, another woman posted a message for me on that adoption site that I was on from 2005. I thought that this would not lead anywhere just like the 2006 thing. I e-mailed her, but this time, there was a different outcome. After a few e-mails, I quickly found out that this was my cousin. To make another long story short, I was reunited with my natural family. I found out about brothers and sisters that I did not know I had. Another interesting thing was the psychic from 1995. He was right. My natural mother died back in 1988, and the manor of death was close to what he had said.
In May of 2008, I had a few of the family members on my internet radio program. My younger brother Corey was very straight forward about how he felt about the whole deal of being reunited. He has a story of his own.
In life, many of us search for that perfect person. We are raised in a society that says that we are to find a person and settle down. I was never the one for getting into these kinds of relationships; however, I did wonder if there was anybody that would be compatible with me. I may have found my answer in the summer of 2004. While in Atlanta, I found Mary Anne. Yes…a white woman from the south, but as I got to know her, it turned out that we were a pretty good match. At the time of her death in an auto crash in the summer of 2007, it was clear to me that I had never met a woman that was more compatible to me than she was. Lots of things happened between 2004 and 2007, too much to detail here, but I will certainly always remember her.
One of the things that has been important to me is community service. I have looked for many ways to effect positive change. I also had a thing for politics. Ever since I was 11 years old, I have been interested in politics. After I went totally blind in 1989, I had to find something else to do with my time. I turned to the world of talk radio. From that time forward, talk radio has been a driving influence, along with politics and community work. I liked the idea of running for office and using the power of an office to effect change in the social system. As I got older, I looked for ways to get myself into a position to do just that. I spent my teens and early 20's doing community work, but in 2000, I came across something that would give me just what I wanted. Through word of mouth, I found out about the National Federation of the Blind. I attended my first New York City chapter meeting on June 14, 2000. For the first few months, I listened to, and spoke to others, and tried to get to know the NFB system, and how it worked. I came to realize that this was my chance to do big things in the blindness community. In my usual fast paced manor, I ran for the New York City board of directors in January of 2001. I am not one to just sit in a room. I have to be doing something, and that something has to be clear and tangible. I am more of a front seat person than a back seat person. Some people prefer the quiet roll, and they do very well with it. They can work in the background, and have enormous influence that way. For me, I want that kind of influence, but I also want the positions that go along with it. I lost that 2001 race, but that did not stop me. That same year, I was in Albany along with NFB state officers talking to the state government about blind issues. For the first few years, I took the some what quiet road. I watched the more experienced people deal with the legislators.
In the summer of 2001 I went to my first NFB national convention in Philadelphia. Thank God it was in Philly. I was against flying, so I would not have gone if it was far away. I had a good time at that first convention. I do not remember too many specifics of what I did, but there is one thing that I do remember. I went to a meeting of one of the NFB national divisions. This division was called the performing arts division. This division was right up my alley. I was already into music, and I had a big interest in acting. The meeting was very informal, and we got to do improv skits during the meeting. As it was with all the other areas of the NFB, I did not know much about this division. Between 2001 and 2002, I spent time working with the NFB on the local and state level. Participating in fund raisers and other projects, going to Albany and state conventions, and slowly learning my way around the NFB. By the time I was in Louis Ville for the 2002 NFB convention, I was more familiar with the structure. I returned to the performing arts division, but this time, I got a different kind of meeting. It seams as though the people running the division were no longer there. The only person left was an 86 year old board member. The division was in danger of collapse, and a whole new leadership had to be put in place. The elections for officers that year were not elections at all. Since most of the offices were unoccupied, people were asked to volunteer to take them. When the question of the presidency came up, it took what seamed to be a long time for a person to speak up and volunteer. It did cross my mind to speak up, but I felt that I was not ready. I was still new, and I did not have a computer, and so on. People spoke up for president, vice president, and secretary. I did speak up for treasurer. The division had no money anyway, so how hard could it have been. The job for the new president was big. We had to work to clean up the mess that was left behind. I thought that this would have been easy, but it took a couple of years before we could find people who cared enough to stick around.
While the long and winding road of recovery was going on with the PAD, I was gaining support on the local level of the NFB. I continued to work hard, and I was really into this political stuff. When I ran for the board of directors of the NYC chapter in 2003, I won. I was very happy to be part of this kind of movement. Even though my unusually moody and at times detached/distant personality made a few locals a little wary, I was able to gain the support of many people. In 2005, the PAD was finally becoming stable. As vice president, I was able to bring new people into the division to help with the building and stabilization. I helped to rewrite the division constitution with Brooke Fox, a board member at the time.
While all this wonderful progress was being made with the division, there were many people who had some issues with the president's management stile. The 2006 elections were quickly approaching, and the president did not have the support that one may want to have. Despite these issues, I expected the president to be reelected. The elections were held in Dallas in the summer of 06. By the end of those elections, the members made there voice known. This was the first election under the new constitution, and the members gave the division a whole new leadership. I found myself as the new president. Of corce, I wanted to be the president, but as I said, I did not think that things would go down the way it did.
I finally did it. I am the president of a division that focuses on the areas that I am interested in. I believe in acquiring high office, and using the power of the office to effect change. I have had so much fun as the leader and the face of this division. Of corce, I can not, and do not do it alone. I have a great team behind me. I am well established in the NFB, and I am one of its leaders, just how I like it.
As some people know, I have done some things when it comes to politics. I got interested in politics at an early age. When I was real young, I was not aware of the political system. I was born when Jimmy Carter was the president, but I do not remember him in my conches mind, even though I was born the first year of his presidency. The same went for the Mayor of New York City. I was born during the last 20 days of Mayor Abe Beam's term, so the first Mayor I knew of was Ed Koch. The first president that I knew of in my childhood was Ronald Raygon. Since he spent 2 terms in office, I always wondered why he was always the president. While I remember things from 1984, I do not remember his reelection, so I thought that he was just there forever.
By 1988, I was aware of presidential elections. During the campaign of that year, my 18 year old cousin brought home a fake paper ballot. It listed George Bush, Michael Dukakis, and their running mates. I checked the box next to Dukakis because I liked his name better.
After going blind in 1989, I had to find something to do with my time. One of the things that I started doing was listening to the radio. While I did listen to FM music stations, I also discovered talk radio. I got into the news stations and the talk stations. From that time forward, I spent a large amount of my time listening to talk radio. It did not take long to get into following the news of the day. After a while, I started calling these talk shows using the name "Mike". In 1991, I called the conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh. We discussed the condom distribution plan that was going on at the time. By the 1992 presidential campaign, I was in full swing. I was all over the AM dial talking about the issues with some of the biggest names of the day. I started to build my political philosophy. Even though I could not vote yet, I was talking in favor of Bill Clinton.
By 1996, I had backed off from being a caller to talk shows, but I registered to vote, and I voted for Clinton. By this time, I was just starting to get out into the world and begin what would be many many years of community service and political work. Over the years, some of my political view points became sharper. I got a big boost in political activism when I joined the National Federation of the Blind. By 2001, I was in Albany fighting for the rights of blind foke. I was able to get some hands on experience in political work.
Thanks to a phone system called "Club Tel", I was able to start publicly commenting on the news of the day, and in 2003, I began a talk show called Blind Vision. By 2004, the Blind Vision program was on the internet. I even wrote columns for my website, and got others to write columns as well. At that point, everything took off. I got to interview doctors, local politicians, and the everyday person. This gave me another track into political work and commentary. An American University student interviewed me for the school paper in 2005, and I got a permanent spot on internet radio in 2006. The Blind Vision program went strong until 2007. I took a break from the political commentary thing for a while.
Thanks to a friend who had an internet station going, I came back to the internet airwaves in 2008 with the Superstar, Grown Foke radio show. This show topped Blind Vision in many ways. Blind Vision was prerecorded, but Superstar was a live show, so I was able to take calls. I also had my family members on the show as well.
While all this went on, I never stopped being active in the political world. I continued my work with the NFB. I worked on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's reelection campaign in 2005, and worked on Elliott Spitzer's gubernatorial campaign in 2006. I have also done work for The New York state adoption reform.
Ever since I was a child, I had a strong urge to be in the entertainment field. There were so many things that I wanted to do in the field. I wanted to be an actor, singer, song writer, a voiceover specialist, and radio DJ. Most of my young childhood was spend drawing stick figures and pretending that it was a cartoon series. When I went blind in 1989, I could not draw my cartoons any more, so I needed another way to express my building creative drive. Soon I started recording acting skits on audio cassette. I created an audio series called "Family" and I made all the voices for it. As the years went on, many people enjoyed my Family series. My father was the main listener to the tapes, but others listened as well. After a while, I would try to get others involved with my tapes. I liked it when others would act in the series with me. In 1991, I was able to get some Jr High school teachers to act in the tapes with me. I loved it, and they did a great job. I couldn't believe that I really got them to do it. The tapes became a big part of my life.
One day, in 1992, I was recording one of my acting tapes. In one of the seens, I was singing over a Bobby Brown song, and when I listened to the play back, I noticed that you could hear me and the music, but not Bobby Brown. This gave me an idea. Maybe I could make albums by taking one radio, playing a song and singing with it, while another radio recorded it. Soon, that idea led me to start recording my first homemade album. Now that I could make homemade albums using this method, I could just as easily write my own lyrics and make sure that any person listening to the album cannot hear the real lyrics in the background. This led me to start writing parities of popular songs. I seem to have a talent for writing songs with adult content. In December of 1992, I started recording my first homemade album appropriately called "Off Key." As I wrote parities for the album, I told a close friend about a song that was a parity of the top ten song "Rhythm is a dancer." The parity was called Rhythm is your mother, and the song had lots of adult lyrics. He wanted me to record the song as soon as I could and bring it to school, so I did. To make a long story short, the kids that heard the song loved it, but one of the teacher's did not. This started a series of adult parities that my friends looked forward to. Soon, I was handing out copies of my albums, and even recording different versions of the same songs. I got allot of support from friends, and at a later point, adults. In 1994, a teacher introduced me to a blind guy who had an 8 tract studio in his basement. Soon, I was recording albums in his studio. After a while, I combined the acting tapes and the music together and started recording audio movies. Many of the movies were complete with special affects, and each movie had a soundtrack.
In 1995, I signed up for vocal lessons, and I remained a student on and off for the next 7 years. During that time, I also got better with my song writing, and more and more people started listening to my music. Some had it on their answering machine, and others knew the words to their favorite songs. More people started believing that I could go somewhere with these songs. While the adult parities were always the popular songs, other kinds of songs started to pull ahead. In the late 90's and the early 2000's, I performed in front of small audiences, and I picked up musical friends.
In 2001, I went to my first meeting of the Performing Arts division of the National Federation of the blind. This was the beginning of yet another road. After a while, I noticed that I had a knack for finding talent in people and promoting them to others. The more musical friends I got, the more promoting that I did. One of the ways that I promoted people was through my internet talk show, and website. Interviews, advertisements, and web links all went into pushing the name of people who I believed had talent. There even was a time that I pursued music management. One of the big brakes came when I was elected president of the Performing Arts division in 2006. In this position, I was able to reach out to talent all over the country, and promote them. I was also able to put together projects, and do other entertainment related activities.
In my first year as president, the division put together a compilation album of blind artists from all over the country. The album was called "Sound in Sight". During the organization of the album, I went into the studio and recorded a song that I had wrote many years before. I did not take the vocal lessons as seriously as I should have, so I thought the vocals of the song, "Love Deluxe", was mediocre, but the words were fine. I submitted Love Deluxe for consideration for the album. After the selection process, Love Deluxe was on the list of finalists for the album. At the last moment, Love Deluxe was removed due to a technicality. In the selection rules, there was a request that all submissions be five minutes or under, Love Deluxe was over six minutes. Despite the fact that the song did not make it to the album, many people liked the song. I was going to keep it around for future projects.
In 2008, another one of those brakes happened again. In my capacity as president of the Performing Arts division, it was my job to network with other companies/organizations to promote blind artists. One of those companies was a New York based media company. To make a long story short, they had heard of me from the work that the division was doing, and in a business meeting, they offered me a job as an artist recruiter. I also signed with them as one of their artists. They were able to use my ability to sniff out talent, my voiceover abilities from the internet talk show days, and other talents.
Home
Life