A Thank You to The Readers

Thank you.

I am so honored and humbled to have readers who stay up and stalk pages in order to buy my books. You guys are amazing. A guy like me couldn't ask for better, more loyal readers and if I was an emotional guy I'd be blubbering. Since I'm not, I'm going to offer you all fist bumpz, thank you for your continued support and continue to write.

Thank you for anxiously waiting for Elian to release and either pre-ordering or rushing out to buy it as soon as it became available. And even thank you those of you who emailed me (constantly) to let me know that you were waiting for the book to become available. As I said, I am humbled by you all.

I have considered giving up writing a few times because of different things, things that I am way too "Southern gentleman" to share and because my birth mother raised me well I will not go into details, but sometimes it gets to be too much. I've taken time off to regroup, to lick my wounds, to go on trips, etc. and each time I thought about giving up writing, I got an email or a comment, or a Facebook tag or tweet from a reader letting me know that they love my books, that one of my books helped them.

That they cried all the way through Unassumed and it taught them a lot.

You all have brought me back to this wonderful world of writing time and time again and each time it's more rewarding than the time before.

Thank you.

Thank you for your continued support. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for buying my books and telling others to do so as well. Thank you for making it possible for me to do what I love.

Thank you for reading.


All My Love and Gratitude,

-Vicktor Alexander

Jason Collins: An Inspiration

Jason Collins, who played for my favorite team the Boston Celtics, and now plays for the Wizards, is a black, NBA player who has come out as gay. The first professional athlete to do so who is still playing in the league. His story is inspirational and I encourage you to go read it, share it and then show him your love. He needs to know that we have his back.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/#ixzz2Rrh8O559

Prayers for Boston

Thoughts and prayers to the people of Boston and to everyone affected by the horrendous tragedy of the bombing of the Boston marathon.

The One Where Vic Shares an Excerpt from Ulysses by James Joyce: Molly Brown's Soliloquy

"...I'd love to have the whole place swimming in roses God of heaven theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea and the waves rushing then the beautiful country with the fields of oats and wheat and all kinds of things and all the fine cattle going about that would do your heart good to see rivers and lakes and flowers all sorts of shapes and smells and colours springing up even out of the ditches primroses and violets nature it is as for them saying theres no God I wouldnt give a snap of my two fingers for all their learning why dont they go and create something I often asked him atheists or whatever they call themselves go and wash the cobbles off themselves first then they go howling for the priest and they dying and why why because theyre afraid of hell on account of their bad conscience ah yes I know them well who was the first person in the universe before there was anybody that made it all who ah that they dont know neither do I so there you are they might as well try to stop the sun from rising tomorrow the sun shines for you he said the day we were lying among the rhododendrons on Howth head in the grey tweed suit and his straw hat the day I got him to propose to me yes first I gave him the bit of seedcake out of my mouth and it was leapyear like now yes 16 years ago my God after that long kiss I near lost my breath yes he said I was a flower of the mountain yes so we are flowers all a womans body yes that was one true thing he said in his life and the sun shines for you today yes that was why I liked him because I saw he understood or felt what a woman is and I knew I could always get round him and I gave him all the pleasure I could leading him on till he asked me to say yes and I wouldnt answer first only looked out over the sea and the sky I was thinking of so many things he didnt know of Mulvey and Mr Stanhope and Hester and father and old captain Groves and the sailors playing all birds fly and I say stoop and washing up dishes they called it on the pier and the sentry in front of the governors house with the thing round his white helmet poor devil half roasted and the Spanish girls laughing in their shawls and their tall combs and the auctions in the morning the Greeks and the jews and the Arabs and the devil knows who else from all the ends of Europe and Duke street and the fowl market all clucking outside Larby Sharons and the poor donkeys slipping half asleep and the vague fellows in the cloaks asleep in the shade on the steps and the big wheels of the carts of the bulls and the old castle thousands of years old yes and those handsome Moors all in white and turbans like kings asking you to sit down in their little bit of a shop and Ronda with the old windows of the posadas 2 glancing eyes a lattice hid for her lover to kiss the iron and the wineshops half open at night and the castanets and the night we missed the boat at Algeciras the watchman going about serene with his lamp and O that awful deepdown torrent O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and the pink and blue and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."



Molly Brown's Soliloquy




While listening to A Different World this morning Eric LaSalle, who plays Professor Paul, the creative writing teacher, recites the closing lines of Ulysses by James Joyce, known as Molly Brown's Soliloquy. It's absolutely one of my favorites so I thought I'd share it with you (with the help of the Puerto Rican). If you click the link you can hear it performed. The final chapter of Ulysses is without punctuation of any kind and consists of eight, very long, run-on sentences. Mr. Joyce, an Irish playwright and poet was a brilliant man and I'm so pleased to share this with you all.



-Vicktor A. B.

The One Where Vic Shares Langston Hughes' "Negro" Poem

In my Literature class we had a poetry unit and there were a number of poems that we read, critiqued and shared. There were a lot by Langston Hughes, whom I love. I thought I'd share one, the one that I used for one of my critique essays. I thought I'd share the poem with you all.


"Negro" by Langston Hughes

I am a Negro:
     Black as the night is black,
     Black like the depths of my Africa.

I've been a slave:
     Caesar told me to keep his door-steps clean.
     I brushed the boots of Washington.

I've been a worker:
     Under my hands the pyramids arose.
     I made mortar for the Woolworth Building.

I've been a singer:
     All the way from Africa to Georgia
     I carried my sorrow songs.
     I made ragtime.

I've been a victim:
     The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo.
     They lynch me still in Mississippi.

I am a Negro:
     Black as the night is black,
     Black like the depth of my Africa.

The One Where Vic Honors Black History Month: A Look Back

Black History Month means a lot to me. Not just because I'm predominantly African-American, though that does play a big part in it, but because I have always rooted for the underdog (unless the underdog is a team playing against one of my Boston teams: Patriots, Celtics or the Red Sox). I love Black History Month because the entire month is spent recognizing people who were oppressed, made to feel as if they weren't as good as others because their skin color was darker. A people who were told that they were worth less than animals, who were beaten, raped, kidnapped and killed all because they were of African descent and desired rights and freedom.

When I was growing up I didn't realize that I was "black" until I was 10 and while the day I found out was devastating for me, because of the way "black" people were portrayed on television, movies, in books, etc. after I received a crash course in black history courtesy of watching movies such as KING, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, ROOTS, Queen, etc. I had to be kept out of school because I had gone from the extreme of having a large distaste for black people to having it for "white" people. For an entire week my parents then showed me photos, movies and books where whites helped blacks, before pointing out that there are white people in our family and hating them would be like hating myself.

Well, the other day I was speaking to a man named Tony, who is a taxi driver in New York and we began discussing black history and the following man came up in conversation and I thought I'd share this amazing man and his amazing triumphs with all of you in honor of Black History Month:

Dr. Charles R. Drew

Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. He was an African-American physician who developed ways to process and store blood plasma in "blood banks." He directed the blood plasma programs of the United States and Great Britain in World War II, but resigned after a ruling that the blood of African Americans would be segregated. He died in 1950.
Early Life

A pioneering African-American medical researcher, Dr. Charles R. Drew made some groundbreaking discoveries in the storage and processing of blood for transfusions. He also managed two of the largest blood banks during World War II. Drew grew up in Washington, D.C., as the oldest son of a carpet layer.

In his youth, Drew showed great athletic talent. He won several medals for swimming in his elementary years, and later branched out to football, basketball and other sports. After graduating from Dunbar High School in 1922, Drew went to Amherst College on a sports scholarship. There, he distinguished himself on the track and football teams.

Drew completed his bachelor's degree at Amherst in 1926, but didn't have enough money to pursue his dream of attending medical school. He worked as a biology instructor and a coach for Morgan College, now Morgan State University, in Baltimore for two years. In 1928, he applied to medical schools and enrolled at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

At McGill University, Drew quickly proved to be a top student. He won a prize in neuroanatomy and was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. Graduating in 1933, Drew was second in his class and earned both Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degrees. He did his internship and residency at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal General Hospital. During this time, Drew studied with Dr. John Beattie, and they examined problems and issues regarding blood transfusions.

After his father's death, Drew returned to the United States. He became an instructor at Howard University's medical school in 1935. The following year, he did a surgery residence at Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C., in addition to his work at the university.
Father of Blood Banks

In 1938, Drew received a Rockefeller Fellowship to study at Columbia University and train at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. There, he continued his exploration of blood-related matters with John Scudder. Drew developed a method for processing and preserving blood plasma, or blood without cells. Plasma lasts much longer than whole blood, making it possible to be stored or "banked" for longer periods of time. He discovered that the plasma could be dried and then reconstituted when needed. His research served as the basis of his doctorate thesis, "Banked Blood," and he received his doctorate degree in 1940. Drew became the first African American to earn this degree from Columbia.

As World War II raged in Europe, Drew was asked to head up a special medical effort known as "Blood for Britain." He organized the collection and processing of blood plasma from several New York hospitals, and the shipments of these life-saving materials overseas to treat causalities in the war.

According to one report, Drew helped collect roughly 14,500 pints of plasma.

In 1941, Drew worked on another blood bank effort, this time for the American Red Cross. He worked on developing a blood bank to be used for U.S. military personnel. But not long into his tenure there, Drew became frustrated with the military's request for segregating the blood donated by African Americans. At first, the military did not want to use blood from African Americans,

CONTENTS

• Synopsis
• Early Life
• Father of Blood Banks
• Death and Legacy

but they later said it could only be used for African-American soldiers. Drew was outraged by this racist policy, and resigned his post after only a few months.

Death and Legacy

After creating two of the first blood banks, Drew returned to Howard University in 1941. He served as a professor there, heading up the university's department of surgery. He also became the chief surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital. Later that year, he became the first African-American examiner for the American Board of Surgery.

In 1944, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People honored Drew with its 1943 Spingarn Medal for "the highest and noblest achievement" by an African American "during the preceding year or years." The award was given in recognition of Drew's blood plasma collection and distribution efforts.

For the final years of his life, Drew remained an active and highly regarded medical professional. He continued to serve as the chief surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital and a professor at Howard University. On April 1, 1950, Drew and three other physicians attended a medical conference at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Drew was behind the wheel when his vehicle crashed near Burlington, South Carolina. His passengers survived, but Drew later succumbed to his injuries. He left behind his wife, Minnie, and their four children.

Drew was only 45 years old at the time of his death, and it is remarkable how much he was able to accomplish in such a limited amount of time. As the Reverend Jerry Moore said at Drew's funeral, Drew had "a life which crowds into a handful of years' significance, so great, men will never be able to forget it."

Since his passing, Drew has received countless posthumous honors. He was featured in the United States Postal Service's Great Americans stamp series in 1981, and his name appears on educational institutions across the country.

Information taken from: http://www.biography.com/people/charles-drew-9279094?

The One Where Vic Blogs....

I have written this post about fifteen times.

Written and deleted. Written and deleted.

I have vented, cried, expressed confusion, hurt, disappointment. I have called out those who betrayed my trust, those who found me guilty without a fair trial, those who turned their backs on me, those who listened to others and drew a conclusion without talking to me first, and those who gossiped and slandered my name and reputation for whatever feeble reason they could come up with.

I have admitted my flaws, laughed about the flaws of humanity and cried over them all.

I have been the victim and I have been the villain, but I was never a martyr.

There are a lot of labels I could give myself (though I won't do that online) and there are labels that people can give me, but something that I've learned recently is that nobody's label can stick to me unless I let it. No one has power over me unless I give it to them. Nobody can hurt me, betray my trust or turn their back on me unless I let them close enough to do so.

I'm not saying that I've decided to be emotionally closed off, that accomplishes nothing and I've been that way before, it was no fun. I'm going to be 30 this year and honestly? It's seriously time for me to leave the high school bullshit at Winter Haven High School where I graduated from over 10 years ago.

So since I'm not going to go into details and lay all of that bullshit out, what is this post about?

Family.

I have learned so much about family and though I know many of you won't agree with my decision to reconcile with my bio family, I realized something about true family. Family should accept you, but they don't always do so. That doesn't mean they love you any less, it just means that there's some aspect of your life they don't agree with. The same is true for my birth family. They don't "accept" me as Vic, they probably never will, but after half a year without me, my birth mother never stopped contacting me. It freaked me out at first, big time, but I realized what my therapist had been trying to tell me for a long time, around October of last year.

My bio family loves me in their own way.

I thought they couldn't or wouldn't love me as a man. They don't really talk about it or acknowledge it unless faced with the truth of it (mail, phone calls, checks, etc.) but they have invited me back and want to help take care of me because of my being blind and my other health issues. They still talk exhaustively about religion and politics and how Obama is the anti-Christ (LOL) but I know they're not trying to attack me with it, they're being normal. They know what I believe, they know what I write, they know how I live (my bio mom found condoms in my bag today and the only thing she said was "What does a blind person need condoms for?" That's a win for me because she didn't say "a blind woman."), they know who I voted for and what I stand for and you know what? I'm still here. In spite of the horrible things that happened in October and November of 2011 and the things I suffered growing up, it wasn't all bad and in spite of it all, I know that my bio family still wants me. Not all of them (I won't even get into that), but enough of them that I no longer feel that heavy weight in my chest that used to always be there.

What a difference a year makes.

And that's what family, true family is all about. Regardless of blood or choice I now know what constitutes a real family member for me:

1. Forgiveness
2. Understanding
3. Love
4. Support
5. Encouragement
6. Allegiance to One Another
7. Communication
8. Loyalty
9. Interest in Each Other     and
10. Trust

So my New Year's Resolution is not to hold onto relationships that don't exist on the part of everyone involved (unless it's a celebrity crush because hello?! I'm totally supposed to be married to John Barrowman, Shemar Moore, Scott Hoying, Matt Bomer AND Charlie David), to improve myself, to focus on my writing and my classes, to make contacts and connections for Promise House and to embrace family in all its many different forms.

And I may not blog often but know that I think about you all during my day. I'm not going to blog as much as I used to or share as much of myself as I used to, but I'm still here and I'll still share and I will always, always be me, no matter what. And in honor of one of my favorite shows: "Friends," every blog post will be titled "The One Where..." and then I'll give you a clue about what's going on.

I hope everyone had a happy Inauguration Day and a happy MLK Jr Day and I so hope that everyone's new year is starting off great. Because I want that for everyone that I know, regardless.

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Vic