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As my 92nd birthday approaches on August 18th, I have drifted into a reflective mood. At this point in my journey I'm experiencing a need to look back and reflect, even as I wonder if I'll make it to August 18th, considering how much my health has deteriorated during the past few months, a situation that renders me as ready as I'll ever be to blow this pop stand. This ol world is currently so screwed up and, imo, on a collision with what I think will be changes so drastic that I will be out of my element. So, whatever. All the points of view and personal philosophies of those who regularly post here, especially as it pertains to the black condition, have inspired me to put myself in perspective and share my thoughts when it comes to where I fit on the black spectrum. Bear with me because this is probably my swan song, and I may ramble. Hopefully, however, something learned about the caliber of my blackness wiil be enlightening when it comes to examining the multi-faceted nature of black America. I have always described myself as a "hybrid" descendant of slaves. That's my tribe. And it's a HoHum passive one. According to Ancestry.com, my blood lines include Irish, German, Native American and, last but not least, African by way of the Sierra Leone region of Nigeria. I do not consider the Atlantic Ocean my homeland because my ancestors obviously reached and landed in America, and were transported to the North Carolina location of what had been one of the country's most prolific slave markets. And the rest is my history. My genesis begins in the territory that originally belonged to the native American tribes like the Osage one which my paternal Grandmother was descended from. . Both my paternal and maternal great grand parents were born into slavery, the women folk, typically raped by their white slave masters... My forebears have always identified themselves as colored, negro, black, depending on the era, and I have never strayed from or had any desire to identify myself as anything other than a non white person who has no delusions about the treachery and guile of the ruthless men who established the White Power Structure that controls the globe. The most negroid thing about me is my hair, having once had an abundant, bushy crop which lent itself very well to an afro style which I affected during the 1960s when I felt compelled to establish my "negritude", (a popular term back in those days.) And, when it came to the civil rights movement, although I was not an activist out there demonstrating in the streets, in my own personal way via the Op/Ed pages of 2 of Chicago's major newspapers, I was very supportive of those courageous enough to put their lives on the line to secure equality for all. I consider myself, for want of a better term, a "soul sista", very comfortable in my skin, having no great affinity for Interacting on a regular basis with Caucasian Americans. I am a product of the middleclass black bougeoise values that I was raised with, having no illusions about the superficial materialistic aspects of this designation. Paradoxically and inexplicably, I harbor a great revulsion for right-wing conservative black Republicans, and I despise Donald Trump and his Maggots! I was born in 1933 and grew up in the small town suburb of Chicago where my parents settled in 1922 as part of the first wave of the Great Migration of Negroes leaving the south, seeking a better life up north and, uniquely, even in those pre- civil rights years, I always resided in mixed neighborhoods, always attended integrated schools and, as part of the great Civil Service work force, always held jobs working side-by-side with white co-workers. So, my mutated homo sapien "cousins" are no strangers to me. I neither like nor dislike them, opting to just judge them on an individual basis, always keeping my guard up. My politics are a reflection of my core personsality. I am a Moderate Liberal, not a militant radical progressive because I'm too cynical to take seriously these erratic types with self-serving agendas. I have never been ambitious because I'm lazy and don't like too much responsiblity or anything difficult or demanding, just content to do enough to get by. I am not proud to confess that I have gone through life, avoiding anything that required great effort on my part. I am lazy and unmotivated, only good and creative at things that interest me. I do, however, lean toward the aesthetic, profound spititual things in life and this includes liberty and justice for all. I have lived through the terms of 15 presidents and can honestly say that the administration of whomever was in office never greatly impacted on my personal day- to-day life. I've managed without even trying, to stay under the radar and - get by. I retired from the US Post Office in 1992 after 30 years of service so I have been retired longer than I worked, collecting a substantial pension replete with COLA raises, receiving money every month for doing nothing other than waking up every morning. If a problem exists when it comes to my black status it stems from my objectivity coupled with an affinity for the whole truth, 2 traits lacking in "gung ho" black chauvanists. This has led me to "divorce" on the grounds of incompatibility, the black race as it exists in the judgment of those who seek to mold it exclusively in their personal image, focusing on what in my judgment, amounts to merely chasing their tails when it comes to effectiveness. So, It is what it is, and I am what I am, - someone who will leave this earth, strong in my conviction that I am as authentically black as the most passionate chest beater. I close by acknowledging that, black is beautifully bountiful but - there are 2 sides to every coin. And so it goes...

@aka Contrarian, thanks for contributing your perspective, thoughts, opinions, zingers and insults, etc., to this coffeeshop on the internet that is AALBC. I always enjoy the exchange of perspectives regardless of whether we agree or not. That goes for each every one of you who contributes regularly. Of course, the coffeeshop would be incomplete without the hilarity that ensues from virtual dust-ups.🤣 Regardless of age, each and every last one of us is getting closer to the finish line than starting a new race. 😎