If this book were about a football game, instead of an ordinary life well lived, we would read thirty chapters where your favorite team is two points behind in the fourth quarter with forty five seconds left on the play clock. James is the quarterback and executes a play that produces the winning score with honor and dignity every time. His life is a complex tapestry woven with threads of racism, poverty, alcoholism, bravery, illiteracy, tension, paternal rejection, sexual exploitation, patient endurance, domestic violence and a strong faith in God. The challenges he faces would have caused men of lesser faith to find solutions deeply rooted in violence, hate, alcohol and disregard for humanity and the sacredness of life. James has invited you into the thoughts, feelings, successes, and failures of his life in an intimate and honest presentation. You will be honored by his honesty, and humbled by his courage and determination. There are enough struggles in this personal history to deter the brave but not enough to stop the honored bravery of someone who knows God. “Black Dad-White Dad” choreographs the life of black kid growing up in Mississippi as he transitioned from sharecropper status to urban life, from illiteracy to education in the forties and fifties. James does what so many think we may want to do in our life. He not only asks the questions but searches for the answers. One might say he should be mad at the world, but he is not. He does not let his life experiences be an excuse or the answer but uses each challenge and blessing as a welcome mat to the next chapter of his life.
