Zennie Abraham, Sr. - Rememberances

Today, CNN reported the passing of Rosa Parks. 50 years ago, Ms. Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. To put things in perspective, I was born just seven years later in 1962. My parents owned a three-story brownstone at 7427 Wentworth in Chicago, which they purchased for $27,000. They owned two luxury cars -- and this was all before the passage of the civil rights amendment in 1964, but it certainly led to it. See, they were part of what was an emerging black middle class, and it's important to remember this in the face of too many "poor, black, ghetto" stereotypes presented on TV. I didn't grow up in a ghetto. Where I'm going with this is that my parents -- Zennie Abraham Sr., and Pat Abraham -- were very much a part of what shaped African American history. They lived the simple American Dream of a car and a house and enough money to have some freedom. They believed in what was possble for them, and so passed that on to me. I sometime...

I am going to add to this, but my father always had the right words for me. Even when he supposedly had dimensia, he told me -- in reference to a problem I was sharing with him regarding a board of directors meeting I was to attend for a non-profit -- "Don't go in there shooting off your mouth. Stay calm and assess the situation. Don'tn come off blasting. And don't quit." So, I went in the meeting and did half of what he told me to do. ...and I quit. So, I told him what happened, and what I did and why, and he said "Do you feel you made the right decision?" I said, yes. He said "Well, there you go!" Zennie, Jr.

One memory that I have of Uncle Zen that stands out is for us women: "Never leave the house w/o make-up b/c. the world is your stage"! LOL :-) (I have to keep it short b/c. I'm on my way to class).