The author upon intake at a psychiatric hospital in the summer of 2001.

“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” ― Marcus Aurelius

25 years is a lifetime.

25 years ago, I was 22.  I had just been released from my first psychotic break that summer and was supposed to start my first day at my new job at a restaurant appropriately called, “The American Café”.

When I walked in to start my first shift, my manager told me I could go home.  I asked him, “Why?”.  He pointed at a television broadcasting the footage of the twin towers aflame.

I called a friend, and we congregated at their house.  We watched the footage of the plane striking over and over, dumbfounded like a mass-hypnosis event.  It was a beautiful day outside that day, no clouds to be found in the sky.  Eerie and serene, no planes in the sky, and I live by both Dulles and National Airports.  It was quiet.

25 years is a lifetime.  Some people were robbed of that lifetime.  We try our best to honor them and their memories today.  I lived in New York.  I lived in Northern Virginia.  I’d been to the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.  This was personal to me, I knew the places that were attacked and the areas affected.  I knew people and family members of people who worked in both the Pentagon and the Twin Towers.

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Those of you who have heard my speeches, know that one of the main motivators in my own recovery from serious mental illness was the birth of my nephew.  19 years ago, I was told that my sister-in-law was pregnant, and that if I wanted to be involved in the child’s life, they didn’t want me to be the “crazy uncle” who couldn’t be trusted with their child.  That motivated me to be the best uncle I could be, and I have always had a strong interest in my nephew’s life and well-being.  That being said, I got to celebrate their special day on Monday, as they walked in a cap and gown at their high school graduation ceremony!!!  Surrounded by close family, we cheered them on during their special day.

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Artists (L-R) Ron Wimberly, Kevin Earley, Leon Reid IV, Brian Polite, Reggie Ross, Ollie Seeley and Patrick Seeley at the Opening of Leon Reid IV’s show in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending my friend Leon Reid IV’s solo show in Brooklyn, New York.  I met Leon at Pratt Institute that I attended around the turn of the century.  Unfortunately, Leon’s show was only scheduled to run for two days, and is now over.

I had to opportunity to not only meet with Leon, but several of my comrades from my days at Pratt, whom I have been friends with for almost thirty years!  I think about all the things that happen in thirty years, from relationships, to children, to wars, political administrations, social movements, et cetera…

To see an artist not only continue their craft, but excel and make a living off of it was a wonderful delight.

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This past Wednesday, I was lucky enough to be able to catch an advance screening of NO ONE CARES ABOUT CRAZY PEOPLE, a new documentary film based on the book by the same name by Ron Powers.

This movie is not for the faint of heart.  It depicts several people living with some of the most severe mental illnesses, people like Mark Rippee, who lived on the streets with schizophrenia and was legally blind after a traumatic brain injury; Miles Hall, a young man who was shot to death by police while undergoing a psychotic episode; and Kevin Powers, who ended up killing himself after his bouts with depression: as well as a slew of other people affected by SMI.

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Jesus Christ Crucifixion on Good Friday Silhouette

Today is Good Friday.

It is a day Christians traditionally commemorate the crucifixion of Christ.  A most violent way to kill someone, it is brutal and the root of the word “excruciating”.  I am releasing a new single from an album today, and that single is about the history of lynching in America.  It was a cosmic coincidence that I released the single today, I didn’t realize the connection to Good Friday with the song until I saw that April 3^rd was actually Good Friday earlier this week.

So I want to talk about lynching today, because I draw a direct connection to lynching and crucifixion.  I have a voice, I am going to use it.  This is a really heavy song, I am not going to lie.

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My grandfather was a proud Irish man.  He had two framed pictures in his office, one said, “If the majority were right, the majority would be rich” and the other said “Irish need not apply”.  The latter one was from a bygone time, when Irish people were discriminated against after first coming to this country.

My first memories of my grandfather were when he visited when I was a child, and he gave me a coat.  Every day he was visiting, he told me to check my pocket.  I checked and magically, every day there was a quarter in the pocket.  My father kept up the charade for two weeks after my grandfather had left before he finally told me the coat wasn’t magical.  I must have been bleeding him dry, one quarter at a time!  Quarters add up!

I remember visiting him when he got older and went to live in my father’s house.  I would visit him every weekend and go to church with him and my grandmother.  A man of deep faith, he was a preacher, and it’s probably where my father and I’s public speaking skills originate.  The one heirloom I have of his is his bible, a weathered, old, earmarked and highlighted bible that has been meticulously poured over.  I keep it with my own bible given to me when I was 16, and a bible from my mother’s confirmation, right by my bedside.  Now my bible isn’t poured over, highlighted or earmarked, in fact it still looks new, depsite being 30 years old.  Everyday though, the first thing I do when I exit my bed, is put my right hand on the three bibles and thank God for another day.

I am writing all of this on St. Patrick’s Day, not only to honor my grandfather, but to tell the tale of the yearly email I used to get from him.  Now, he wasn’t the most proficient with computers, I recall several times having to assist him with his, but every year, around 6 or 7 am, I would, without fail, receive the same email from my grandfather, the yearly email reminding me to wear green.  So of course I put my green on today, and I hope you are wearing some too, in honor of an Irish person you know and cherish.  I miss you, Elmer.

Look down on us and bless us.

Happy St, Patrick’s Day!!!~~~