I was born in Macon, Georgia, to parents of a rural Georgia background, neither of whom was a college graduate. Although not well educated and not well-off financially, the family, like many southern African Americans, had a long history of land ownership and relatives in rural areas with substantial farmland. This background of land ownership and family stability provided an atmosphere that fostered independence and upward striving. I attended the segregated schools of the deep South during elementary and high school, schools that, although segregated, were made up of talented African American teachers who provided an unusual nurturing and supportive environment for learning. I did not go directly to college, but instead enlisted in the United States Air Force, where I spent 4 years, ...