I gew up on Chicago's southside in the Ida B. Wells Homes on 39 th and Rhodes.  I was a troubled child spending many young years in the Illinois Youth Commission and I did not know who I was or where I would end up, however I experienced a great deal of pain and suffering and sometimes that pain spills over into my active life.  I was influenced by the environment while trying to be all things to all people.  Something I don't practice today.