My name is Lynwood Sims. I am the author of Black Men and the Media. I am fifty-two years young and retired-what a blessing! I started working, when I was twelve, with my own grass cutting route on the weekends. Back then, I made $25 a week, which was a lot of money for three yards. Working at a young age allowed me to see how hard work, dedication, and a good temperament pays off. My dad passed away when I was two. Four years later, my mom passed away, as well. My parents had a total of eight children-four girls and four boys. After my mom passed, we had to live with my grandmother. Now mind you, my grandmother already had her own children, in a four bedroom one bath house, when we arrived. The total number of people residing in this house was twenty-one. But before my mother died, she did the most important thing a parent could have done for a child. She introduce us to God, and I have never stop loving him. Fifty-two years later, God is still the most important person in my life. No matter how bad things got in my life (the death of my mom and dad)I knew that they were in heaven. I know in order for me to see them again, I have to always put God first and love all people no matter what ethnic group or religion. I have nothing but love in my heart for the human race because we are all images of God. I am and always have been truly blessed. When you see me, you are looking at the happiest man alive. That's just how God raised me. After graduating from Chester High School in Chester, South Carolina, I went to college and ran into money problems, so I had to start working. Even though I was on a wrestling scholarship, I still needed money. My time at Barber Scotia College was a blessing. God guided me there for a reason. It was all part of his master plan. Back in 1983, I started working as UPS, one of the best companies in the world. I met some of the most beautiful people of all colors, shapes, and sizes. To make a long story short, I worked at UPS for over thirty years and I retired at forty nine. That happened just as God had promised and it was a blessing. My beautiful wife Stacey and I have been married for twenty-two years, but we've been together for almost thirty years. I am wishing for thirty more. We have two children, a beautiful daughter named Ebonee' and a handsome young son named Lynwood Jr. We adopted my wife's sister's kids because of her untimely death. She was in her early forties. All this was part of God's master plan. She too loved God. We adopted her kids, Tierra and Tyrese, and godson Janeal and they have been a blessing. After seeing what's been going on in the world, God put it in my heart to write about the state of the black man and why so many of us are dehumanizing ourselves, by calling one another derogatory names and killing each other. It is because some of us still have that slavery mentality. We allow self-hatred to control our mind, body, and souls and don't know our self worth. Th is is what's happening in today's society, and without God and education, it's going to get worse.
