And we had a teacher who stood up on the desk that day, the first day I went into his history class, and explained so eloquently, if you can even see the paradox of that, how blacks are so suited to slavery.

I remember chewing so hard saying, “God please don't let me cry. If you just let me get out of here without crying, I'll never come back.” That's how intimidated, how fearful, and how foreign I felt in a U.S. History Class.

I told my dad I didn't want to go back and dad gave me three options. He said, you can come back here and compete against other black kids who are going to need scholarships to go to school, he could go up and he could floor the teacher and seek retaliation, or I could go back and I could understand.

And this is something that if you say to many black people, they will finish this sentence for you - It's not what they call you, it's what you answer to.

I simply had decided to shirk off in a physical science class. I went home and met with my report card, back then they were written grades in ink on yellow paper and I showed it to my dad, and it wasn’t a failing grade, but it wasn’t an A and I was a straight A student, and it disappointed my dad so gravely and he chastised me, and flippantly I just said, “Well dad, you know, I don’t even have all the pages in the book,” and he said, “You know that’s never a reason to fail, you’re smart enough to read the pages you do have and figure out what’s missing.”

And then after that, my mom, who more than my dad devasted me with the tears in her eyes, she said, “Janice, here’s what I want you to do, when you figure out what’s missing, you write it down and tape it in so the student that who comes after you won’t have to figure out what’s missing.” I kinda think that’s how I’ve chosen to live my life since then.

When you grow up in that type of household as I did, I came into the broader world with an understanding that I could learn and that I could create ways for myself to gain information that was not handily offered me.

I think that’s the spirit that she put into us as well. Not just the discipline and not just the focus, but the spirit of wanting to learn.

I remember one morning, my mom and dad, when we were kids, early morning was always their time. Dad left for work really early in the mornings and their date time was early morning and they dated in the kitchen and the little bay window where she has the table there to this day.

And I got up to walk through the hall and I saw them kissing and hugging just like teenagers. And I thought, you know, I'm an adult by then, that was the last time my mom saw my dad alive.

I, many times since then, have thought if you have to say goodbye, what a wonderful way for her to know that the last time he saw her alive, he held her and loved her so richly and she him.

I remember my mom took to her bed for a couple of weeks and I had booked a ticket to come to California to visit my sister, Sandy. I remember I told my mom, “I'll stay here with you mom and help you.”

My mom had been married since she was a teenager. She never had any other boyfriend and I knew there would be some heavy adjustment for her and she said, “No, I'm gonna have to learn to live on my own. I better do it now,” and then she said the last thing dad would want is for me to stop you living your dream because we certainly have lived ours.

I was hot and popping. Although let me tell you when I got to LA I didn't think so. On the east coast, I thought I was all of that.

When I got to LA and I saw all these women who worked without pantyhose on, they carry purses with somebody else's name on it, Louis Vuitton, and I was calling it Louis Vuitton, and they were all the black people.

All the black women I saw were like fabulous, gorgeous women and I felt like this little nappy-headed colored girl coming out of North Carolina amongst all these fabulous people. No, I didn't feel all hot and popping then.

It was palm trees, gorgeous, gorgeous palm trees and you know you go up and drive all the way up and look out over the city and it was just so beautiful. So beautiful. LA was wide open. It truly was a fairytale kind of existence for me and I wanted in on it.