Hello! I’m James.

It all began in 1957

Like most Baby Boomers life started for me during what’s known as the Jim Crow era. Growing up in southeast Louisiana during the late fifties and sixties meant economic, social and physical oppression making the fight for civil rights a lived experience.

Of course, that was the external world. As a young child our world was an extended family, our neighborhood and our school; all of which provided insulation from the worries and dangers our parents and elders could not ignore.

I grew up with a brother and sister with 3 other sisters coming along later. Our house was in an annex located in the center of the city limits but not a part of the city therefore residents couldn’t vote in city elections and didn’t receive several city services.

The household was made up of my parents, my grandparents, aunt and a mentally ill uncle. It wasn’t until I had started my own family that I found out my uncle, a former college drum leader was forever affected by serving in Normandy on D-Day.

During this time I developed a thirst for knowledge. We used to have contest answering the questions at the end of each chapter of our two sets of encyclopedias. My mother was a college graduate and former teacher. My dad had the more usual 6th grade education and was a skilled laborer, but it was from him that I acquired my thirst for knowledge.

School Daze

My brother, sister and I attended a catholic school for a few years at a school where the teaching staff included relatives, it was fun and nurturing. However, it was closed by the diocese, we along with a few others integrated the big catholic school in a small town. Integrating the school had its ups and downs (mostly ups). There were instances of discrimination, but we were largely allowed to develop and grow although, outside of school and extracurricular activities, we lead separate lives.

High school brought on continued academic and athletic success. I was a member of the National Honor Society and a winner of a National Merit Scholarship. I was co-captain of my football and basketball teams, was honored with unanimous All-District awards and played in the Louisiana High School All Star game. When not at school or practice, I could be found on our corner with my brother and our friends. We had lots of fun! Everyone in our little krewe attended college on an athletic scholarship.

College was different. First, I was 17 my entire first semester on my own in New Orleans. You do the math! I had to fight to win a full athletic scholarship and while football the sport is still beloved, the politics (think head coach) created some of the most difficult moments of my young life. Academics was a bit of a rollercoaster. What was easy, when neglected became difficult. But I was able to recover. I graduated in four years with Bachelor of Science degrees in Psychology and Public Policy and later finished with a Master of Social Work. Don’t let anything keep you down.

Legacy

I was trained by some of the best clinicians in the country and went on to a career of treating, researching, and preventing behavioral health problems. Some of the most rewarding work was treating people with substance use disorders and expanding community coalitions in Louisiana. However, when tragedy hits it’s hard not to think about legacy.

What does legacy mean today? It is putting together with successful friends everything we’ve learned over the years about mindset, motivation and change and using this information to pass on a new path to freedom. Stake your claim to your “digital real estate” and join the journey.