EBOLA MAKE ME THINK

IT MAKES ME SAY SOMETHING Ebola makes me say something. The world for me seems to be much smaller; certainly much smaller than when I was small. I think smaller is a good thing – not me, the world. Like it or not we are beginning to know more about each other as Americans, and more about other peoples around the world; it’s not like we have a choice. It doesn’t matter that I don’t like white people, or any other people; my attitude does not alter the fact that we share the same space and time; sometimes that space is on an airplane, in a restaurant, at a mall, traveling on a train, bus or subway. With all our differences we must still share common spaces. It didn’t take me long to figure out that if a person within my space is facing a physical threat that I too am threatened. With the world getting smaller – in terms of travel and communication – spaces are merging. At one time in my life I didn’t much give a shit about other spaces nor the people in them. But with Americans dying for freedom in other spaces, the names of which I still strain to pronounce, with people from other spaces blowing up my space, with my government spying on everyone’s space, I have come to the conclusion that not only have all spaces merged but so has the people in them. It’s been said in many ways – if the health and wellbeing of one person in any space is under threat we’re all under treat. www.adolphusward.net. www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward

SHARING WHY I WRITE NOVELS - 13

WHY I WRITE NOVELS – 13 As a black man I’ve known for some time that I owe a debt of gratitude to my parents, my grandparents, and my ancestors that can never be paid. Were it not for them I would not exist – quite literally. It is they who survived their bodies being ripped apart and sold in the meat markets of the world. It is they who had their tongues torn from pleading mouths and fed to dogs; it is they who were forced to watch their men being castrated by hogs and their women raped and ravaged by iron claws; it is they who watched their flesh being fed to fish and their blood soaking the soils of lands still hiding in the shadows of a genocide yet to be acknowledged; it is they who refused to die when forced to live at the edge of humanity; it is they who refused to stop breathing even with the boot-heels of government on their throats; it is they who dared to stand even when hanging from trees; it is they who never stopped snatching more humanity, never stopped healing themselves, never stopped making life possible for me. So now you may be able to understand that my novels are and will continue to be a tribute to my parents, my grandparents, and my ancestors. www.adolphusward.net.

WHY I WRITE NOVELS - 12

WHY I WRITE NOVELS – 12 I love life – it’s not a new love affair, I’ve been in it for a long time. It started when I began to understand that I am unique, that every person who ever lived, who is living now, and who will ever exist, each of us is unique: each and every one of us. There are no two people exactly alike. Some people may look alike, some may act a little alike, but each person is unique, each person exist in their own time and place and when dead will never exist again. I don’t know how life began. The notion of The Creation is no more than a myth to me and The Big Bang Theory is no more than a pop. I frankly don’t give a shit how life began – well, maybe a little – what’s more important to me is I’m now here with other people and other living organisms, for better or worse. Now this is really the good part – I have the power to make my life progressively better and the skills to enrich the lives of others. Through my education, my book reading, my desire to learn, I have taught myself to think. I can now write stories that allow me to share the experiences of other people – some of those experiences may help me and you make better choices during the time we exist. www.adolphusward.net.