I'm a 43  year old Software engineer, jazz guitarist, and photographer. I'm originally from the Washington DC area but relocated to Cleveland (of all places) in 1988. I majored in music at the University of Miami in Florida and later studied computer science at the University of Maryland.

At one time, I was an aspiring jazz guitarist in DC but had a hard time making ends meet and eventually got into software design.

I was raised in an environment where I was taught to judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. My mom and dad reinforced this behavior throughout my childhood and it's something that I try to instill in my children, though they live with their mom the majority of the time.

My mother was deeply involved in Civil Rights with CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and while tagging along with mom, I also marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King and many other important leaders. While with my mom, I toured the segregated south in the early '60s as part of a mixed racial group sent their by CORE in order to enforce the recently passed civil rights bill. This group included my mom, myself, Gloria Brown, and her son. We had many interesting experiences including:

bulletWe were arrested and thrown in jail for attempting to eat in a white-only restaurant. The waitress told us they were out of food and water even though people around us were being served as she was fabricating her story.
bulletWe went to a white-only beach and went into the water. (There was actually a sign which said, "No {N-Word}s") People began yelling and screaming at us. Someone called the police who announced over a megaphone that the water was polluted and that everyone should get out of the water. After 5 minutes, the 4 of us were the only folks in the water! People stood on the beach yelling racial insults and throwing rocks, bottles, and cans at us while the policeman stood watching with his sunglasses, hat, and arms crossed! We were jailed for trespassing!
bulletBeing pulled over for speeding and having a gun put to Gloria Brown's head. Much like the missing civil right's workers earlier that year, we were asked to follow the trooper back to his station. We refused, knowing that the civil right's workers were murdered using that same ruse! If we had followed him, I might not be writing this paragraph!

Anyway, check out the tribute to my mom and thanks for taking the time to read all of this!

bulletTribute to Mom (Jo Alicia Zucker)