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Acknowledgments At the professional level, I want to first thank the University of Richmond’s Tyler and Alice Haynes Endowment Fund for supporting this project. It made it possible for me to travel to my research sites and transcribe the many hours of oral history tapes recorded during the research phase. Second, after using various transcription companies, I want to thank the “world’s best tape transcriber”—found right on little Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina—Anita Pelletiere of IGI Associates. You are the best! Furthermore, I want to express my appreciation to the University of Richmond’s dean of arts and sciences, Andrew Newcomb, for being a good friend and listener when I was stressed out while trying to complete this project; to administrative assistants Kathy Fugett and Deborah Govoruhk for assisting me with copying and showing me how to fill out the many travel forms; to history chairperson Hugh West and librarian Jim Gwin for being my best cheerleaders and showing unending interest in and support for my oral history projects; and to my peers, John “J. T.” Treadway, John “J. G.” Gordon, and Harry Ward, for making me smile when I felt like crying or laugh when I felt like screaming during my years at the University of Richmond. As always, on the personal level, family and longtime friends have been my rock and stabilizers. Hayward Farrar, Judith Smith, Thomas Robinson, and the late Elizabeth Fox-Genovese were there for me whenever I cried help. Guys, I’ll always “have your backs.” On the other hand, whether they need help or not, my daughters, Nabulungi, Yakini, Sibongile, and Abikanile, and my surrogate children, Shahid, Derek, and Sybil, continue to be my major, though welcomed, interruptions to any project I undertake, always making this mother feel needed and loved. Most important, I want to thank my loyal husband Ron and best-friend sister, Caroletta (Akanke), and her children, xvi Acknowledgments Kafele and Kanika, for unselfishly taking my place to care for our mom, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, during my many travels away from home. There are many things I could not have done without your being there. Last, I want to “spank” my two knuckleheaded puppies, Sir Banjee the Maltese and the baddest darn puppy in the world, standard poodle Basenjee. They both have successfully sabotaged this project from its genesis. It seems that every time I lifted my laptop to work, their bladders sent off a signal to come to me for outdoor walks. Yet I must confess that these two canine knuckleheads , along with my loving mom and my busy grandkids, Garvey, Chase, and Shabazz, all made me LOL in different ways while writing this book. ...

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