Excerpts

On coming to the District of Columbia, I had three sisters and an uncle and a cousin. No one invited me to their church. On my job, I was the only African American. No one talked to me unless it was job related. I learned that the people in the District do not talk to you unless they know you. The District has many people from other countries. I was very lonely. One day I said "Father, God, let me love people." I felt that if I loved people, I would always respect whomever I came in contact with without having to worry about anyone's ethnicity or skin tone.

On one occasion in the Air Force I requested a transfer. Personnel told me that I could not be transferred because of what was going on in Germany. It so happened that a reservist came on duty in my office, and I told him that I could not be transferred because we may have to go to war. He left the office and came back with a copy of the message and said "Read this message and tell me where it says that you are frozen to the base." After I read the message, he said "You are not frozen to the base. You are a female. You are not going anywhere to fight any war. Go back to personnel and tell them that the message does not apply to you and to allow you to request a transfer." I was transferred.