Kevin Seraaj:  

After high school, I went on to Northwestern University, and followed up with law school (also at Northwestern). I changed my name back in 1975-- nothing against my father or anything. It's just that I was a staunch pan-Africanist looking for a closer identification with ancestral things. I joined the Nation of Islam during my senior year in law school-- not for religious reasons, but because I believed in the message of self-help. And the Nation practiced it: grocery stores, supermarkets, fish markets, bakeries, apartments, homes, farmland, a bank, clothing imports and an airport. I was the Assistant National Business Manager, so I have personal knowledge of what we accomplished. What I regret most about that time were the decisions made by leaders that caused the loss of that financial infrastructure. Oh well. I practiced law in Chicago until 1983, developing a specialty in government contracts, when I was asked to come to New York by a friend who was about to lose an $18 million contract with the Department of Defense. With the help of a dedicated staff, I managed to salvage the contract, file a number of claims against the government (for more than the contract value) and the contract was completed successfully. I relocated to Orlando, Florida in 1987, when the government predictably didn't give the company another contract. In Orlando I answered a call to ministry and shortly thereafter founded a local, weekly newspaper. Since 1987, I have focused my efforts primarily on the newspaper and ministry, although I do work occasionally with a local law firm and continue consulting in the area of contract management and administration. Over the years I have sat on and chaired numerous city, county and civic boards, and am currently spending my time making furniture (woodworking hobby passed down to me by my grandfather) and publishing a newspaper. I have 8 children, close to 20 grandchildren (I stopped counting at 16). I miss breathing in crisp, cold air on a frigid Chicago winter day, wearing full-length overcoats and gloves, the ...Expand for more