For years, I had worked day and night for my sons to get the education they needed so that they could get away from their abusive father

To understand my story, you must know a bit of my mom’s. Sherry, my mom, was only 16 when she had me, and while my father continued

She named me Bradley Currie Jenkins, giving me her last name because her boyfriend, my dad, wasn’t interested with me...

If joy is hidden behind a bed of thorns, then I will cut my hands to reach it...

As the baby of the family, I was the apple of everyone’s eye. My dad was a businessperson who worked at a supermarket...

In the year of my birth, 1952, our desolate Texas prairie lured only the wildcatter oil tycoons from the east coast and the hardworking...

I remember the fear in my mother’s eyes...I remember the pounding of my heart. It was the first night my father came home drunk...

Growing up, I saw thousands of faces in my town. I was born in Kasur, Punjab, in Pakistan. Kasur is a very small city...

My father made little money as a government officer and could not afford to take care of us kids...

I used to ask, “What is the purpose of educating young girls? What are they good for? Why would I ever want a daughter...

Back then, there were no doctors and nurses, at least, not the way we think of them today. Only midwives delivered babies...

...In that time, race was a pretty big issue, with African Americans having spent the past decade fighting for their civil rights...

But it is also known for being smack in the middle of the Bible Belt, where children say “yes, ma’am,” and “no, sir,”...

With many, many patients coming his way, my father was highly esteemed—a venerated figure like a god, in fact...

Teaching, preaching, writing, and interacting with students of all ages gave me a sense of satisfaction, and I was happy...

“We have to move, baby,” my mom’s voice was tense. “Get packing.” I did as I was told; it was routine...

My childhood was a distressing one because we never had enough to eat or spend on ourselves. Since I could remember, my father...

My story began before I was even born, when the traditional values of the Pakistani culture sunk into the hearts and minds of my parents...

I guess it all started when my father got his big break. During his rookie years, the law firm he was working for had been given...

...They also showed me the harsh reality of life and death. Knowing that one day we’d be here and the next we’d not always terrified me...