"It is important to establish where you came from to understand where you're going," according to author, Jimi Little. In doing so, Little's memoir captures the indomitable spirit of Black People from slavery to the twenty-first century. This memoir is an unapologetic look at growing up Black in Columbus, Ohio in the 40s, and 50s during a period of apartheid America.
Follow Little's journey from Columbus, Ohio to Los Angeles, as he learned many life lessons about overcoming obstacles and hurdles to become a successful business person. His maternal grandfather, James Edward Gibson, known as "Gibby," who was part of the South-to-North migration of Blacks, settled in Columbus, Ohio. As a survivor of the Great Depression, Gibby was to become the family patriarch, historian and mentor to the author. Later, as a single father, Gibby raised his only daughter, Mary Alice Gibson, alone. In her second year of college, she married her longtime boyfriend, Joseph Arthur Little. The author was the second of seven children born to this union.
With the loving presence of a maternal and paternal grandparent, Little was reared in the heart of a warm, two-parent family in Middle America. As a good student, he attended an all-Black Catholic school up until the eleventh grade. Shortly after graduating from high school, he married and had 4 children at a young age.
Fortunately, this did not derail Little's desire to move up in life. He went on to college, then obtained a degree, while working full-time at the Post Office and, at the same time, raising a young family. Subsequently, his marriage ended in divorce. Following his divorce, Jimi continued to move up on his job, and even became a part-owner in a nightclub in Columbus, but, always a dreamer, he became restless. Destiny called for him to head west.
After moving to Northern California, then later settling in Los Angeles, Little went on to become a successful entrepreneur in the check cashing business and later, in the pizza restaurant business.
"This is not only a story of the importance of family, this is a story of overcoming great odds to achieve success. It shows Jimi Little's part in the symphony of The American Dream vis- -vis the Black experience. Little is definitely an unsung hero."
Dr. Maxine Thompson, Black Butterfly Press