Black Dad—White Dad

About the Book

If this book were about a football game, instead of an ordinary life well lived, we would read thirty chapters where your favorite team is two points behind in the fourth quarter with forty five seconds left on the play clock. James is the quarterback and executes a play that produces the winning score with honor and dignity every time. His life is a complex tapestry woven with threads of racism, poverty, alcoholism, bravery, illiteracy, tension, paternal rejection, sexual exploitation, patient endurance, domestic violence and a strong faith in God. The challenges he faces would have caused men of lesser faith to find solutions deeply rooted in violence, hate, alcohol and disregard for humanity and the sacredness of life. James has invited you into the thoughts, feelings, successes, and failures of his life in an intimate and honest presentation. You will be honored by his honesty, and humbled by his courage and determination. There are enough struggles in this personal history to deter the brave but not enough to stop the honored bravery of someone who knows God. “Black Dad-White Dad” choreographs the life of black kid growing up in Mississippi as he transitioned from sharecropper status to urban life, from illiteracy to education in the forties and fifties. James does what so many think we may want to do in our life. He not only asks the questions but searches for the answers. One might say he should be mad at the world, but he is not. He does not let his life experiences be an excuse or the answer but uses each challenge and blessing as a welcome mat to the next chapter of his life.

About the Author

James Womack, the first of two boys, was born on a Mississippi cotton plantation in 1940 to illiterate parents. His mother had a 3rd grade education but his father never saw the inside of a school building. He learned to read and write when he entered the Catholic school in the 8th grade. His father was an abusive alcoholic. God blessed James with a God fearing mother with a heart of gold. She believed and lived a life under the influence of the providence of a kind and loving God. The promises of God gave James the strength to be victorious over evil and hate. He has personified the faith and patience of Job in his lifetime. His mother’s love and influence became a lifeline for James because his dad rejected him at birth based on pure unadulterated ignorance. This action caused James to become an over achiever because in his mind, he thought that if he could just be good enough at anything, it would make his dad love him. Despite many futile attempts at winning dad’s love, James buried his 80-year-old dad when he was 37 without ever receiving a kind word, smile or hug. Despite his humble beginnings, James completed high school with honors and won three academic scholarships. Then he voluntary served in the United States Army for twenty-one years, which included a year in Vietnam, with honor. At age 48, while working a full time job with four children in school, James found the motivation and time to be a husband and father and return to the classroom on a part-time basis and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Butler University. He has given us a road map that demonstrates a proven method of turning scares and into stars.