Carla R Mancari

The Transformation Carla R Mancari

In the space of a single year, I accomplished more than some people do in an entire lifetime. Though I did not have a high school diploma, I enrolled in a University and earned a bachelor's degree, went on to earn a master's degree, was accepted into a doctoral program, and was certified as a counseling psychologist. Although I successfully overcame the deficiencies in my academic credentials, I managed to turn the entire student body of my graduate school against me virtually, simply because my skin was the wrong color. While attending class my life was placed at risk when deadly riots- some involving my classmates- broke out on and around the campus. Tragically, some of my fellow students were among the victims. In the process of obtaining my graduate degree, I also managed to alienate virtually all the people I had known and worked with, including the supervisor on my job, who made it clear that I was a pariah. I was soon out of a job. Within that same short year, I found and married the man of my dreams, only to discover that he marched to a tune of a different moral drummer. Our differences on the issue of race would quickly threaten our marriage. And a medical emergency threatened my very existence. It was a year packed with every emotion a human could experience, brutal hatred to deep love, from unabashed joy to paralyzing fear. It was the worst year of my life and the best. This is my story of the events of that year. In telling my story it is with the intention to bring national recognition to the three young men who gave their lives for the civil rights cause. It is with this book that I sincerely hope the respect, dignity, and admiration for those young men may at long last be hailed.