For most of us, there are moments in our lives when something happened that changed our lives forever. Moments like the time you realized that you were in love, when you received salvation, when you saw your child for the first time, you were in a march or had a conversation with someone which had a lasting impression and led you to a long lasting commitment.

I remember one of those times in my life. My parents owned a five-acre tobacco farm in rural Guilford County when I was born. When I was 8, we moved to a much larger farm as sharecroppers. After three years, my parents were able to purchase a 40-four acre farm. While it was larger than before, it was not large enough to sustain our family. So, as a teenager I would hire myself out to other farmers a few days each week when not working on our farm. At times, I worked for this nice white man. He paid more and gave snacks at break time. We laughed and had some things in common. We ate lunch in the kitchen, except the white people ate first while the Blacks waited and joked with each other outside under the trees. One day when I had a quiet moment to myself, I remember deciding that day that would not always be my way of life. I decided that day that life would be different for me and those around me. Of course, that day I went back to the fields as before. But I did not forgot that moment.

Ervin Milton

Ervin Milton