As we mourn the death of Alvin Sykes, I offer this insight into his early life:
Alvin's mother was 14 years old when she gave birth to him; her pregnancy was the result of rape.Very soon after being born, he went to live with a friend of the family.
As a child, Alvin spent a fair amount of time in the hospital. He was diagnosed with epilepsy, a degree of mental illness, and was the victim of sexual assault.
He believed he would not live to be adult.
The deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Alvin's friend Steve Harvey, a saxophone player, inspired him to become a persistent civil-rights activist.
Thank you, Alvin. You persevered adversity, and you never gave up.
For additional information, please see my post from October 13, 2018. The search window is in the upper left corner of this page.
Photograph © 2018 Larry F. Levenson.
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