As a child growing up in a very violent neighborhood, I was constantly facing difficult problems, the majority of which dealt with me not being able to find myself. All things said, what six year-old white kid has a firm grip on his identity in the first place? I feel comfortable that many of you faced the same tribulations as myself growing up, so I am not embarrassed to share with you some of the identity crisis I faced in my youth — I had a dog phase, thought I was a Ninja turtle, and even convinced myself I was an under-appreciated artistic genius. These were only mild hurdles in my journey of self discovery, as the biggest challenge I faced was gender confusion. Continue reading →