I. Smith

Atlanta, Georgia, 1950–Michael can’t believe his eyes as he watches the man he loves marry a woman from the back row of Mount Zion Baptist Church. When the beautiful couple is pronounced man and wife, he leaves his home in Georgia for the chance of a better life in New York City. Alexander is just trying to exist in Queens, New York. Although his family is aware of his unnatural attraction to men, they adore him. The price of hiding his true identity from the rest of the world leads to a deep and painful loneliness for Alex, even in the bosom of a loving family.

In such a chaotic world, there was one thing that Kincaid desired—peace & quiet—and there was one person who could provide it. Sulphur Kincaid.

With a sensibility that recalls her beloved screen characters, including Yvette, Queenie, Shug, and the iconic Cookie from Empire, yet is all Taraji, the screen actress writes of her families - the one she was born into and the one she created. She shares stories of her father, a Vietnam vet who was bowed but never broken by life's challenges, and of her mother, who survived violence both in the home and on DC's volatile streets. Here, too, she opens up about her experiences as a single mother.