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Hello world, my name is Kevin Phillips.  I was born in the city of Minneapolis and raised on the north side of town.  My roots are from the state of Alabama and those southern roots run deep as the Mediterranean.  My family moved to Minneapolis in 1959 because Alabama was becoming more dangerous for black people during that time i.e. Bull Connor, George Wallace, Birmingham Church Bombings, Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King.

I graduated from Benilde St, Margaret's High School where I played basketball.  I have an Associate of Arts degree from North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, MN, where I played basketball and  a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Alabama State University in Montgomery, AL, where I also received an officer’s commission into the United States Air Force and played basketball.. I obtained my RLS (real life sh**) doctorate in journalism from the University of Life. 

I will never forget the day, August 28, 1999. I am driving to Duluth, MN, to checkout their annual reggae summer event. I bought my ticket in June of 1999 after hearing Dennis Brown was on the bill. The 'bill was for real' with Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Yellowman, Ziggy Marley  Rita Marley, Shabba Ranks, and Winston 'Burning Spear' Rodney  among others.

But my main guy was Dennis Brown who I had listened to since high school. Well a couple things happened on the way to the party which kept me and Mr. Brown from showing up. He died all too young on July 1, 1999. And I nearly died due to a racially motivated traffic stop which is well documented in legal documents of this website.

However, somewhere in my ancestry there was a wise relative who guided to me to use this traffic stop as a teachable moment or 'moments' of the different 'cultures' of profiling. Hence, my book 'Driving While Black A Memoir Of Profiling' was born just for you.

It will be a memoir of the first three decades of my life, 1960's, 1970's and 1980's describing the different 'cultures' of profiling I have witnessed.  So buckle up and hold on for the ride. Then unbuckle and leave me your thoughts via email.    

Reader,  I must add one more important thing.  This book is purely non fiction. When names like Andre Hill, Oscar Grant and Elijah McClain are in the news, guys like me have no time even thinking about fiction, let alone writing a fictional book. Enjoy.