Boobie Logan

"There is more in a human life than our theories of it allow. Sooner or later something seems to call us onto a particular path. You may remember this "something" as a signal moment in childhood when an urge out of nowhere, a fascination, a peculiar turn of events struck like an annunciation: This is what I must do; this is what I've got to have. This is who I am." '" Louis Gibson

As I contemplated what may have shaped my commitment to serving the needs of Veterans and Americans, I asked myself, "What was it anyway?" What particular event made me feel so much passion for helping others, particularly in the military community? What circumstance created my enthusiasm to learn about social policies, the legal system, and community development? What singular moment in my life made me realize that public service is what I need to do in order to feel whole?

And then it occurred to me . . . this need, almost compulsion, of mine to help others was acquired and developed by my own personal struggles -- as a child of newly-immigrated parents, unfamiliar with the language and the culture of a new country; as a member of a family who has lived, for a number of years, slightly above the poverty line in Houston, Texas; as a minority male trying to survive and succeed among racist and ideologies and norms prevalent in our country.

In my past and today, I have witnessed the struggles and cruelties amongst and between ethnic communities. I have been inundated with the realities of racial tension and violence. I have seen the lines of segregation divided by municipal vices and corresponding socioeconomic barriers that dictated the destinies of whole communities. There were very few moments when my family, friends, or I were not plagued by racial hostilities performed directly from individuals and groups, or indirectly from social institutions. Although I grew accustomed to hateful words and actions, these behaviors were drilled so deep into my consciousness that, even today