This book, "What An Amazing Journey, To God Be the Glory" chronicles Alfred Taylor's life growing up in Arlington, Virginia's African American community, Green Valley during segregation. Dr. Taylor writes about his childhood in the 1930s through his years of marriage, employment, education, academia, and community leadership, ending with the death of his wife in 2019.
Dr. Taylor relates his life's journey with a flock of geese on their annual migrating trip because of the way they interchange positions and work together to arrive at their destination or goal. As soon as the flock of geese take flight, they quickly form a V-shape flying pattern with a goose in the center lead (in my journey this was my father) all the other geese trailing behind in two close lines. Consequently, when the lead goose tires, it drops out of the front position and moves to the rear of the formation, where the resistance is weakened, and another goose moves to the leadership position. The rotation of positions happened many times during my life's journey. After my early childhood, a new goose joined the formation and became my mate (geese are very loyal and mate for life) and she was always there to rotate with me when I needed a lift. Various members on my flight took the leadership role for a while because of a particular expertise or experience where their competencies were sometimes utilized, depending on the situation.
By Alfred O. Taylor, Retired Professor and former Dean of a college at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC).
Book design and production by the author, Alfred O. Taylor.
96 pages, full of black and white photos of people and places.
