Views of a Southern Black Man

About the Book

“Views of a Southern Black Man” is a compilation of selected weekly editorials written by the author over a fifteen-year span. In this book, the author shares his experience with racism in the south. He also talks about the problems that continue to plague the African American community as he offers possible solutions. The main objective of this book is to improve race relations, but this will not happen until all Americans come to an agreement as to what’s right and wrong, just and unjust, and be able to separate fact from fiction. While the past serves not only as a reminder of where African American have been and a tool to access where we are today, we cannot successfully move forward while continuing to look back.

About the Author

Harvey Williams Jr., born July 11, 1952, in Willacoochee, GA, is a former drug abuse counselor, who in 1982 turned to be a drug dealer. Making a decision to sell marijuana on the streets of Palm Beach County, FL, eventually resulted in the loss of his family in 1984. To cope with the emotional pain and mental anguish, he turned to crack (cocaine) and became homeless within six months of the separation. In 1985, he started trafficking cocaine and had several close encounters with law enforcement before finally deciding to abandon the drug trade. On October 31, 1986, with barely more than the clothes on his back, he returned home and became a born-again Christian in January 1987. Today Mr. Williams is pastor of the House of Deliverance Church in Willacoochee, GA. In 2001, Pastor Williams founded the Christian Counsel Association, a nonprofit organization that provides a variety of counseling bases on biblical principles. In 2002, he became a columnist for the Atkinson County Citizen newspaper, writing weekly editorials about life from his perspective under the title “My View.” In 2006, he became a published author when he wrote “From Pusher to Preacher (By the Grace of God) Pt. 2.” In this book, he gives a detailed account of his transformation from being drug counselor to drug pusher/dealer to homeless crack addict and finally to born again Christian. In 2009, he wrote his second book entitled, “Sarah (Slipping into Darkness),” in which he chronicles the life and death of his foster sister from the age of three to her untimely death at the age of thirty-two due to complications caused by AIDS. She was also a crack addict and a single mother of four. Mr. Williams is currently writing his fourth book entitled, “From Pusher to Preacher (In the Beginning) Pt. 1.”