A Living Witness: The Journal Writing of My Life, Healing, and God

By Craig Wiggins

It’s a memoir chronicling my thoughts, self-reflection, God, Sexuality, Faith, Family and searching for peace subsequently of the September 11, 2001 attacks.                                            

• Language: English
• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Release date: Nov 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643675817

Craig Wiggins

Craig Wiggins was born in New York City on March 14, 1981. He grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn living with his late grandmother, and mother during that time. Craig attended private, and catholic school in Brooklyn, New York where he graduated from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in June 1999. From 1999 to 2001, Craig briefly attended Long Island University (Brooklyn Campus), where he studied journalism; a year later, he transferred to Borough of Manhattan Community College majoring in English (Writing and Literature), and graduated in June 2007 with an associates of arts degree. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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A Living Witness

Copyright © 2019 by Craig Wiggins. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of URLink Print and Media.

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Published in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-64367-580-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64367-581-7 (Digital)

20.06.19

Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I want to thank God for truly blessing me with the gift of word. Secondly, my late mother for sacrificing her time, love, and energy despite our differences; Minister Branch for always keeping me in her thoughts and prayers; Jackie Breeden for speaking to me one Sunday afternoon in church in September of 2001. Our conversation inspired me when she said that God wanted me to write about my life. Special thanks also to Vivian Spencer and Bishop Tolliver of the Resuscitated Church Ministries. To my friend, Purcell Nurse who gave me a piece of the missing puzzle to start the writing process. And lastly, to the angels God bestowed in my life for a season and a lifetime.

Foreword

A Living Witness: The Journal Writing of My Life, Healing, and God chronicles not only my internal struggles, thoughts, and emotions from September 2001 through January 2002, but it has also opened my eyes to the society I live in that shaped me as a person and my individuality.

Someone was hurt before you; wronged before you; beaten before you; humiliated before you; raped before you; yet someone SURVIVED. – Dr. Maya Angelou

CHAPTER 1

September 16, 2001

Today was a beautiful, blessed day in church. I’d arrived there late, but I was still able to hear a good sermon. This week has been horrible for all Americans and people around the world, incredulously witnessing the destruction of the World Trade Center by terrorists crashing the hijacked planes. This nation is going through so much chaos and turmoil right before my eyes.

Rumors of riots in Muslim American neighborhoods who were perceived as the real culprits is running rampantly in New York City. Now, the United States is thinking about war against Afghanistan and other countries that were part of the plot. Even worse, Arab and Muslim Americans are being racially and religiously profiled of bias attacks in the United States. People who attack others in this nation are no better than the murderers who killed the people on those planes crashing them. The horror and wailing of people’s faces! Why do we have so much hatred in our world? There is so much blatant bigotry and prejudice because of one’s race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status, ageism, and disability. As human beings, we are made in the image and likeness of the Creator. God made each of us different to love, not hate. As human beings, we want unconditional love and tolerance, but how will that happen when we cannot love one another as brothers and sisters? No one deserves to be discriminated or being profiled which is a form of superiority and control oppressing those who are not of their equal socio-economic and racial status. Our children are growing up learning ignorance, intolerance, and hatred. God only knows what I’d experience as a child growing up with all kind of abuse separate from the outside world. This led me to question God of my existence because I couldn’t bear the pain and suffering; no more from certain family members. Despite it all, I would pray and ask God to continue to heal me everywhere I hurt, because the tears are overwhelmingly burdensome. I was moved by singer Sinead O’ Connor’s biography on VH1’s Behind the Music, relating to her story, as she spoke of her childhood physical