Hello, my name is Gregory B. Dickerson author of Steven the short story. The story itself came about due to my dislike of the 'N' word. It teaches a young black man, who uses the word, the true hate it actually represents. In the story you will meet Steven and his family and follow them through a Friday night that changes Steven's life forever. I'm from New York and one day during my lunch hour I was standing on a corner in Brooklyn where I worked. Standing next to two young black men who were in a deep conversation, I must have heard them use the 'N' word no less then twenty times between them. This conversation inspired me to write the story. Hopefully, if you are a user of the 'N' word, your life and how you feel about the word will be changed forever.

Cover image: © Copyright 2009 Angelika Burgin. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

Gregory B. Dickerson.

Born on December 7, 1960 to Frank and Violet Dickerson, I became their youngest child of seven. We lived in the tight-knit community of West Brighton, located in Staten Island ,New York. I graduated from Susan E. Wagner High School in 1979, and went on to attend The College of Staten Island. I left school to work for the New York City Transit Authority, where I am currently employed with 25 years of service. Being a child of the sixties and seventies, the 'N' word had a different significance than it does in today's society. This difference prompted me to write this story. I hope you read it and help me and others that feel the way I do in stopping the use of this hateful word before it ends up in the dictionary as an acceptable word in our society.