VINCENT MORRIS

It has always been my goal to uplift those who society has forgotten. The fact there are so few brothers doing that is disturbing on multiple levels. I write the story of the underdog and those who struggle to rise to the top. That is not only my story, but the story of many. You won't get it unless you work hard and fight for it. These words are my fight.

WHAT DEFINES MY WORK

STRONG BLACK MEN - What's missing from literature is men who stand up. You don't see men who take care of their families in the right way or give back to the community. You have plenty of real niggas, fake niggas, goons, thugs, and pimps. What is lacking is the black male who will take back our families, businesses, communities, and schools. These role models seldom exist in literature. The strong black man is becoming an endangered species. That's who I write about, because that's who I am.

NO NONSENSE BLACK WOMEN - You may find strippers, prostitutes, and loose women in my work, but it won't be celebrated. What will be celebrated is strong, educated, black women who rise above foolishness. What you will see is women making a way out of no way and fighting for their families. What you will see is the best of who you can be. If you aren't down with that, then what are you down with?

INDEPENDENT BROTHERS AND SISTERS - You won't find people begging for hand - outs in my books. You won't find anyone with a cup in their hand or anyone that depends on the system unless they have fallen and can't stand up. What you'll find is men and women that fight for independence. There will always be a man who can't be bought by the system and a woman who stands by his side. We lost that mind set and need to bring it back. Who doesn't want to read that?

COMPLETE TRUTH - All of the positive novels sugar coat the truth. All the real novels leave out the positive that exists in our community. I provide what's missing.

ORIGINALITY - I may write a drug dealer, but he will be unlike any drug dealer you've seen. I may write a black girl lost, but there will be something unique about her. I'm not some Donald Goines clone. I was always taught to be myself, and that is reflected in the things I write.

REVOLUTION - Things need to change and we all know they do. As a result I push black independence, love, and unity. What more could you want from literature?

POSITIVITY - I don't care how grimy the book is. I don't care who gets shot, or how much the community is destroyed. When you purchase my work the positive is always pushed. What type of man doesn't push for bettering himself or change? What type of man has nothing to say? What type of man doesn't celebrate who he is or where he is going? We need to get back into that.

UNDERDOGS - There will always be someone in the book that came from the bottom to the top. Most successful people in our community came from some sort of struggle. I'm experiencing that same struggle to get books with something to say to be successful. That's okay, because the struggle makes me stronger. I embrace the struggle and so do my characters.

ISSUES - I always deal with issues that have impact on the community. In many cases the book will be based around that issue and how the character fights to get out of it. It amazes me how black men with nothing to say get called real, just as brothers with something to say get called lame. We are living in a world of opposites. We need to get back to a time when a real man could be a real man and a good woman could be a good woman. Our hood mentality is killing us.

LOVE - Love is always under the surface in anything I write. No matter what I write it is always out of a love for my people. Even things that come across as harsh are tough love. Too many writers are out there for the dollar in the wrong way. I'm for dollars as well, but dollars for change, dollars to take the community back, and dollars to be free. Please tell everyone you know there is a brother out here trying to make a difference and to support that. Everything I am or ever wanted to be is in these words. Thank you and much love.