Hello and thanks for visiting our site,

After numerous attempts at eloquently stating the mission of the Over The Rainbow Group (hereinafter referred to as "The OTR Group"), I have come full circle and arrived back at the obvious. The sites composing The OTR Group are simply facets of the person I have become after a half century of being "Black in America". Facets constantly jockeying for supremacy every second of my waking day, and sometimes in my dreams. Early in our relationship, I heard my lovely wife of more than 30 years describe me as "a chameleon, someone who can be who and what he wants to be at any given moment". I was not offended. Listening to, and presiding over, this internal competition for control has been, and probably always will be, a struggle. I have made good choices and almost as many bad choices. Yet I have somehow survived and sometimes prospered ... in spite of myself. Often, all I had to do was get out of my own way. You know what? I would not have had it any other way.

All I have ever wanted to be was the best "me" I could be.

I never have had heroes, nor sought a leader. Instead, I idolize character, knowledge, skills, abilities and love. These are the sources of great endeavors and events in the past and make possible such endeavors and events in the future. Character, knowledge, skills, abilities, and love never let you down. I respect individuals whose use of these has made them worthy of respect. I watch the best "doers" (of whatever) closely, and listen to the best "talkers" for information and entertainment.

I place few limits on sources of enlightenment, and pay close attention to intelligent criticism by my adversaries. I gravitate toward people who think, not merely repeating the opinion of others. Agreement with me is not mandatory, sound reasoning is. The possibility that I may be wrong does not scare me. The thought that I might knowingly persist in being wrong does. I lie to others as little as possible, and never to myself. So I write very little in stone and always check me first.

I love my friends, having learned what "a friend" is; ... they tell me when they think I am wrong. They are my wealth and protection. I no longer argue with adults with the intent of changing them. I tell them what I think, do what I need to do, and move on ...adults do what they want to do, anyway. I either deal with them as they are, or do not deal with them at all. I forgive, but seldom forget. I avoid zealots of all stripes. Anyone who has decided that his or her answers are dispositive of all discussion is a danger to my personal freedom. The power of my opinions extends no further than my fingertips; and those of my children ... until they begin paying their own bills. (Please note that I did not include my wife in that group. I try to keep my knuckles off the ground.) I am no longer a "joiner". Membership in most organizations restricts my ability to adhere to all of the preceding. Instead, I support others where, and when, we are in agreement.

I accept that I am a flawed husband, father (of two daughters), and man who is given the opportunity to be a better "me" with the dawn of each day. Some will appreciate my efforts, others will not.

So the sites of The OTR Group, are, in actuality, a glimpse into the mind of this Black man and an opportunity to participate in my struggle to be a better "me" in the 21st century. Your feedback, through forum entries and emails, is a source of enlightenment for me, and possibly others. My only goal is to provoke honest disscussion about the world confronted by a people who once deemed "negative", and protested, the messages projected by a smiling, fat-cheeked "Aunt Jemima", subservient "Uncle Ben", and grammatically-challenged "Rastus", yet now silently abide their international depiction as over-sexed "players", scantily-clad, loose women, "urban warriors", and "babies' momas". I leave the conclusions drawn from that discussion to the intelligence of each participant.

I invite you to visit our sites, and, hopefully, we will meet ... somewhere over the rainbow.

Wendell