Read A Wealth of Family An Adopted Son International Quest for Heritage Reunion and Enrichment Family Success Thomas Brooks 9780977462933 Books

Product details Series Family Success Paperback 256 pages Publisher Alpha Multimedia, Inc.; 1 edition (August 1, 2006) Language English ISBN-10 0977462935

A Wealth of Family An Adopted Son International Quest for Heritage Reunion and Enrichment Family Success Thomas Brooks 9780977462933 Books Reviews

• Mr. Brooks tells an unusual story of the search for his birth mother and learns a lot about his personal and family history. It was especially appropriate for me personally. This gentleman is ambitious and clear headed, and his story inspires all of us.
• Love this book!
• After Thomas Brooks learned that he was adopted at age eleven, he began to wonder who his biological parents were. A Wealth of Family is the story of his search and the history of both his adoptive and biological parents. From inner city Pittsburgh to London to Nairobi, Brooks' physical journey mirrors his emotional journey of going from being an only child to being surrounded by many half-siblings in both Europe and Africa.
  
  Thomas' adoptive mother Joan was a struggling divorcee when he first learned of his adoption. Living on the north side of Pittsburgh, he had always thought he resembled his cousins who were light skinned African Americans. But he discovered that his biological mother was white and his biological father came from Kenya. Suddenly comments made to him by other African Americans about his multiracial appearance began to make sense. In spite of the prejudice and ignorance of many of his classmates (both black and white) in high school, Thomas went on to become the class valedictorian and entered the University of Pittsburgh to study engineering.
  
  But still the need to know where he came from was strong. Finally Thomas contacted the adoption agency and learned that his biological mother Dorothy had left a communication that it was all right for him to contact her if he ever was curious. He eventually met Dorothy, who by then resided in London, England with her children from a previous marriage. Thomas learned more about his father, who had been a Kenyan graduate student whom Dorothy had met as an undergraduate. After a brief affair, she learned she was carrying Thomas. Being unwed and pregnant in the mid-sixties with a biracial child, Dorothy did not have the support of her family. She felt she had no other option than to give Thomas up for adoption. Having grown up in a predominantly African American community, Thomas understood all too well how others' prejudice influenced Dorothy's decision.
  
  This is a moving story that demonstrates how with courage and determination an individual can bring together the separate strands of his heritage and weave them together into a loving whole.-- by Cindy Appel for the FEARLESS REVIEWS
• At age eleven, Thomas Brooks learned he was adopted and at first it shook his secure world. At age 25, while pursing his MBA, he decided to find his birth parents to complete the circle of his life. In A Wealth of Family, readers are treated to an international travel log and multicultural experience as we travel with Brooks in discovering his true roots.
  
  Although Brooks was acclimated and culturally African American, he always suspected he might be of mixed heritage. When he received a document from the adoption agency, he was surprised to find that his mother was of Lithuanian Jewish background and his father was from Kenya. His parents had a brief affair while his mother was an undergraduate and his father was a graduate student at Penn State. After assuring his beloved adopted mother, Joan, that, no one would usurp her place in his life, he began to earnestly search for his birth parents.
  
  Brooks grew up in a large extended family in the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania area surrounded by his mother's large family, the Lowrys. His parents divorced when he was four and he had little contact with his father. Brooks spent most of his growing years struggling with poverty because his mother was unable to work to support them. After a series of moves, they settled in Brighton, a white working/middle class suburb of Pittsburgh. After a rough start, Brooks began to excel in school, making excellent grades and was active in sports. He found himself fighting racism and stereotypes at time but preserved and was valedictorian of his high school class and going on to the University of Pittsburgh. Again, he applied himself to his studies and became immersed in a full college experience to include joining the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, a Greek Black organization and other clubs. He pursued engineering and then an MBA at the University of Maryland.
  
  Because his birth mother, Dorothy, left contact information in his file at the adoption agency, he was able to quickly establish contact with her. Dorothy, who was living in England, flew to Houston, where Brooks was then working. They established a rapport and thereafter, Brooks flew to England and met his sister and three brothers. He was received with open arms and they slowly built a relationship, along with his grandmother, Maryan, Dorothy's mother, who was living in Pittsburgh. Dorothy wanted to meet Joan, but he realized it was a delicate situation and it would need more time for the two women, his birth mother and his adoptive mother to meet.
  
  Brooks then took the steps to make contact with his father, Mboga Mageka Omwenga, which was much more difficult. In 1995, he and Dorothy made the trek to Kenya to make his paternal connection. First, they went on a safari to take in the beautiful country and then went on to Nairobi. All he had was a name and the fact that his father was of the Kisii tribe, according to a Kenyan friend in Houston. After a series of word-of-mouth connections, placing an announcement in the newspaper, and a few hits and misses, Brooks connected with his father's daughter, Margaret. She explained the father was out of the area but the two of them became acquainted. Brooks went back to Houston but thereafter started corresponding with his father. He went back to Kenya several months later finally met his father and was warmly received by the entire village and all his relatives, including his 100 year-old grandmother. He slowly established a relationship with his Kenyan family overcoming a few cultural challenges and miscommunications.
  
  After his mother, Joan met Dorothy, the families seemed to blend and accept each other. Brooks came to love and appreciate having three families who all loved and supported him. His world travels served to broaden his understanding of different cultures and heightened his appreciation of his multiracial heritage. While he considers himself African American, he calls himself a world citizen. He learned to value the traits both his birth mother and father passed on to him, such as their intellectual ability.
  
  Part memoir, part family history and genealogy, Brooks has written a memorable account of how race, culture, and family intersect while also recounting his own life lessons. He is a successful businessman living in Atlanta with his wife and family, mentoring inner-city youth and active in several social and civic organizations. There are many stories about bi-racial children but Brooks' story was unique in that it spanned three continents and melded three families to include a wealth of love, forgiveness and acceptance. This book is recommended for those interested in the topics of multiculturalism and adoptees seeking their roots.
  
  Reviewed by Dera R. Williams
  
  APOOO BookClub