I was born in Rochester, New York and grew up in the Hanover Projects.

Since I was young, I loved seeing Black people working together. Also, I was always into group activities. As a kid, I ate breakfast in the mornings before school at the Black Panther's Breakfast Program. Being a part of that, had an impact on me.

I remember getting my hair cut at Blake's Barber Shop as a kid, where I would listen to the Brothers talk. I remember them saying to each other, "What would happen if we all come together?". They would speak about all the things we could do when we came together as a race. They would say, "We could do this" and "We could do that, if we just come together".

Ever since then, I've always wondered what would happen when we do. I knew we would come together one day. The question was the HOW. That became my question as I grew older... HOW would be come together.

My grandmother used to take out her barbecue grill on Saturday's in the parking lot of the housing projects. She would cook barbeque out there and sell it to the people. I would always be out there with her, selling her barbeque. I learned so much from that experience.

Back then, the projects were very family oriented. In the space of those 7 buildings, there were gangs that protected the entire area. Yes, they were gangs, but it was family. I saw all that unity as a young child. I gave me a longing to see us work together as I became an adult.

As an adult, I looked for groups of Black people coming together. I always wanted to see Black people come together. I used to speak about it all the time. I knew that coming together was the way. I joined many organizational, looking for it. Eventually, that longing led me here.

One day, I was I was driving home from a hard day at work, I was listening to the radio in my car. A Brother was being interviewed and I heard the words, "Black Business Network". I was attracted immediately. I heard the website and I was anxious to get home, pull it up and learn all about it.

I went to the website, watched the "Amazing Black Business Network" video, and was blown away! I read every word of the website. I read it for a week. Then, after learning about how everything worked, I decided to become a TAG TEAM Marketer. I signed up on the website and was excited.

Then, the next day, I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. I answered, and the person said, "Hello Nathaniel, this is Delxino Wilson de Briano, President of TAG TEAM Marketing!". I couldn't believe it! This was the man in the video!

He invited me to their office facility in Atlanta. I came to office and was blown away by the facility. It met other team members and I knew I was home. Then, I started attending their meetings and I started training as a TAG TEAM Marketer.

Becoming a monthly Supporter was natural for me. I always wanted to buy Black. But this was buying Black for a purpose, on a continuous basis, so I loved it! I didn't care what the product was or the cost... I was going to buy it and help these Black businesses come up. Buying Black monthly gave me the opportunity to make a real commitment to buying Black. I started buying every week!

I stayed all the way from a beginning Supporter to Honored African because the longer I participated, I saw myself growing. I saw myself getting more and more committed. I started looking at every penny I was spending, and I realized that most of my money was leaving my community. That wasn't acceptable anymore. I saw other race's stores, and I knew that one day, we would have our own stores. So, the longer I supported Black businesses, consistently, the more commited I became.

Now, what drives me is knowing that I am not alone, and that there are others that think like me. Best of all, I now know that Marcus Garvey thought like this, too. That just impacts me! I know that I am home now. I know that one day, a dollar will not leave the Black community. Every single dollar will go back into the Black community. The world has never seen money stay in a community, like they will see money stay in the Black community!

I you are considering becoming a Citizen, please realize that we have something very, very special here as Citizens of Garvey Nation. We have worked towards this for a very long time. It's going to take work to get this done. It's not about getting to the finish line and stopping. It's about getting to the finish line, and then starting again to get to the NEXT finish line. We don't stop.

Being a Citizen is a necessity for our race. It is the air that breathes life into our people! It is something that we have now. It is something that we can protect. It is our family. It is our culture. It is our history.

It is all here for Citizens of Garvey Nation. Become one.

My advice would be to stick with being a Citizen. Even more, stretch yourself. I know it can be uncomfortable sometimes, but that that's what it's all about. We need to put ourselves in an uncomfortable position to see this through. Start as a Citizen 10 (purchasing 10 points worth of products each month), then keep adding more and more, and increase it a little of a time.

I understand things can happen. Things can happen with your cell phone bill, but you handle it, and it's back on. But here, we are talking about the future of our RACE now. We all have to give some blood, sweat and tears to see this through!

Look at what our forefathers went through. And they got us there. That's what we've got to do. We've got to make the commitment and stick with it. There's no going back. There is no surrender. We've got to move forward!

To my descendants, I would say, pick up where I left off. No going back. Take whatever you see in this movement, pick it up the work, and continue it. This group is for us. We are standing on powerful shoulders. You should do what I have done, times 1,000. You have plenty of information, plenty of history. Get on board, and create from this point, and move us forward. Know for sure that I am watching you.