Collections by Michelle Brown wsg Rev. Cedrick D. Bridgeforth

Collections by Michelle Brown

“Alabama Grandson began as a series of letters Rev, Cedrick Bridgeforth wrote to his maternal grandmother. Although she died in 1989, Bridgeforth has fond and profound memories of her presence, the aromas in her kitchen, and the life lessons that rolled effortlessly from her tongue. This story intersperses the lessons taught by his grandmother but learned through the living of his life in search of meaning and purpose through the service of others. A native of Decatur, Alabama Rev. Cedrick Bridgeforth is an ordained minister, author, educator, executive coach, consultant, public speaker, and the founder of 20/20 Leadership Lessons. As a child of the South, a Gay African American, an Air Force Veteran, and Ordained Methodist Minister, Bridgeforth had been a master of hiding in plain sight. In 2015 when he nonchalantly acknowledged his life partner during a public Methodist gathering all kinds of drama broke out. His hope is that by telling his story, others will make connections with their motivations for living and take inventory of spaces and places where they are not being honest about who they are out of fear of rejection, ridicule, or ruin.