Reflections in the Key of Life: an Autobiography of Ideas a Compilation

An autobiography of events and experiences tells a great deal about what has happened to us. But, does it really reveal who we are? I think not. These events are the circumstances of our life and often give birth to labels by which others think they know us. As Yale Law Professor, Stephen Carter so eloquently put it: "To be black and an intellectual in America is to live in a box. So, I live in a box, not of my own making, and on the box is a label, not of my own choosing. Most of those who have not met me, and many of those who have, see the box and read the label and imagine that they have seen me. The box is formed by the assumptions others make when they learn that I am black, and a label is available for every occasion."The reality is that being black and being named Muhammad Abdullah gives birth to labels that become more than boxes in which I am placed, they have become glasses through which others attempt to see and judge who I am. Worse, for a large portion of my life, they were the glasses through which I saw myself. These glasses were akin to attempting to see myself as one tries to see the bride behind and beneath the veil. This book removes the veil. It is an autobiography of my inner life - of my ideas. Reflections in the Key of Life, is like a song - a song of my soul. It is my composition, and like my favorite music form jazz, it will often appear to stray from the melody. But even in the midst of the straying, a gem is discovered, then another, and yet another, and just as you find yourself becoming interested in gems and collecting all you can gather, you find yourself back at the melody and the gems like bread crumbs have led you there back to where you began. As T. S. Elliot put it: "And the end of all explorations is to return to that place where you began, and know it for the first time." Reflections in the Key of Life is one melody, but like the many instruments and voices that contribute to the orchestra or to the choir, each in its own way is