Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill

KARRIEM: Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill.

MY DAD HAD SOME STRANGE IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO SUPPORT A FAMILY.

MOM: He brought this dog home. And he said "Well I'm gonna train this dog to, to snatch purses."

[MUSIC: BEEN CAUGHT STEALING, JANE'S ADDICTION]

MOM: I was just, I was totally appalled. I mean, "you're gonna get a dog and you're gonna train it to steal purses?" 'Cause evidently he had met somebody who had a dog that would do that. Well, I mean, you could do it, but it would be so wrong.

[/FADE MUSIC: BEEN CAUGHT STEALING]

MY DAD GAVE ME A PRETTY NORMAL CHILDHOOD, THOUGH. BY THE TIME I WAS ONE, HE WASN'T LIVING WITH US ANYMORE. WHEN I WAS FIVE, HE STOPPED VISITING. IT WAS JUST ME AND MY MOM; I WAS AN ONLY CHILD.

AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT.

UNTIL I WAS SIX, WHEN MY MOM TOLD ME I HAD A NEW BABY BROTHER.

MOM: I remember you were really happy. And you wanted to talk about it at, uh, at school, and I thought, well, you know, I couldn't figure out how to tell you how to phrase it. Your dad and I hadn't had a baby, but your dad had had a baby.

I WASN'T MY DAD'S FIRST CHILD, AND MY BABY BROTHER WOULDN'T BE HIS LAST. ACCORDING TO MY DAD, HE HAD FOURTEEN CHILDREN WITH THIRTEEN DIFFERENT WOMEN AROUND THE COUNTRY.

BY THE TIME I WAS OFF TO COLLEGE, MY DAD WAS OFF TO THE JOINT. I WAS READY TO WRITE HIM OFF. BUT I WAS CLOSE TO MY DAD'S FAMILY, AND THEY THOUGHT I SHOULD TO GET TO KNOW HIM.

[MUSIC: DJANGO RINEHART]
[FX: PHONE]
DAD: A letter to my little girl.

SO I WROTE TO HIM, AND HE WROTE BACK. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY AT FIRST.

DAD: Well, Phyllis, just how in the hell are you doing? Fine, I hope. As far as me, I'm just doing this time as it comes.

BUT HE WAS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND MY WORLD.

DAD: Oh yes, didn't you tell me that you had a roommate? Well if you do, tell her that your Papa said hi. You can tell her where I'm at if you want to. It don't bother me. Hell, I ain't the only one in here.

SO I TRIED TO UNDERSTAND HIS.

DAD: I mean some of these dudes get so big they can't even wipe their own butt. And a lot of 'em walk around with that bully-type attitude and someone way smaller than them ends up kickin' them right in their ass.

I STARTED TO LEARN ABOUT HIM.

DAD: I really like to read books now that I can read. The kind of books that I like to read most are about black people and the things that they used to do that the white man didn't keep track of for our people. I also like to read books that show you how to build things out of wood.

HE WAS VAIN.

DAD: I'm still lookin' good as hell, I'll tell you that. Your papa is lookin' good.

HE WAS FRUSTRATED.

DAD: And I'm just locked up in a room like a fool.

HE BRAGGED ABOUT HIMSELF.

DAD: Yes my little girl, your papa can cook his ass off. I mean that I can boil water and make it taste good. I'll put some of my barbecue sauce in your nose, and you'll eat your boogers.

HE ASKED FOR MY ADVICE.

DAD: Hey love, dig this. There is one thing that I want to learn how to do more than anything in the world. And that is learn how to spell. If I could spell, I would be a motherf__ker. Can you tell your papa a good way to learn how to spell?

DID I MENTION HE WAS VAIN AND BRAGGED ABOUT HIMSELF?

DAD: I like the cold weather. I like to dress for the cold. I mean I be dressin' too. I like the fact that I be really sharp when I come outta my top coat. You know what I mean? When I come out of that coat, the people be sayin' "that nigga sure is clean." That's what I'm talkin' about.

SOMETIMES HE'D FREAK OUT ON ME IF I DIDN'T WRITE BACK FAST ENOUGH.

DAD: Sometimes I wonder if you're loose in the head, half-retarded, emotionally slow, don't give a f___, or just plain lazy.

BUT, IN HIS OWN WAY, HE ALWAYS TRIED TO MAKE IT UP TO ME.

DAD: You are one fine motherf__ker. I mean you look good. Yes you do. You look like you sweat honey and your dukey don't stink.

EVENTUALLY, HE HAD ME HOOKED. WHEN I'D SEE ONE OF HIS LETTERS IN MY MAILBOX, I'D OPEN IT ON THE SPOT. I'D WRITE BACK AS FAST AS I COULD, SO I'D GET ANOTHER ONE.

DAD: I'm almost outta here. Yep, just like the monkey said when he got his tail cut off. Won't be long now!

JUST WHEN I WAS GETTING TO LIKE OUR ROUTINE, MY DAD'S SENTENCE WAS UP, AND THE LETTERS STOPPED. HE WOULD CALL FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT WE WOULD NEVER TALK FOR LONG.

MANY TIMES, HE HAD FANTASIZED ABOUT THE DAY WE'D FINALLY MEET AGAIN.

DAD: I'm hoping that one day in the near future that you and I will be able to walk down the street or go to the park or something, and just tell you everything about my life that I can think of.

[/MUSIC DJANGO REINHARDT]

HE WANTED ME TO VISIT. BUT I WAS SCARED. WHAT IF HE GOT ANGRY AND CURSED ME OUT IN PERSON? OR WORSE? I DECIDED TO KEEP OUR RELATIONSHIP LONG-DISTANCE FOR THE TIME BEING.

THE PHONE CALLS SLOWED, THEN STOPPED.

[MUSIC: BITCH NIGGAS INSTRUMENTAL]

ONE DAY, I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM MY COUSIN. MY DAD WAS DEAD.

DAD: You never can tell--you just might die tomorrow, or even in the next few minutes; who knows?

I WENT TO THE FUNERAL IN A DAZE. IT WAS MY FIRST OPEN-CASKET. I LOOKED LONG AND HARD TO MEMORIZE HIS FACE, BUT THE DETAILS BURNED INTO MY MEMORY ARE THE WRONG ONES: THE ORANGE PANCAKE MAKEUP, THE STITCHES ON HIS LIPS AND EYELIDS.

ONLY ONE OF MY DAD'S OTHER KIDS WAS AT THE FUNERAL; MY OLDEST BROTHER ERIC. HE HAD JUST BEEN GETTING TO KNOW OUR DAD.

ERIC: I had just hung out with him like two days before he died. Talked about old times, we hung out, talked BS to each other. Him and I would just hang out like old lost buddies. And then I definitely, uh, I did love him, I did develop a love for him, after just a couple weeks of hanging out with him.

I FELT BAD FOR NOT TAKING A CHANCE ON OUR DAD LIKE ERIC HAD.

ALL I HAD TO REMEMBER HIM WAS A STACK OF LETTERS.

BUT IT WAS MORE THAN SOME OF HIS KIDS HAD. AND SOME OF THEM ARE OK WITH THAT. MY OLDER BROTHER KARRIEM DIDN'T KNOW OUR DAD, AND DOESN'T REGRET IT.

KARRIEM: I think the impact he had on my life was enough. He didn't have much to offer me during my formative years, and in adulthood I'm not sure how much more he had to offer.

DAD: Well, while I'm at it I might as well tell you a few things about just why things are the way they are as far as me not being around as you and your 13 sisters and brothers were growing up.

DAD: I guess you could say that this is one of the bad things in my life. Not having the bond with my kids that a father should have.

DAD: It hurts me to have left so many kids out there in this world. But believe me, at the rate that I was going, if somebody were to have to go, it was always best for the kid and the mother that I was the one to go. It's sad, but it's true.

GRANDPA: He consciously kept a distance from people who were important to him. That's weird, but that's what I think he did.

MY DAD'S FATHER.

GRANDPA: He would never make the plea that he didn't understand right from wrong. He knew what was right and he knew what was wrong. He also knew what he was gonna do. And I think he also knew that he was impulsive and unpredictable.

SOMETIMES THE BEST THING AN IMPULSIVE AND UNPREDICTABLE DAD CAN DO IS TAKE OFF.

OM: Phillip is definitely "that uncle!" Everybody's got "that uncle."

BUT IMPULSIVE AND UNPREDICTABLE CAN BE FUN FOR A KID. MY COUSIN OM.

OM: He's like, the one uncle that stands out who's probably the troublemaker, but for kids is like the most fun to be around.

[MUSIC: SANFORD & SON]

OM: He was always cappin' on somebody. He was always making cracks. And you were just glad that you were on his side of it and not on the receiving end of it, because it could be kinda harsh sometimes.

MY DAD MAY HAVE BEEN THE WORLD'S GREATEST UNDISCOVERED INSULT COMIC, ACCORDING TO MY UNCLE PAUL.

PAUL: Constantly cracking jokes, constantly crackin' on folks, constantly, you know, in people's face. Always. You know. Out there.

GRANDPA: He was a nut. He was a nut, there's no question about it.

SYLVIA: [LAUGHS] Yeah, yes.

PAUL: He really didn't care.

PAUL: "So what? So you didn't want to be called cracker or you didn't want to be called ugly or you didn't want to be called booger-nose. I don't care. Whoop your ass up in here."

SYLVIA: But you couldn't help but laugh.

[/MUSIC: SANFORD & SON]

MY AUNT SYLVIA.

SYLVIA: And before you know it you're drawn in. It's not that you want to make fun of somebody, but you're drawn in. That was him.

AND MAXINE, MOTHER OF MY OLDER BROTHER KARRIEM:

MAXINE: Well he was funny, that guy was funny. He was funny, yes he was.

MAXINE: Happy-go-lucky, not a care in the world. And before I know it we were going together. And it didn't last long. Because I learned to see another side of him.

[MUSIC: EGYPTIAN DRUMMING]
DAD: I have good qualities about myself,

MOM: You were probably 2-1/2 months old. And I was carrying you.

DAD: and I can also cut the other Phillip loose on a person when I want to.

MOM: And your dad just kinda lost it.

MAXINE: We got into an argument, and that's when the worst part of him came out. And he started to become violent. And he was on me like an animal. And I'm talkin' about kicking, stomping. He was in a rage.

MOM: And he, uh, threatened to kill me.

DAD: And that's the part of Phillip that people don't want nothing to do with.

MAXINE: Once he beat me that was it. And all I can think of is I gotta get away from this guy. And I knew I had to do something.

MOM: I thought, I've got to protect this baby.

MAXINE: So I just went to my brother. Boy oh boy. I never witnessed anything like this. I think they had a stick or a bat or something. And they beat him so badly. I mean, blood was splattering on the wall.

MOM: And so I called my dad and he came and got me right away.

MAXINE: They beat him and they kicked him out of my house.

MOM: God knows what happened to him when he was a little kid to be like that.

MAXINE: The rage and the anger. You know, probably from when he was a little boy.

MOM: He just must have had a very difficult life.

[/MUSIC: EGYPTIAN DRUMMING]

PAUL: We'd all go out and we'd have to take him with us. "Take your little brother with you!" "OK, Phillip, c'mon. You gotta keep up."

[MUSIC: COOL JERK]

PAUL: So we were like, "well, Phillip, if you wanna go with us, you know that, uh, you got to be able to take up for yourself, because if we get in a fight, we can't protect you." So we got out there and sure enough, these white kids came, you know, tried to gang us, and Phillip knew he was the smallest. So he picked up a baseball bat and this big guy hit him, and so he grabbed that bat and hit that guy upside the head, and we were like "wow." You know.

[/MUSIC: COOL JERK (FADE)]

SYLVIA: Mom and dad were not getting along together and they were talking about divorce.

PAUL: And, uh, him and mom were arguing every day.

GRANDPA: Mary was at my throat, I was at her throat.

SYLVIA: She was making dinner. Cut up potatoes, and they were in the sink.

PAUL: Her and dad got in an argument over something. We went out to take a little bike ride or something while they talked. And when we came back she had left.

GRANDPA: She said she was going to the store to pick up some groceries and be back to finish cooking dinner.

[MUSIC: WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT]

SYLVIA: She was going to the store and I asked if I can go with her and she said "no, you got company," and I said "I don't care," 'cause I always went with her. And she didn't come back.

PAUL: And then later on the police came, knocked on the door, dad stepped outside, and we could hear dad crying and screaming "oh no." And he grabbed us and he said "your mother's committed suicide, she's taken her life."

PAUL: She drove over to church, confessed, and then she drove out to the Bay Bridge and jumped off.

GRANDPA: It was a shock to me, a shock to all the kids. It, uh, destroyed them.

PAUL: Nothing was ever the same after that. Nothing.

SYLVIA: When mama died, you know, we were just lost.

PAUL: And Phillip, he never really adjusted after that.

GRANDPA: Of all the kids, Phillip was the, uh, the apple of her eye. So when she suddenly wasn't there any longer, it had a tremendous impact on him.

PAUL: He was, like, devastated. He was in the third grade, I think.

GRANDPA: At the age that he was, he really needed her. And she wasn't there.

PAUL: Phillip tried his best to adjust.

[/MUSIC: IN THE PINES]
[MUSIC: EGYPTIAN DRUMMING]

PAUL: But of course kids were insensitive, and so going back to school was pretty rough. And they would put people down, talk about 'em. You know, dozens. And of course the dozens usually always got around to talking about somebody's mama. After my mother passed away it was, when you were getting the best of them, then they would always refer to saying "well, your mama was crazy and she committed suicide." And you, after that you just, uh, find yourself on top of them beating them. And pretty much the attitude we had at that time was, you know, we had lost our mother, so we didn't care about too much else. Not even life itself.

DAD: When I was young, I didn't care about nothin'. When I say nothin', I mean nothin'.

GRANDPA: Within a year after she was no longer on the scene, he began to have all kind of discipline problems.

SYLVIA: He kept running away and getting in trouble.

GRANDPA: Your father Phillip dropped out. I don't think he got past the 8th grade.

DAD: I took to the streets at a very young age.

GRANDPA: After that he just floated around and we seldom heard from him or knew where he was. In the meantime he was floatin' all over the place, running back and forth, one coast to the next. But during that period I don't know what happened to him. Because I was startled when he said he had 14 kids. I said, "damn."

[MUSIC: MAMA GUELA]

DESPITE MY DAD'S TROUBLES, HE HAD A WAY WITH WOMEN.

MOM: I thought he was the most beautiful person I had ever seen.

MOM: Very graceful.

MAXINE: You know, he had a lotta rhythm. Lotta rhythm. And he could dance.

MOM: He was an excellent cook, and he loved to entertain. Of course he was a real snappy dresser.

GAIL: He was a very exciting person.

MAXINE: He was attractive to the opposite sex. He was that kind of a man. He had the humor, he had the personality, he had the charm, he knew what to say. He was halfway slick? [LAUGHS] You know?

KARRIEM: I heard also he had a good rap. I hear he had, quote-unquote, game. He could talk S-H-blank-T.

MAXINE: It was hard for a woman not to, not to like him. You know, he had that charm!

KARRIEM: I guess the fact that I'm here along my other sibs, some of whom I don't even know, is a testament to the effect that he had on women.

[/MUSIC: MAMA GUELA]

MAXINE: But I was kind of a, you know, a desperate woman, I guess, for attention, affection.

MAXINE: He was just so full of fun and I guess I was, really deep inside, I was so sad that I was attracted to that fun-loving element.

MAXINE: I'll never regret meeting him, that's for sure.

[MUSIC: ISN'T SHE LOVELY]

MOM: Phillip was very persistent that he wanted a baby.

MAXINE: I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy in July of 1971.

MOM: I knew that we would have a beautiful baby.

MAXINE: And I vowed that I would be the best mother I could possibly be.

MOM: I know that I'm so glad that you're my daughter.

MAXINE: I don't regret it because I have such a beautiful son. Out of the whole situation I have a son, I never dreamed I'd be the mother of a doctor.

[/MUSIC: ISN'T SHE LOVELY (FADE)]

MY DAD GAVE THESE WOMEN CHILDREN. BUT WHAT KIND OF A FATHER WAS HE?

MOM: Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill? Yeah.
Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill
Never work, and never will.
And I think there were more lines but I can't remember.
SYLVIA: Ohhh, I've forgotten:
Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill
Never work, never will. . .
What's the rest of it--do you know the rest of it?
PAUL: goes:
Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill
Never worked, never will.
KARRIEM: All I did was rest, dress, read the press
And talk a lotta mess.
PAUL: And talk a lotta mess.
SYLVIA: Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill, OK? Yup, that was it.
ME: Except the reading part.
SYLVIA: Except the dressing part too.

[MUSIC: PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE]

I KNEW MY DAD HAD KIDS IN CALIFORNIA, NEAR MY AUNT SYLVIA. I ASKED HER IF SHE COULD FIND PHILLIP JUNIOR AND JANAE SO I COULD FINALLY MEET THEM.

[doorbell--ooh, that might be them]

PHILLIP JUNIOR AND JANAE ARE THE ONLY TWO OF MY DAD'S KIDS WHO HAVE THE SAME MOTHER. THEY MUST HAVE GOTTEN MORE TIME WITH OUR DAD THAN THE REST OF US HAD. I WANTED THEM TO TELL ME: WHAT WAS HE LIKE?

JANAE: I don't know. I remember when I was little he came over to our house when we lived in the south area. And he had a big ol' afro.

ME: So what do you remember about our dad?
PHILLIP JR: Nothing.
ME: Really?
PHILLIP JR: Nothing. Nothing at all.
ME: He was around until you were like, 5, though, right?
PHILLIP JR: Yup, but I don't really remember. I don't remember nothing.
ME: Nothing?
PHILLIP JR: Nothing.

JANAE: Tell you the truth, I remember little things. I don't even know this dude is just like you don't. And there's times I be like, what did we ever do, you know what I'm sayin'? Why, why this dude do this to us?

PHILLIP JR: 'Cause now, I don't really, truly, I don't feel nothing. I don't even know him.

[/MUSIC: PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE (FADE)]

THERE WAS ONE MORE PERSON WHO MIGHT BE ABLE TO FILL IN THE BLANKS. MY DAD MARRIED TWICE, BOTH TIMES WITH NO CHILDREN. HIS FIRST MARRIAGE WAS SHORT. HIS SECOND MARRIAGE LASTED SIX YEARS.

JUAN-EL: My name is Juan-El Fletcher. I was his wife.

[MUSIC: GIVE IT HERE]

JUAN-EL: He chased me for seven years! I used to tell him, "No, me and you? no, Phil. Uh-uh." He had this way of wearing his hair, and I used to say, "Who wants to go around with a man with their hair all braided up like that, lookin' wild and crazy, stickin' everywhere?" You know? And then he got a curl put in. I was shocked, you know? I said "Well!" Yep, he did everything he could to get me and he finally got me.

JUAN-EL: We seemed to do well together, and we got married.

[/MUSIC: GIVE IT HERE]

JUAN-EL: Everything was smooth for a while and, uh, and then he went and did something crazy. He um. . . . This is the part I really don't like to bring up, but, he, he took a razorblade and cut my throat, you know.

MY DAD WAS FACING FIFTEEN YEARS. BUT FROM THE JAILHOUSE, MY DAD RECONCILED WITH HIS WIFE AND PERSUADED HER TO TESTIFY ON HIS BEHALF. THE CHARGE AGAINST HIM WAS DOWNGRADED, AND HE SERVED TWO AND A HALF YEARS.

JUAN-EL: But amazingly when he got out, things changed.

DESPITE ALL THE SOCIAL SCIENCE THAT WOULD HAVE PREDICTED OTHERWISE, MY DAD NEVER HURT HIS WIFE AGAIN.

JUAN-EL: I think while he spent the time in the prison, it gave him a lot of time to think about his life, things he did, and make a change.

JUAN-EL SAYS THEY HAD A GOOD LIFE AT HOME. MY DAD WAS A DEVOTED HOUSE-HUSBAND. HE COOKED, CLEANED, AND IRONED. HE LIFTED WEIGHTS, HE PLAYED CONGA DRUMS (REALLY WELL). HE MADE CONGAS AND SOLD THEM, AND DID OTHER WOODWORK FOR CASH. HE PLAYED A LOT OF BINGO. IT SEEMED LIKE A PRETTY GOOD LIFE.

BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING MY DAD WASN'T TELLING HIS WIFE.

DAD: At the age of 18, I was already hooked on heroin, and was unable provide for anything that had any value to it. Just my habit. And that's where I went wrong.

JUAN-EL: He know I didn't like it. He know I didn't like it. He used to try to hide it from me, but that's something you can't hide. I could look at him and tell, you know?

THE WAY JUAN-EL FIGURED IT, MY DAD'S HABIT WASN'T CAUSING HER ANY PROBLEMS, SO SHE TRIED TO IGNORE IT.

[MUSIC: THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE]

JUAN-EL: I said well, OK babe, I'm leaving, we kissed each other. He says I love you babe, I said I love you too, went to work. Got off, come home, opened up the door, and I could hear the water running. And it was the hot water. It had ran all day until it turned cold. And when I looked up and saw the light on, and when my eyes came down, I saw him layin' down there.

CORONER: This 44-year-old man with a history of intravenous drug abuse was found dead at his home with drug paraphernalia nearby.

JUAN-EL: If you look in a dead person's eyes, there's nothing there. And there was, like, nothing there.

CORONER: His death is attributed to acute opiate intoxication.

JUAN-EL: Then when I touched him he was cold, I knew he was dead. When I called 9-1-1, that's when I started screaming. Screaming, screaming, screaming.

CORONER: The manner of death is classified as probable accident. Method of disposition: cremation.

[/MUSIC: THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE]

JUAN-EL: We had a memorial service for him and then, and then I had him cremated because that's what he always wanted.

LIKE ALL OF MY DAD'S OLD FLAMES, HIS WIDOW LIKES TO THINK ABOUT HIS GOOD QUALITIES.

JUAN-EL: You remember that picture?
ME: Oh, yeah! Wow!
JUAN-EL: And this one here of you is, uh, when you was a little girl.
ME: Yeahm I didn't even know he had that!
JUAN-EL: He have it, you'd be surprised! He used to brag on these pictures. That's how he was.

DID MY DAD HAVE A RIGHT TO BRAG ABOUT HIS KIDS?

LET'S SAY YOU GO TO A SPERM BANK. A DONOR PROFILE GRABS YOUR EYE. THE GUY IS A MUSICIAN. HE'S IN GREAT SHAPE. HIS CHILDREN ARE INTELLIGENT AND UNDENIABLY ATTRACTIVE. AMONG THEM ARE A PHYSICIAN, AN AIRLINE CAPTAIN, A COMPUTER SCIENTIST, AND A REPORTER. NOT BAD. BUT YOU READ THE FINE PRINT: VIOLENT FELON. HEROIN ADDICT. FAMILY HISTORY OF SUICIDE. WOULD YOU HAVE CHILDREN BY THIS MAN?

DAD: I mean you look good. Yes, you do. Now ain't you glad that I'm your daddy? I should hope you know that more than half of that came from me. You've got a lot of good-looking brothers and sisters also. I ain't made an ugly nigger yet.

KARRIEM: [LAUGHS] Shakespeare! I didn't know he was a black man!

[MUSIC: IF I RULED THE WORLD INSTRUMENTAL]

KARRIEM: I think he was proud of us.

LET'S ASK THE DOCTOR, HIS SON KARRIEM. GIVEN THE TALENTS THAT DEVELOPED IN OUR DAD'S KIDS, WHO ALL GREW UP IN POOR HOMES OR GHETTOES THANKS TO HIM, DID OUR DAD HAVE SOMETHING TO BRAG ABOUT BASED ON GENETICS ALONE?

KARRIEM: I marvel at some of the things we've been able to accomplish despite having Phil as a dad. And, um, you know, I think some of that was inherited. I think the data is there, and as a scientist I think you cannot rule out that genetic contribution. Absolutely not.

GAIL: He had the genes. He had the genes.

ERIC'S MOTHER GAIL AGREES. BUT, SHE REMINDS US:

GAIL: Evidently he made it with some pretty good women, too, 'cause he didn't do it all, now. All that ain't him.

KARRIEM: Also, I do acknowledge the presence of these remarkable women. He was able to bless the world with some remarkable individuals, but, uh, it was due in large part to the mothers of these individuals, or the grandmothers, or the women who were, who were involved in their rearing.

KARRIEM: He wasn't around for the best and the most difficult part. That's parenting.

NONE OF US HAD PHILLIP AS A TRUE PARENT. BUT WE HAD OUR MOMS, AND NOW, WE HAVE EACH OTHER.

[/MUSIC: IF I RULED THE WORLD (FADE)]

KARRIEM: You don't have to be born and raised together to be a family. You can still be close, and you can still have meaningful relationships with good people. It's very exciting to know you have brothers and sisters out there.

JANAE: I thank God that you came and found us, 'cause you're the next that person we know. You know what I mean? It's all gonna connect and one day, one way or another we're all gonna find out who each other are.

[MUSIC: WE ARE FAMILY]

I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER NOW, AND IT FEELS LIKE A LOT TO LIVE UP TO.

ME: I just have to say for the record that we just met, like, about 10 minutes ago. So what's it like meeting new siblings?
JANAE: Weird. [LAUGHS] You don't know what to say. How to, how to act around a person you never met before, you know?

JANAE: Especially seeing someone who look just like you!

WHEN JANAE AND I MET, MY AUNT SYLVIA TOOK A POLAROID OF US. AS THE IMAGE STARTED TO COME IN, JUST OVER MY HEAD I COULD SEE THEM FORMING: TWO FINGERS. THE UNIVERSAL PHOTOGRAPHIC PRANK. JUST LIKE MY DAD DID TO MY MOM IN ONE OF THE FEW PHOTOS OF THE THREE OF US.

I HAVE ANOTHER YOUNGER SISTER IN MEXICO. SHE JUST CALLED ME FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND SHE SOUNDS AS SWEET AS SHE LOOKS IN HER PHOTO. ACCORDING TO FAMILY LEGEND, I HAVE A BROTHER OR SISTER IN SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA, AND IN SAN FRANCISCO, A YOUNGER BROTHER BORN TO A FILIPINA. IF MY DAD WAS RIGHT, THERE ARE AT LEAST FIVE MORE OF US OUT THERE.

CAN ANY OF YOU HEAR THIS?

DAD: I must tell you the truth. I would love very much to see all of my kids; do things with them, and for them. I figured that one day, if God meant for it to be, that my kids will find me.

DAD: Well, love, Papa's got to go. Loving you with words, Papa Phillip.

SWEET PHIL FROM SUGAR HILL IS DEDICATED TO MY MOTHER SUSAN MULLEN,

DAD: Yes, you were blessed with one of the best mothers that god ever put on this earth.

AND TO ALL OF OUR MOTHERS: GAIL GREEN, MAXINE SALAAM, WANDA WALKER, JOEY MORRIS, AND REST IN PEACE IRENE PERRYMAN. THANKS TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS: ERIC GREEN, KARRIEM SALAAM, SHINDANA PERRYMAN, JABARI WALKER, PHILLIP FLETCHER JR., AND JANAE FLETCHER. THANKS ALSO TO THE FLETCHER FAMILY: ARTHUR, BERNIECE, SYLVIA, PAUL, OM, AND TINO. MARY, PHYLLIS, AND ART JUNIOR REST IN PEACE. SPECIAL THANKS TO JUAN-EL FLETCHER.

PERFORMANCES BY TOM BOSTELMANN AND ERIC GREEN.

THANKS TO KUOW PUBLIC RADIO, AUGUSTINE WALKER, CONSWAYLO LUCAS, MRS. BEULAH GREEN AND THE GREEN FAMILY, THE GUTTMANN FAMILY, JAMALA HENDERSON, MARGARET MOULDEN, JULIAN TUDOR, JIM KNISELY, AND JOSH KNISELY.

RECORDING AND PRODUCTION MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE JACK STRAW PRODUCTIONS ARTIST SUPPORT PROGRAM. ENGINEERED BY SCOTT BARTLETT. MUSIC HELP FROM JASON TALLEY AND JOSH KNISELY.

I'M PHYLLIS FLETCHER. THANKS FOR LISTENING.

[/MUSIC: WE ARE FAMILY (FADE)]

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