Theodore Kirkland is a black man, born and raised in the United States of America. His experience as an American black is extraordinary, provocative, and well-resonant with today’s...ver másTheodore Kirkland is a black man, born and raised in the United States of America. His experience as an American black is extraordinary, provocative, and well-resonant with today’s society. Being forever grateful for God’s grace, he is currently retired and writes periodically about the political climate, the criminal justice system, and civil liberties. He has a master’s degree in social science and is a Korean War veteran. A former Buffalo police officer, television host and producer, and radio host and producer, adjunct college professor, and former New York State Parole Board Commissioner, Kirkland frequently appears as a guest host or commentator. His first book, Spirit and Soul: Odyssey of a Black Man in America, Volume One, was published in 2012. During his career as a police officer, Kirkland received numerous awards and citations from citizen groups, prisoners, and youth gangs. Although he was the most honored police officer in the history of the Buffalo Police Department, he never received awards from law enforcement agencies. But in 1972, he received a commendation from the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, and recognition from the House of Representatives.
As a black man, Kirkland not only writes about his difficulties as a parole board member, but he takes the reader with him through this life, it becomes easy to understand the conflict that develops between him and others.
Spirit and Soul: Odyssey of a Black Man in America, Volume Two gives the reader a unique opportunity to explore a black man’s life on the New York State parole board. Appointed to the parole board in 1978 by Governor Hugh Carey, Kirkland’s appointment was controversial from the onset as a result of his nearly sixteen years in the Buffalo Police Department where his reputation of being a people person exceeded that of accepting the “them against us” psychology.ver menos