It's hard to say what role race really played in my case.

If they're all so brilliant and I'm such an affirmative-action hire, how come they didn't catch me?

I think people can learn from my experience - you know, any young people who are under pressure, whether you work on Wall Street or you work in a factory in Alabama, and young journalists.

Some people it seems to me would like for me to crawl in a hole and disappear forever. That's just not in my nature.

I used to walk around saying that I'm just another black man without a college degree.

You know I am done lying. Obscuring the truth is no longer something I have any interest in doing. I want it all to come out. The good, the bad, the ugly.

I am making amends and seeking forgiveness. My only hope is that some good can come out of my situation.