MY LIFE: The Making of Coach Alexander (Section 1a: Manifestation)

My government name is Michael Dushawn Alexander.  I was born on December 10, 1976 at Forest City Hospital, which was torn down after my birth, in Cleveland, Ohio.

My mother was 19 and my father was 22 when I was born.  They were married until I was a year old.  Their actual divorce didn't come till I was 3.  My mother and I temporarily bounced around while my father went into the U.S. Army.

A part of that bouncing around included being at my maternal grandparents' house in Shaker Heights, OH.  My grandmother was a nurse with a Master's degree and my grandfather was a HVAC maintenance man for the post office (former U.S. Navy).  Both were from Birmingham, Alabama.  They migrated to the North during the 1950's.  They were the first black people to acquire a house on their street in Shaker Heights (a prominent suburb of Cleveland) during that time.