I was born in Washington, DC to Laurence and Narissa Clunie.  I lived in St. Thomas, V. I.  for a few years until my mother fell ill from breast cancer. After my mother passed away in 1978, I lived with my maternal grandparents for one year until my father established himself.

I attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High in Washington, D.C. After graduation from high school I attended St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, NC for two years and then transferred to Montgomery College in Maryland.

My goal is to receive a degree in Early Childhood Development.

We Wear the Mask

by P. L. Dunbar

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties

Why should the world be over wise.

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but of the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!