Author of “The Way of the Bootstrapper”

May 05, 1999

NetCafeLive presents former Congressman and preacher, Floyd Flake, author of “The Way of the Bootstrapper.” Flake shares his inspirational message of lifting oneself “by the bootstraps,” and emphasizes his belief that all dreams can be realized and success is possible against all odds.

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CCCheer: Welcome to NetCafeLive, where we host authors and celebrities throughout the month. Thanks for joining us! Borders NetCafeLive is a joint production of Borders.com (tm) and Talk City (tm), a Talk City, Inc. Production. Tonight's guest is Floyd Flake, here to talk about his new book, "The Way of the Bootstrapper." "The Way of the Bootstrapper" is an inspiring account of self-reliance and prosperity by former Congressman, prominent CCCheer: pastor, and top African-American leader Floyd Flake. He CCCheer: presents not only his uplifting "by-the-bootstraps" message of faith and self-help, but also offers nine action steps that will allow anyone to fulfill their dreams. Borders.com and Talk City.com is pleased to welcome tonight's guest, Floyd Flake. Welcome to Talk City!

Floyd Flake: Thank you!

CCCheer: It's great to have you with us Floyd, could you tell us about the book "The Way of the Bootstrapper"?

Floyd Flake: The book is first of all, a bit of an autobiography that chronicles my early life in Houston Texas, where I did what someone who is 54 years old did back then - I picked cotton, had a paper route, and other odd jobs. I come from a large family of 13 kids, and was fortunate, by the time I was 17, to go to college and from there to seminary. Through college, my family was unable to contribute to my education so I had to work my way through school - waiting tables, etc because I was determined to be the first in the family to actually graduate from college. From that background, I was able to move into the work world first as a social worker and a marketing analyst with Xerox. Then I was involved in the education field - I was Associate Dean of Lincoln College in Pennsylvania, then went to Boston University at the Martin Luther King Center. Then I became the interim university chaplain, and following that, dean of students. Then I came to New York to what was then a 1400 member church. Now we have 10,850 members! I served 11 years in Congress from 1987-97 while I continued to pastor. So this is a story about not only my life, but a challenge to people to begin to activate their own lives in ways that they can improve upon their current condition - work toward fulfilling their dreams. If they are in situations where they know they have the capability to do more but have not yet done so, it's a challenge for them to accelerate their lives and not blame other people for their conditions, but to look within themselves for their strength, understanding that their strength is their bootstraps.

Brassy-babe: Where in New York, Floyd?

Floyd Flake: My church is in Jamaica Queens and it's seven minutes from Kennedy Airport. It's easy to get to on the E and F trains, and buses that run along Murick Blvd.

Shawksie: Was there one person - or mentor - that you wanted to emulate - or who inspired you to your dream?

Floyd Flake: When I think about mentors and people to emulate, I think of my parents. My father usually had several jobs, then on weekends, he could do car repairs, so he did that. Anything with a motor, he could fix! I watched him work, and we kids got involved in his work with him – we usually went with him to his night job, which was cleaning offices. My mother is also a part of the mentoring process - she taught us to cook, wash etc., and those traits helped me a lot in college. I couldn't pay to have these things done. Also, at one point I was able to live rent-free in a professor's house as a housekeeper because I had these skills. So they basically did a pretty good job with us as we were growing up. I had some memorable teachers, one who took the word "can't" from my vocabulary. Another brought me my homework when I was sick for a protracted period. I talk about this in the book - it was something very special. And my pastor - I watched him Sunday after Sunday, with a fresh new sermon week after week. I model my ministry after his. So those are my primary mentors.

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