Beyond the Fire and the Rain

In July 1978, Dr. Wilbert Williams Jr. was standing on a street

corner in Brooklyn, New York, afraid for his life. It had been less

than three months since he was awarded a medical degree from

Albany Medical College in upstate New York; yet there he

was-enduring racial slurs from a group of angry white people who

hated him simply because of the color of his skin. Even as the

police stood guarding him, the group continued to taunt him with

the words, "He can go back where he came from."

In his poignant memoir, Williams narrates the story of how he beat

overwhelming odds, as an African American youth growing up in a

public housing project in Brooklyn, New York, to eventually become

a physician. While chronicling a journey that took him from the

streets of New York through the challenges of medical school to

the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Croix, he details how he

learned to prevail over racism, anxiety, and depression in order to

achieve his dream of becoming a doctor.

Dr. Williams's inspiring story offers motivation to soar over the

challenges of life and reach for the stars.