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Clarence V. Matthews

IMG 9604Clarence V. Matthews was born and raised in Fayetteville, NC where he completed his elementary; as well as a portion of his high school education. He relocated ot New Jersey in 1955 where he completed his high school curriculum and received his diploma at Dickinson High School in Jersey City.

Clarence was married for 31 years before becoming a widower, and is the father of five children. He worked in various capacities in the warehousing, merchandising and manufacturing industries for a span of well over 22 years. He was also licensed as a real estate sales associate for well over 30 years; and is currently employed with the Jersey City Board of Education. He is also a devoted, 47-year, active member of Monumental Baptist Church located in Jersey City, NJ. He has served on the Trustee Board and as the Black History Instructor for just over 18 years.

Clarence began his writing as the Black History Instructor, who took the initiative to write and produce black history plays for the church's annual Black History program. He then transitioned his writing from screenplay to novel and developed a 3-part series known as Jacob's Rite of Passage. This trilogy chronicles the life of a young man raised in the South and takes the reader through the three segments – youth, teen and adult – of the life of Jacob Pete Manor.

In March 2010, the first novel, Young Jacob was released and Clarence was introduced as a “new” author. During the promotion of this new release, a rising awareness of the plight of the family surfaced and the "GET RITE" campaign emerged, “Do the RITE Thing, Make The RITE Moves, Convey The RITE Message.” The overall theme is, "It takes a village to raise a child. It's time to reclaim the village."

The second novel of the series, Teen Jacob, was released in February 2011 and takes the reader into the teen experiences of the main character Jacob. Though written as fiction, the real life lessons of God, family, community and manhood emerge from the pages of this storyline. The finale' to the trilogy is expected to be completed in the fall of 2011. Clarence anticipates that his author entrepreneurial venture will inspire and motivate others to live out their dreams and aspirations.

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author's inspiration

Heartfelt concern for family and community coupled with his desire to be an effective and influencing male presence in the home, church and community, fueled Clarence Matthews’ adamant ambitions to educate himself and others as it relates to our African heritage. He believes wholeheartedly that if we obtain knowledge of who we are, where and what we come from, than we can leverage that knowledge and apply it across various genres of life; fostering growth and fulfillment personally, spiritually and economically.

Jacob’s Rite of Passage is the author’s way of sharing the unique; often unshared; and unspoken journey of a male child from boyhood to manhood. Jacob’s curiosity about life – the successes and the failures, the ups and the downs, the why and the why not, the good and the not-so-good, the seeking and the finding – and life’s ultimate lessons; though some costly, helped a young man discover the true meaning of “manhood."