Colonel Vaughan Witten, PhD, was born on February 18, 1935, in Anawalt, West Virginia, in a small coal mining village. His father was a coal miner in their village and was also a Baptist minister. He graduated from Washington High School at the age of 15. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War at the age of 17 with his parents’ consent.

He earned two BA degrees, one from Shaw University and one from North Carolina State University. He also got his PhD at North Carolina University in 1989. He was a psychology and sociology professor at Shaw University, Park College, and Webster University for 34 years. He is known for writing wonderful nonfiction books that truly inspire readers. He wrote three nonfiction books, which are described below:

His book “The Journey: Appalachia to Paradise to Purgatory” is an autobiography about the author’s retirement journey to Appalachia, a virtual paradise provided by God, family, and America. This also reveals an empowering journey and appreciation of his country while at the same time witnessing the slow decay of the American culture and values that he knew as a young man.

“Black Escape from Freedom: The Fallacy of Victimism, and Resulting Self Defeating Behavior and Avoidance of Responsibility” contains relevant thesis for the explanations why many black Americans prefer to flee from freedom rather than the more difficult but desirable decision of fleeing to freedom.

The book “Learned Helplessness: The Poison Pill Threat to Black America” addresses the self-destructive conduct of the American black man and his delusory conviction that he is a victim of white culture as the fundamental cause for his failure to adapt and prosper in today’s capitalistic America.