Racism, Politics and the Recovering Addict

One Life in Two Lifetimes

A STORY about the life of a BLACK BOY growing up on the SOUTH SIDE of CHGO. The streets werent so mean then, YOU HAD A LIFE WORTH LIVING. You could have an adventure and LIVE to tell about it. Adventures like, Flying a kite, playing baseball, making bows & arrows, stealing bikes and lunches from white rich people, walking the walls at the Museum of Science and Industry and going to the 59th street beach. This saga, tells what it was like to move into the Robert Taylor Housing Project and see a better life for yourself and your buddies. It tells of Dreams of going to the PROs and / or COLLEGE, to live in a CONCRETE COMMUNITY where you could come outside play with your buddies and dont end up DEAD. You went to SEGREGATED HBHSs (HISTORICALLY BLACK HIGH SCHOOLS), DuSable, Phillips, Marshall, or Crane and play sports in HOPES that one day you could come back as a PRO. Some of us made it, like, KEVIN PORTER, MAURICE CHEEKS, and KIRBY PUCKETT, most of us did not. This HOPE, this DREAM became a LIFE SHATTERED and one day a return to; RACISM, POLITICS and RECOVERING ADDICTS. The book tells of a story, where a BLACK MAN returns to CHGO to face the RACISM of a SEGREGATED PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM where WHITES are in control of BLACK COMMUNITIES that are legal, and BLACKS are in control of BLACK COMMUNITIES that are illegal. This is where an EDUCATED BLACK MAN FROM CHGO DOESNT STAND A CHANCE of making it in either world. The next 20 years of his life is spent in & out of both worlds, not accepted by either. Not living legal because RACISM is so PREVALENT in CHGO WHERE BLACK MEN are given these TEMP JOBS and the possibility of success is impeded by that always present GLASS CEILING, YOU CAN LOOK UP but DONT GO UP. This is the story of a BLACK MAN, TRUE TO THE GAME, but the GAME AINT TRUE TO HIM. He exceeds in SELLING DRUGS, but the, OLD GAME IS DEAD and he gets STUCK UP and this TRAUMATIC EVENT opens the door to ADDICTION. Frustrated with the protection afforded to him by his RACE, this Educated College Man gets caught up in the GRIP, a point of HOMELESSNESS, JOBLESSNESS, and PENNIELESSNESS. The saga tells of what an Addicted Black Man experiences from Pacific Gardens to Hobo Road. It tells of the experience that Addiction brings JAILS, INSTITUTIONS & DEATH. JAILS, where he meets the Devil Himself, and by the GRACE of GOD, escapes the deadly clutches. INSTITUTIONS, where, if not careful, a BLACK MAN can get lost forever and get so far gone that HE IS LOST FOREVER, GONE BEYOND RECALL. DEATH THE NIGHT of the LIVING DEAD, wandering the CITY virtually NIGHT & DAY looking for JUST ONE MORE. One more hit, One more fix, One more drink, One more pill, Anything to fill that empty spot, that vacuum. A life where ONE IS TOO MANY and A THOUSAND IS NEVER ENOUGH. CHASING THE GHOST, CHASING JASON, CHASING A LIFE MEANT FOR BLACK BOYS GROWING UP ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHGO. A LIFE MEANT TO CHEW YOU UP AND SPIT YOU OUT, UNTIL YOU WITHER AND DIE. SO OUT OF THIS LIVING, OUT OF THIS DYING, OUT OF THIS EXISTENCE, COMES THE NEXT 20 YEARS TO HAVE A GOD WHO CHOOSES TO PICK HIM UP AND OUT OF THE MUCK AND THE MIRE, AFTER THOSE AROUND HIM HAVE COUNTED HIM OUT. AFTER BEING THE LOWEST SCUM ON EARTH, THIS HP, THIS HIGHER POWER, DECIDES. The HP DECIDES that HE IS ONE OF THE CHOSEN FEW, who will CARRY THE MESSAGE to others, all over this country. To carry the message that, ANY ADDICT CAN CHANGE HIS LIFE, LOSE THE DESIRE TO USE AND FIND A NEW WAY TO LIVE. THAT THERE IS A LIFE STYLE THAT EXISTS FOR ALL OF US, A PROVEN WAY OF LIFE, THROUGH THE 12 STEPS. YES, EVEN A CHUMP, RAISED ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHGO, CAN BECOME A PRODUCTIVE MEMBER OF SOCIETY DESPITE THE RACISM, DESPITE THE POLITICS, DESPITE THE ADDICTION, CAN RECOVER FROM A HORRIBLE EXISTENCE THAT IS MEANT TO END LIFE, HERE ON EARTH.