For those of you that don't know Andre from Inside Andre's Head, let me just gush a little bit about one of my favorite bloggers. Andre is to me, the definition of what hard work and education will get you. I've known Andre for 5 or 6 years and what struck me upon first meeting him was his obvious intellect and his outgoing personality. He's the kind of guy who would say 'hello' even if he barely knew you. But what struck me most after I got to know him better was his determination to get ahead. One by one I watched as he met all his goals, Associates degree, Bachelor's degree, and then on to Grad School, nice home and good job. I guess it's just the father in me, (Andre's quite a bit younger) but when I see younger people with that kind of enthusiasm, I get proud. Proud that I even know them. Proud that they would count me as a friend. And Andre's talented. He plays drums, draws great cartoons, and is the kind of writer who humbles my efforts. Oh, and by the way, he's black and has a stutter. I only mention that as yet one more example of how he doesn't let things stop him from his goals. Andre Louis is truly someone to be admired.
You'll probably never see Andre in the news. I really doubt he'll ever meet Oprah or have legions of reporters following him around. I doubt that the Governors office will take an interest in him and I'm fairly certain that his church won't give him a standing ovation anytime soon. Yet he'll go on doing what he does. Writing his blog, working hard, meeting his goals, trying to help people, propping up his friends and being a good example.
Now for the other side of the coin.
This Sunday at Hartford Memorial Church in Detroit the congregation rose to it's feet in a standing ovation to welcome a celebrity. He stood before them in a conservative blue suit and read a poem about his efforts to get his life back on track. The 21 year old man has had quite a exciting month. He has met Oprah, now has a lawyer/agent who helps him get appearances on radio programs and in churches. He has reporters who follow him everywhere and an education that is being paid for by me and you through our tax dollars, but don't worry, he won't be wasting our money, he has big plans on being a Rap Star. As you may have guessed by now, this young man is Nathaniel Abraham, who at age 11 became the youngest person to ever be charged as an adult for first-degree murder in the 1997 shooting death of Ronnie Greene Jr. formally of Pontiac. Now, let me stress something here. Ronnie Greene Jr. is dead. Dead as in never getting to see his family again. Dead as in never getting to have children and see them grow up. Dead as in gone from this life, gone from his girlfriend and his friends. Yet life seems to have taken a happy turn for Nathaniel Abraham.
This wasn't even an isolated incident for Mr. Abraham, according to the Detroit Free Press, from 9 to 11 years old he had formed quite a rap sheet of 22 incidents, including threatening classmates with a gun and beating a 16 year old with a metal pipe. Ronnie Greene on the other hand had a girlfriend, a steady job, and caring family before Nathaniel put a bullet in his head.
I guess there are some things in this life I will never understand. Why do we glorify someone like Nathaniel Abraham while my friend Andre keeps fighting the good fight with next to no acknowledgement? Why is it such a better thing to turn your life around than it is to have never turned that way to begin with? Why is it Oprah dwells on those who have made bad decisions in their lives instead of those that made good ones? Is it just that we love a story where someone saw the light and turned their life around? I've done O.K. in my efforts to turn my life around from the life that I once lead. But shouldn't we be propping up the people who said no to drugs and crime to begin with? It's embarrassing to me to have people act like I did something great when all I really did was make some real bad choices and then realize it.
I hope that Nathaniel Abraham gets on with his life. I hope that he will be a good example for people who need to turn their lives around. I suspect that he will use his ill-gotten fame to get his Rap published. There will be people who will use his notoriety to make money. I wouldn't even be suprised to see him standing with 50 Cent or Eminem on some program in the future. And I suspect that some young kid will get the wrong message and think that shooting someone is the path to fame, to meeting Oprah, to getting noticed. Meanwhile, a different kid will makes the right choices, do the right things and get no notice, like my friend Andre. So, to even the scale a little, I'm giving my man Andre his props right now. Great job my friend, Oprah's missing a real success story. H.C.
You'll probably never see Andre in the news. I really doubt he'll ever meet Oprah or have legions of reporters following him around. I doubt that the Governors office will take an interest in him and I'm fairly certain that his church won't give him a standing ovation anytime soon. Yet he'll go on doing what he does. Writing his blog, working hard, meeting his goals, trying to help people, propping up his friends and being a good example.
Now for the other side of the coin.
This Sunday at Hartford Memorial Church in Detroit the congregation rose to it's feet in a standing ovation to welcome a celebrity. He stood before them in a conservative blue suit and read a poem about his efforts to get his life back on track. The 21 year old man has had quite a exciting month. He has met Oprah, now has a lawyer/agent who helps him get appearances on radio programs and in churches. He has reporters who follow him everywhere and an education that is being paid for by me and you through our tax dollars, but don't worry, he won't be wasting our money, he has big plans on being a Rap Star. As you may have guessed by now, this young man is Nathaniel Abraham, who at age 11 became the youngest person to ever be charged as an adult for first-degree murder in the 1997 shooting death of Ronnie Greene Jr. formally of Pontiac. Now, let me stress something here. Ronnie Greene Jr. is dead. Dead as in never getting to see his family again. Dead as in never getting to have children and see them grow up. Dead as in gone from this life, gone from his girlfriend and his friends. Yet life seems to have taken a happy turn for Nathaniel Abraham.
This wasn't even an isolated incident for Mr. Abraham, according to the Detroit Free Press, from 9 to 11 years old he had formed quite a rap sheet of 22 incidents, including threatening classmates with a gun and beating a 16 year old with a metal pipe. Ronnie Greene on the other hand had a girlfriend, a steady job, and caring family before Nathaniel put a bullet in his head.
I guess there are some things in this life I will never understand. Why do we glorify someone like Nathaniel Abraham while my friend Andre keeps fighting the good fight with next to no acknowledgement? Why is it such a better thing to turn your life around than it is to have never turned that way to begin with? Why is it Oprah dwells on those who have made bad decisions in their lives instead of those that made good ones? Is it just that we love a story where someone saw the light and turned their life around? I've done O.K. in my efforts to turn my life around from the life that I once lead. But shouldn't we be propping up the people who said no to drugs and crime to begin with? It's embarrassing to me to have people act like I did something great when all I really did was make some real bad choices and then realize it.
I hope that Nathaniel Abraham gets on with his life. I hope that he will be a good example for people who need to turn their lives around. I suspect that he will use his ill-gotten fame to get his Rap published. There will be people who will use his notoriety to make money. I wouldn't even be suprised to see him standing with 50 Cent or Eminem on some program in the future. And I suspect that some young kid will get the wrong message and think that shooting someone is the path to fame, to meeting Oprah, to getting noticed. Meanwhile, a different kid will makes the right choices, do the right things and get no notice, like my friend Andre. So, to even the scale a little, I'm giving my man Andre his props right now. Great job my friend, Oprah's missing a real success story. H.C.
10 comments:
Good stuff HC. I also like Andre, but have never had the pleasure of meeting him in real life.
I have also felt the frustration of people living the "hard knock life" getting lauded as shining examples. I've often said: "You know what is hard? Supporting your family in these low income areas without selling yourself or drugs, or stealing. That is hard. It is this 'hard knock life' that is taking the easy way out. Like JT said: Cry me a river, ho."
In other words (and shorter ones even) I totally agree.
Andre: We should jam together sometime, and maybe write that song we were talking about earlier.
Hey Will,
As I said in this piece, I hate the way we prop up people who were (or even still are) drug addicted, thieves, murderers, whores or whatever that have turned their lives around (although that's still a good thing to do) while ignoring the people who turned that life down to begin with. I don't want to carry on too much about Andre (At some point he's going to think it's getting weird) but he is good people even in person. I value friendship a lot and am a harsh judge of character, but you can rest assured if I call you a friend (as I do both you and Andre) your doing the right things in my eyes.
H.C.
As always,you seem to have hit the nail on the proverbial head. Andre is WAY more noteworthy that the other man but ,as Albert Jay Nock once wrote,"we tend to choose the Barbases over the Christs" . Look at rock stars and celebrities;they are called "heroic" when they go into drug rehab. But let one gain weight and they are mocked and ridiculed. I ask this question; how can someone stay away from food entirely? Yet why does someone HAVE to do drugs?
Anyway,keep blogging H.C. and I will keep reading em
Hey John,
I love that quote, I hope you don't mind if I borrow that one. As far the weight issue, I'm all about teaching people to be kind to EVERYONE not just the minority of the moment. It's a shame that we have to constantly find someone it's O.K. to slam, whether it's Christians, blacks, or people with a weight problem, it's all the same to me.
Uh...ahem...thanks, Hipster.
But I don't think that my contributions (limited as they are) warranted any more consideration than the next guy. But I DO agree that there's far more of a premium placed on people who don't really add much value to society (celebs, for instance). To say that I do may be a bit of a stretch.
Besides, I don't think I'd make a good public figure. I'd probably spend my time on Leno calling out the government for their lies; instead of talking about my next movie or which designer suit I'm wearing.
At any rate, I appreciate the shout out. I especially appreciate that you didn't call me "articulate."
Hey Dre,
Don't be so modest. As Chris Rock says "Your SUPPOSED to go to work, your SUPPOSED to take care of your family." But a little credit never hurt.
P.S. Why? Did someone call you "articulate"??? (Will holds H.C.s arms) LEMME AT 'EM, Will. Those punks BETTER run.
H.C.
Hey,John here. I agree with this thread so much .When people make themselves victims we are all supposed to weep and wail. Maybe people should pray,"God,keep me from the effects of my own stupidity" .
Well said John,
It's so irritating to watch how obsessive we are about Paris Hilton, Brittany Spears, or Anna Nicole Smith instead of people who actually try to make the world a better place. Bill Gates gets hardly any press for contributing billion$ to fight AIDS or cure Malaria but Brittany gets better coverage for not wearing panties. (Sigh) It is indeed a crazy world we live in.
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