Oprah had the other Wes Moore, author of “The Other Wes Moore” on her show on Wednesday, August 18, 2010. Did you see it? It may have been a rerun. That story blew my mind and got me thinking.
Here we have two African American men named Wes Moore who once lived in the same neighborhood in Baltimore, MD. Today, one of them is in prison for murder. The other became a Rhodes Scholar, a White House Fellow and has a career on Wall Street. Now he is also a successful author with his book receiving the “Oprah factor” on national television. The mere mention of a book title, product or service by Oprah has created millionaires.
You can order the book right from this blog site. When you finish reading this article, look over to the right under Lloyd’s Shopping Center and click on Get "The Other Wes Moore".
For this article I’ll call the Wes Moore who became a Rhodes Scholar, Wes1 and the other Wes2. Both came from single parent homes. Wes1’s father died when he was three years old. After his mother moved the family to the Bronx, NY, he started getting into trouble and messing up in school. His grandparents took a second mortgage on their home to send Wes1 to military school. There, he turned his life around. Wes2’s father chose not to be in his son’s life. Wes1 also served in Afghanistan as a Captain in the U.S. Army. To make a long story shorter, Wes1 has done well and became acquainted with Wes2. While in South Africa he saw a news story about the police looking for a man named Wes Moore. They were looking for him in the neighborhood where Wes1 used to live. He was wanted for armed robbery and murder of a police officer. After Wes2 was caught, convicted and serving time, Wes1 wrote him a letter and visited him in prison. Wes2 is now mentoring the young men who come into the prison. Wes1 wrote the book, “The Other Wes Moore.”
Of course, the question of the day is, “How do we prevent incarceration in the first place?” You can’t prevent it altogether. Bad people are going to do bad things. They’ll be arrested, tried, convicted and spend some time in prison or under the authority of the justice system. I bet there are a great many Wes Moore/Wes Moore stories. Maybe not with the same name, but with similar circumstances. A few days ago, a sixteen year old was shot and killed a few blocks from our church.
The day after that a teenager was stabbed to death in the building behind ours here in Co-op City (in the Bronx NY). Last week thirteen people were shot here in the Bronx. Two of them, teenagers, died. Last month in Yonkers, NY, (just north of the Bronx NY) a twenty-three year old and a twenty-one year old were shot and killed. One of them was paralyzed from the waist down. He was paralyzed due to a gunshot the year before. A teenage girl and a five year old boy were also shot in the same incident as the two who died. The father of the five year old boy was shot and killed a year ago. Did you know that seventy percent of children of incarcerated parents end up in prison. Wes2 has a child and a grandchild.
Every June, our church has a Scholarship Brunch. Graduating High School Seniors from our church and community are awarded scholarships. Several of these youngsters who qualify for our scholarships, qualify for other scholarships as well. When pointed in the right direction you pick up more beautiful flowers along the way than stink weeds. These Wes1 youngsters live in the same neighborhood as the Wes2 youngsters. It’s partly about choices. First it is up to mom, dad, family members and faith community members who care to make some of the choices and decisions. Then it reaches a point when it’s up to Wes1 and Wes2 themselves to make their own choices and decisions. They should have been taught by then by their elders that everything they do has consequences including whether or not you end up at Penn State or the State Pen.
I know there are many success stories out there … stories that go counter to all the violence and bad news we see. The “good news” stories don’t make the evening news. I hope Oprah and others will continue to highlight more people like Wes Moore (Wes1).
I would really love to post similar stories on THIS TOO IS MY STORY. You know stories like “The Other Wes Moore.” Send them to me at kingdomspeaking@gmail.com. Thank you for your attention and God bless you. <>
No comments:
Post a Comment