Bio
I am a husband, father, author, speaker, teacher, former division one college soccer coach, recruiter, former full scholarship athlete, World Cup soccer player, film-maker, radio dj, youth organizer, mentor. I live and work in Raleigh, NC with my wife and son.
I was born on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and immigrated to the US in August 1985, at age nine. America was where I always wanted to be, but in the New Jersey suburb I lived in that first year, I saw and became two things that shaped the boy I was and the man I still plan to be. At nine years old, I suddenly became (1) black and (2) poor. I was born black in a poor country but never felt those forces as I began to in America. My days since, have been an effort to make sense of the states America imposes on it's young --especially the black and the poor --specifically the boys. How do I empower those who find little hope and even less will to be better than what little they have accomplished so far? I wish to deal with that reality in my writing and business.
I began writing my memoir at age seventeen --hence the book's title. I wrote, not because I thought I had done anything miraculous then. In fact, it's because my life had been so ordinary that I wished to share it. What still strikes me most has been the transformation. The process of creating a better self remains the most important thing to me.
As a boy, I was scared to act on change and progress. I was miserable then but didn't have the guts to alter my state. Happiness seemed a ghostly apparition. But happiness did come. It came when my voice began to take hold and speak through me. Writing was key in that. I choose to write about fear, anxiety, frustration and doubt, emotions many never find the words to explain, let alone express. I find no greater purpose in life than giving voice to those transformative ideas and experiences.
Today, tomorrow and forever, I wish to give voice and extend a hand to anyone ready to change his or her life for the better.
Since seventeen, I've gone on to college, graduated from North Carolina State University, was in graduate school for education then taught elementary school in Brooklyn, NY for two years. I've played international soccer for the St. Vincent and the Grenadines senior national team in the 1996 Gold Cup vs. Mexico and Guatemala and during the 2000 World Cup qualifying games vs. Jamaica, El Salvador and Honduras. I spent 2002-07 as an Asst. Men' s Soccer Coach at NC State University. Today I write, teach and dj a jazz program on WSHA, 88.9 FM, Raleigh.
My favorite word today is... vocation. One definition states that it's the place where my great gift meets the world's great need. I can write, I can talk, I can teach. Those are my gifts. There is a need for those skills to be in the world --especially in the young. In the meantime, I volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club, talk to the Triangle YMCA Black Achievers Club and have formed an informal rap session with local high school boys. I meet twice/month to discuss and work through the issues the boys care about.
So besides starting a speaking business and raising a family, I live, I learn, I love and plan to do so until I die.
