MyTimeToBlog
Most times, I read a book that gives me a few thoughts to ponder on, then I move on to another book. This time I couldn't. I read Jump by Larry Miller. His memoir on his life from prison to becoming the Chairman for The Jordan Brand blew me away.
This was a young man who took the life of someone at the age of sixteen. He was angry over a friend's passing by a rival gang in the streets of Philadelphia. So, he stepped into the rival gang's territory and found a kid he assumed was a part of the gang and killed him.
I think about Mr. Miller going to prison, getting out after some years, then committing another crime and ending up right back in prison again. You would assume this man was a lost cause, as would many, but Mr. Miller recognized he needed to change his thinking. He did that by attaining an education.
This was during the 1970s and 1980s, when prison was more about rehabilitation than locking you up and throwing away the key, forever. Mr. Miller took charge of his life and chose to be more than his worst.
I read his memoirs with wide eyes. I gave up working out, even heading to chow. His words fed my soul in ways that I couldn't believe. Here was a man who walked out of prison and continued educating himself.
Due to his education, he was offered a job at an accounting firm, but when he shared that he was incarcerated, the interviewer didn't give him the job. That experience caused Mr. Miller to do something drastic: hide that he went to prison. When he did, he found himself working for corporations like Campbell, Jantzen, Nike, Jordan Brand, and eventually became the general manager for the Portland Trailblazers. Crazy, but true.
He carried the fear of being caught. So much so that he was having nightmares and migraines. It really came to a head when he was being invited to the White House, meeting former Presidents like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. This secret pressed him every day to do what he could to keep it hidden.
Now, as he was climbing the ladder of success, he never forgot about his friend Brother Wazir, a man who spent 52 years in prison. This was a man who helped keep Mr. Miller thinking that he could become more. Which he did, and that connection was also the reason why Mr. Miller always went out of his way to help Brother Wazir get free from his life sentence in prison.
Now, the one part that I noticed was how Mr. Miller was a Disney Dad. A man who showered his children with money, and not enough time as their father. This affected his relationship with his eldest daughter who confronted him when he didn't show up to the funeral of his first child's mother. Mr. Miller had a lot of shame in seeing the impact of his not being a present father. It made him and his eldest daughter talk more, and from that, she asked why not write a book about your life. You see, she was an educator, a mother of three children, and wanted to know more about her father.
When Mr. Miller was confronted by this opportunity, he decided to finally open up. This was 50 years after his crimes that led him to prison. He didn't just jump out there and write his story, this was a five-year process where he spoke with men like Phil Knight (owner of Nike), and Michael Jordan. They're his friends, and when he shared his truth, they supported him. So, Mr. Miller and his eldest daughter wrote his memoirs, and as he did, he opened up to her about his crimes, and that first breath he took changed him in many ways.
You see, he recognized the impact of education and programming for those incarcerated. The impact showed him, as me, that doors open for us. He utilized Malcolm X as an example of what education can do for us. It made me aware that our old thinking could be supplanted with educational tools that could get you out and become a productive citizen again.
Jump is a must-read for all my incarcerated peers, men and women alike. We must strive for higher learning, even when the system in place is fighting against us. I've been incarcerated for 27 years, and I have never seen men chasing a higher learning as they are doing now that the Pell Grant has been offered to us. Our thinking is beyond the mundane conversations of prison politics, it's centered on getting our minds prepared for the next stage, and going back out into society to impact the world in a positive and productive way. Mr. Miller offered us insight on seeing why we must, and for him to step from the shadows to do so, I thank him with my all, because he showed us we could do more with an education.
Whether you're free or not, this book offers you a chance to do more than what you even think possible. Chase your education, make it matter for you and those around you. Remember this as well: make sure you keep your family close as well. What Mr. Miller grasped later in life about his children made him aware that they're as important as anything we do for ourselves.
Education and family matter. Remember that and life will be amazing for you and them.