Dear Mr. Amaral,
Let me start by saying thank you for your service and
dedication as a teacher. Being a teacher can be one the most difficult
professions in our society. While I must admit the great difficulty that comes
along the task of teaching, I must also say that it is one of the most
rewarding professions in our society as well. Your recent letter to Steph Curry
about the many reasons that he should not visit your high school to speak to
your students was very intriguing. The arguments that made about those “poor
little” impoverish kids not being able to relate to the privileged life style
of Steph and not wanting to get their “little” hopes and dreams up because it
was too late for many to pursue pro sports, especially the short guys. Good
arguments and very compelling to many readers to justify not having Steph visit
your school. However, I would like to offer you another perspective. Another
perspective that may have been missing from your letter about your “poor”
little students who need to have “more realistic” goals. A perspective of a
young man who grew up living in extreme urban poverty. I thank you in advance
for considering my perspective. So here is what my letter to Steph Curry and
how the visit may benefit many of those little “poor” kids in your school. Here’s my letter to Steph from the “poor”
student’s perspective.
Dear Steph,
I must admit that I’m
a huge fan of yours now that I live in the city that you grew up in- Charlotte,
NC. I grew up watching your dad become one the key players during the Hornets
genesis as an NBA franchise. I wish I could say that your dad was my all time
favorite player but I would not be telling the truth. My all time favorite
player happens to be the owner of the team that your dad played for; none other
than the GREAT Michael Jordan. Nevertheless, there is always room for others
like yourself to join him on my all time favorite team once you get a couple of
championships under your belt.
I have to ask you to
do me a huge favor and make sure that you go visit schools like the ones that I
attended as a kid- although there were too many to name individually. You see I
attended 5 different elementary schools within 6 years due to living in many
foster homes, crisis centers, motel rooms, and with different family members. By
the way, when you go visit these poor schools, bring Michael and Dell with you.
The NBA does a lot in
communities around the world and going into poor schools like the ones that I attended
would mean the world to those students.
You see, Steph, my
parents were drug addicts and professional shoplifters who spent a lot of time
in prison when I was growing up. In fact, my mother was arrested 11 times
during the 1st year that I was born. Had you come to my school when
I was younger I would have enjoyed you being your usual inspiring, humble, hilarious,
kind self and I know that you would have said all of the right things. I would
have hung on to every word- even the words that would have not said.
You see I could have cared
less that you had a professional one-on-one tutor that helped you hone your
skills on a daily basis. Me and my poor friends would have been excited to hear
that your dad, Dell Curry, was a NBA great that worked hard on the court so
that you could have a better life.
And had you visited my
school, I would not have been envious of the fact that you grew up living a
good life, eating three square meals a day with a full sized court and hoop in
the back yard; a sense of safety; a mother and a father; top schools, rich
peers, and community resources.
I grew up living a
very tough life. We did not get three meals a day as my parents would leave me
and my elementary siblings for days by ourselves while they binged on heroin.
My siblings and I had to depend on the schools for many of our meals and
stealing what we could to bring back home to my oldest sister (6th
grader) who had to stay home with my one-year-old sister. On the weekends, we
would case out different convenient stores in the community to walk into and
sprint out with what we could grab so we would not starve to death. Gunshots
and police sirens racing throughout my neighborhood provided daily
entertainment, numbing us to the dangers. Broken homes were the story of the
day for many kids in my school. There was a piece of me, however, that even admired the kids growing up in the
stable, roach infested projects with a single parent. Growing up bouncing from
foster home to foster home without parents was very difficult. Many of my peers were also poor and we
attended dilapidated schools. Our community had very few resources and much hopelessness. Hearing your story would have given me
something to look forward to- HOPE, despite the fact that my current conditions
were telling me something different.
Even, seeing how tall
you were would not have deterred me from wanting to be like you or other
professional athletes in the NBA or NFL. You see, success in my neighborhood
had very much to do with things that I saw on a daily basis. The drug-dealer on
the corner with all the money was at one end of the success spectrum. The other
end of the spectrum was based on players who looked like me who were playing
professional sports, like you. My goal was to make it to the NBA or NFL. A back
up plan meant doing the negative stuff that I saw in my neighbor. There was no
plan B. It was all or nothing. You see in my neighborhood there were no black
men walking around in suits leaving their homes to go to law firms or hospitals
each day. The black men in my neighborhood were dying daily, mentally and
physically. So I did not have a backup plan for my dream of playing
professional sports. Having an alternative plan is much easier said, by
outsiders, than done for kids coming from where I came from. Seeing you at my
school would have made me work even harder toward my plan A of playing professional
sports.
Hearing that you
achieved your dream of playing professional sports would have silenced the
voices around me telling me it was too late to go the NFL since I did not begin
playing football until the 9th grade. In fact, it was former Denver
Bronco player, Marc Jackson, coming to my local recreation center that
reinforced that I could play football and go to the NFL.
Hearing your story and
that of other professional athletes made me want to pick up a ball and stay out
of trouble immediately after school. Knowing this, my teachers and coaches in
high school built in mandatory study times after school to help me balance my
obsession for sports. My teachers and coaches knew that I was not going to run
home to finish an essay or science project. Some on the outside of my community
would say that it is a sin to worship athletes and celebrities, however, when
they come live in my community and see that vicariously living through these
stars and athletes gives us just one more day of hope they would see why we do
it. The hope that maybe, just maybe, that it will be me next and I can turn
back and inspire another kid facing the tough circumstances. You see, dreaming in a neighborhood like mine
gives you more reason to get off of the life support machine of public
assistance and strive for financial freedom to take care of your family.
Steph, having a person
like you come to a school like mine tells me that, “I can too.” Couple that
with teachers in these schools that will embrace whatever far fetched dream
students have and you would be amazed at what a student might achieve.
Now I have to be honest
with you, Steph, simply seeing Marc Jackson and other athletes like yourself in
my neighborhood or school did not get me to the pros. But what it did do in the
midst of high school when I was homeless and my mother was in
prison, my father was in prison, my little brother was in prison, my oldest
brother was gang banging on the streets, my oldest sister was a crack-addict on
the streets, my second oldest sister was in foster care in another state, my
youngest sister was living with my aunt, and my grandmother (my last legal
guardian was in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer's Disease) gave me a
dream to stay in the game of life. My dream of going on to play professional
sports introduced me to mentors, great friends from all types of backgrounds,
and the ability to travel beyond my neighborhood.
Again Steph, the adults in my life,
in particular my teachers and coaches, spent very little time telling me what I
couldn’t achieve, when I was in high school, and spent more time celebrating
the fact that I had a dream. Our collective energies were put into what you do
everyday before you step on to the basketball court- which was laying out a
plan and goals to win. You see, sometimes winning to the kids growing up in
impoverished neighborhoods and schools has less to do with wanting to be athletes
and celebrities themselves and more to do with riding the wave of someone
else’s success until their confidence to believe in themselves and their own
dream kicks in. It’s funny what happens to kids and students in this situation.
As I mentioned before, I did not make it to the pros due to a career ending
injury in college. But what took place following my injury was a true blessing.
A plan B or backup plan emerged and revealed itself to me. It wasn’t because
everyone else told me this but because of how the universe works. Certain doors
open up us in time. The confidence that I gained in pursuit of my dream to play
in the pros kicked in and gave me the confidence, instead, to get a college
degree. I then pursued and received a graduate degree, a post graduate and
eventually a doctorate degree. Later I became
a school principal. Today, I am a successful entrepreneur traveling the nation inspiring
millions. I get a chance to motivate and inform educators, students, corporations
and many others with my messages of hope and resilience. I forgot to mention
that I’m also the author of 3 books.
So yes, Steph, get out and go to
schools like the ones that I grew up attending and tell every student rich or
poor that they can become anything they want to become, even a pro athlete. Let
that message marinate with the students. Continue to encourage the students and
life will show them the rest. I didn’t make it to the pros but being Dr. Tommy
A. Watson certainly hasn’t been a disappointing alternative.
Sincerely,
Former NFL Dreamer-
Dr. Tommy A. Watson
Mr. Amaral,
I hope that you now have a perspective and insights as to
how a visit from Steph Curry could and would benefit those many little “poor”
kids that you have the privilege of teaching each day. Best of luck this school
year! I guess now would be a great time to say, “Go Golden State”, however, I
have a tough time betting against King James- so how about a, “Go Steph Curry”.
Student Goes from homeless and living out of a trunk to DR!
