Jamal had to overcome so many obstacles to
succeed. Like many others black men in America he was born and raised in rough
neighborhood of Bronx in New York where his surrounding is mostly have negative
influence on him. The perception people have for these kids who grow up in this
kind of neighborhood usually is negative and most people assume if you come
from the “ghetto” you don’t have much contributed to society beside committing
crime or gangbanging. Therefore, it’s very hard for young black males like
Jamal to overcome obstacles and succeed also the resource is limited for young
black men to make out their situation. However, Jamal understood his
responsibility at young to not accept to failure and work hard to overcome and
succeed. Beside public perception of his environment and the struggle of his
neighborhood he also had to deal with the fact his father was not in his life
since he was young child and rose by a single mother. Frederick Douglas once
said, “If there is no struggles, there is no progress” and Jamal knew there would
be great obstacles in front of him but he is also determined to succeed in
life. Jamal would have easily taken different path just like many young men who
grew up his neighborhood but instead he turned his pain into writing and
playing basketball. Jamal had to overcome the darkness of his environment and
the perception of the society.
