“We cannot be what we cannot see”
If anyone has seen The Wire, the Devil-May-Care drug-dealer robber Omar Little is one of the most memorable characters in the whole series and the favourite character of President Obama. The character is portrayed by Michael K. Williams and this is his memoir as he navigated and made sense of his past and figure out the way to live a fulfilling life.
His writing was full of introspection of what made him tick and what drove him. Some of the fascinating takeaways from this book from me are:
- Pull of Addiction: Addiction is more complicated than just the addict having no self-control. You become an addict before you know the substance. Addict needs something to try to sate their pain, suffering, itch. The root usually goes deeper and more inward.
- Making a difference in young people. There are many stories of those who Williams made it a mission to help as he looked to provide opportunities to those in need, especially the youngs. Many kids need someone to help them make better choices. Hopefully we can all take the lead and make that difference in someone’s life.
- Processing trauma: Dealing with trauma is difficult. Seek help to understand your deeper self before it consumes you. You cannot heal what you never reveal
- Importance of identity: Williams struggled with who he was growing up and found music, dancing and acting as his outlet towards his own identity and uniqueness. We all need an expression of ourselves and should strive to find that in us and those around us.
- Importance of a guardian angel: we all need someone who sees us. These people give us confidence to change our life narrative, to proceed or to provide us that lucky break.
It is a tragedy that Williams passed away due to overdose as his demon and drug habit caught up with him. The fragility of life is fully on display in the book as he see his struggles throughout the book. But it also shows how hard work and hope can push us and those around us further as we live this world.