Growing Up Big, Black, and Male in America

Making Sure Others Felt Safe In My Presence

Photo by Patrice Strong

I was always tall for my age. I started kindergarten at age four because I was tall and could read. I had to be tested by a school psychologist to start school a year early. I’m told he/she said I could handle the work, but I might act immature at times relative to the older students in my class. Looking back, there might be some truth in that relative immaturity remark, but I will neither confirm nor deny it.

I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the southside. I used to play at Phelps Park, which was one block from where George Floyd was murdered. Back then, kids played outside instead of indoors on video games. We had enough kids on my block to play football, kickball, whiffle ball, basketball, capture the flag, and whatever else came to mind. A kid named Angelo moved onto our block from New York and tried to introduce us to soccer, but it never took.