Customer Reviews

No Free Ride: From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I enjoyed this book greatly. It has inspired me to reach my goals. I have learned from reading this book that anyone can make it if they try hard enough. I do not understand the previous reviewers and there negative reviews but I found this book to be very uplifting.

This was a very interesting book. It was a quick read and it was a story told with a considerable degree of brevity. I have had the opportunity to meet the author and think that he could do more in his interactions with members of his organization than what I have been successful in reaching him.

This story could and should be more inspiring. There are people and events that contributed to his life saving and/or transformation...from the path of destruction to enlightenment to civility to purpose to personal achievement. There's civil service but little mention of community service and community servants (i.e. Allen "Dickie" Burke, Walter Lively, etc.) including places like the Community College of Baltimore, Operation Champ, Teen Centers, The African Heritage Shop, etc. Acknowledging and developing the people and events related to these places would make this story more sensitive, human, and inspiring. I'm sure there were lessons learned -both from good and bad experiences- from the previously mentioned people and places that built the bridge from the mean streets to mainstream. Their impact is vital. This story should conclude with accounts of how often he has crossed the bridge back to the meanstreets to bring someone across or helped someone stalled on the bridge to reach the other side. Their plights together would give this story additional character and broader appeal.

This was an inspirational book for me. It teaches that I can get off my butt and make it in America.