I HAVE a Dream; Joe's Story

When I first met Joe, he looked very "street tough" if that makes sense. His hard-core exterior, the kind that promotes unfair judgement for the better part of society, didn't seem to match his soft spoken tone and seemingly shy personality. I can't explain why I was interested in his life, where he came from and what he was all about. I imagined that he was a young man with a story to tell and probably did not even know it. Nevertheless, it was a story I wanted to hear and without realizing it at the time, a story I wanted to tell everyone else. Over the course of about three years, we spoke many times. It was almost always me asking him how and what he was doing and little by little I would learn about the life of this person who had probably been misunderstood and mistakenly characterized as some sort of thug just because of his outward appearance and the color of his skin. If one would look past the obvious stuff and make an effort to actually know what he is all about then they would understand how determined he is to make a difference in the world, especially his world. That became clear to me today and I am going to share his journey with anyone who will listen so we can break down the barriers that keep our worlds separate.