No Free Ride: From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream - Softcover

Mfume, Kweisi; Stodghill II, Ronald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345413644 ISBN 13: 9780345413642

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 1997

Synopsis

Courageous. Uplifting. Triumphant. The story of Kweisi Mfume is a classic American saga. Uprooted from the rural tranquillity of Turners Station and thrust upon the gritty streets of west Baltimore, the child born Frizzell Gray seemed fated to become another statistic of Black urban pathology. In a household shattered by domestic violence and emotional strife, Frizzell had only the strong arms of his loving mother to protect him and his three younger sisters. But when he was sixteen years old, his cancer-stricken mother died in his arms, and his world was shattered. To survive, he turned to the streets. He dropped out of school, worked odd jobs, and hustled for money. Torn apart by the rough code of street gangs and the Vietnam war that sent his best friends home in body bags, Frizzell had fathered five children out of wedlock by the time he was twenty-two.
But fate stepped in. In a life-altering moment of revelation, Frizzell saw where he was headed and realized that everything about the old Frizzell Gray would have to die. As he embarked on the journey to transform himself, he affirmed his spiritual rebirth and took the name Kweisi Mfume, Ghanian for "Conquering Son of Kings." Today, a quarter-century later, Kweisi Mfume is among the most respected and influential leaders in the United States.
Mfume's journey into the nations power elite was as rocky as it was colorful: from night GED courses to college student activism to militant radio disc jockey, where his first philosophical battles were fought against James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul." Mfume's emergence as a political figure broke every rule--he parlayed his burgeoning fame as a talk-radio provocateur to win a seat as a maverick member of the Baltimore City Council. He then took on the local political machine to represent a Congressional district that encompasses both the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich.
Once he arrived in Washington, Mfume proved to be a bold political strategist, facing off against Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton on such issues as aid to the Nicaraguan contras, the Civil Rights Bill, Lani Guinier's embattled nomination for Attorney General, and sending U.S. armed forces into Haiti. As Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he led the CBC through a period of unprecedented dynamism. And in international affairs, Mfume's relentless campaign to end apartheid has earned him the respect and friendship of Nelson Mandela.
Far from a kiss-and-tell political memoir, No Free Ride illuminates the forces that helped shape a new wave of Black leaders left to carry the torch for Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Mfume moves beyond the divisive rhetoric of white fear and Black anger generated by the assault on affirmative action, the O.J. verdict, and the Million Man March. He exposes the myth of arrogant, self-righteous values and affirms the real value of values. And while Mfume asserts that " the government can't and won't solve every one of our problems," he doesn't hesitate to indict those who collude in the soul murder of America's poor and forgotten.
In this candid and insightful memoir, Mfume reminds us that everything has a price, and that as citizens of a democracy, none of us can expect a free ride. His visionary blueprint for all Americans, white and Black, can guide us as we face the challenge of fashioning a society in which our two nations can at last become one.

About this title

From the Publisher:

People I've talked to outside of publishing think that it's a glamorous job, and we get the chance to meet with many celebrities, prominent figures, and literary lights. That's not always the case, but I was fortunate enough to be involved in the production of Kweisi Mfume's NO FREE RIDE. Before doing the book, I hadn't heard much about Mr. Mfume. After all, he was a congressman from Maryland, and the only thing I knew about Maryland was that it was the home of crabcakes and the Baltimore Orioles.

As it turns out, Mr. Mfume, besides being a Congressman and eventually being selected to head the NAACP as its Chief Executive Officer, is a huge Orioles fan. In fact, baseball plays a particularly large part in his recollections of his youth. His youth league coach, Mr. Smitty, is a wonderfully drawn character and the kind of man that many young people need in their life--tough, demanding, and generous of time and spirit.

As work on the book progressed, I got the opportunity to speak to Mr. Mfume on several occasions. Invariably our conversations drifted toward the Oriole's progress toward the playoffs and an eventual showdown with the dreaded Yankees. I suppose that in a lot of ways, the Yankees have represented for generations of baseball fans the same things that Mr. Mfume has battled against in his long career--wealth and privilege. In these jaded times, some may dismiss his rise from a hardscrabble youth to the halls of Congress and beyond as just another one of those inspirational stories.

But the radical transformation Mr. Mfume underwent, his incredible devotion to his mother, and his return to faith in himself and the vision his mother had of his future can't be easily dismissed nor easily explained. Just as we sometimes wonder how someone from a privileged background can go so wrong, we should celebrate those times when a man swims against the tide of his life circumstances and emerges triumphant.

Isn't that the kind of story we love to hear about a baseball game? At the risk of being too trite, Mr. Mfume was down to his last strike, and he came through in the clutch. His is a great story and one we should all be glad to hear again and again.

From the Back Cover:

The story of Kweisi Mfume is a classic American saga. Uprooted from the rural tranquility of Turners Station and thrust upon the gritty streets of West Baltimore, the child born Frizzell Gray seemed fated to become another statistic of black urban pathology. In a household shattered by domestic violence and emotional strife, Frizzell had only the strong arms of his loving mother to protect him and his three younger sisters. But when he was sixteen years old, his cancer-stricken mother died in his arms, and his world crumbled. To survive, he turned to the streets. He dropped out of school, worked odd jobs, and hustled for money. But fate stepped in. In a life-altering moment of revelation, Frizzell saw where he was headed and realized that everything about the old Frizzell Gray would have to die. As he embarked on the journey to transform himself, he affirmed his spiritual rebirth and took the Ghanaian name Kweisi Mfume, "Conquering Son of Kings". Today, a quarter-century later, Kweisi Mfume is among the most respected and influential leaders in the United States. Mfume's journey into the nation's power elite was as rocky as it was colorful: from night GED courses to college student activism to militant radio disc jockey, where his first philosophical battles were fought against James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul". Mfume's emergence as a political figure broke every rule - he parlayed his burgeoning fame as a talk-radio provocateur to win a seat as a maverick member of the Baltimore City Council. He then took on the local political machine to represent a Congressional district that encompasses both the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich. As the newly appointed head of theNAACP, Mfume reminds us that everything has a price, and that as citizens of democracy, none of us can expect a free ride. His inspirational story serves as a reminder to all Americans, black and white, that the enduring values of hard work, loyalty, and the steadfast commitment to a vision can ignite both personal and political change.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0345413644
• ISBN 13: 9780345413642
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 373