Robert Barksdale steps in front of the students in an English class at Eastern High School, searching for some semblance of redemption.
“For me, school is a treat because I never got to be in school, for real,” he begins. He always envisioned visiting a school to speak to students but was beginning to realize the pressures of standing in front of the classroom. He scans the room and says: “Y’all are a little intimidating.”
Barksdale was around their age when he chose the streets over school. By 16, he was arrested and convicted on armed robbery charges, the culmination of a series of ill-conceived attempts to be a man.
[For more of this story, written by Robert Samuels, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/...faf7cd9fe_story.html]
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