Miseducated

Brandon P. Fleming's memoir traces his path from a troubled youth to an award-winning educator at Harvard, all by the age of 27. He grew up in an abusive home, and his school grades mostly reflected his talent on the basketball court rather than any effort in class. By fourteen he had turned to the streets and drug dealing.

An injury during his first semester at a Division I school ended his hopes of a basketball career. Afterward he set out to remake himself as a scholar and threw himself into the work of Black thinkers, from the Harlem Renaissance through to the present day. Along the way he discovered debate. It became the means of changing his own life and later the tool he used to change the lives of others.

The book is an account of resilience, visibility, the importance of role models, and defying the expectations placed on a young person.