MySpace - twitter.com/kwam_star - 22 - Male - Brooklyn, New York

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kwame Martin. Born in the country of Trinidad & Tobago. I lived there to the age of 19. Upon attaining a high school diploma i decided to be a pioneer and embark on a new adventure, into the world outside. My destination, The United States Of America. My mission, "greatness". I had heard a lot about the 1st world giant and was in fear of being crumbled beneath its intimidating presence, but i had made my mind up. I kissed my grandmother on her right cheek and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for all your hard work. Without you I would have never reached this far. I will bring you back greatness, and make you proud." My luggage was packed and i was a aboard my plane to my new home, Brooklyn, New York.

It was 18 degrees when i landed at JFK, but sadly my mom didn't have a proper jacket to keep me warm. She presented to me a $25 army fatigue coat, which she had bought at the local Arab store around her way. I've never owned a Northface jacket in my life, but my mother's love kept me warm that night. A night i will never forget. My 1st year in NY was a truly rough one. I had known no one, no friends, and family turned out to be just a term in a dictionary, because they weren't there either. I had no source of income, i had nothing. There were times when i had to wear the same outfit 3 times for the week, and days when i went hungry, only having cereal & milk to eat. The America i had seen on BET was nothing like the one i was living in now. I walked the sidewalks of Fulton St. ashamed of my appearance. Females didn't dear lay eyes upon me, and i stared hard through the windows of the Arab store at Jordans and Air Max; i wanted but could not afford. I often found my self sitting on a Fulton Park bench in the cold, crying, and talking to myself, asking "Why was I here?" and "Where to now?" I will not lie to you. There were days when I had given up, and was about to head back to the islands. To give up on my dream. To let my grandmother down. To go back home a failure. I told myself; here was the time for you to be a man Kwame. Be the example. Let them see that their hard work wasn't in vain. I wiped those tears outta my eyes, and Diddy bopped outta Fulton Park in those crusty 3 month year old Construction Timberland boots, with new found ambition and determination to achieve greatness.

I began applying to schools, to jobs, to everything there was to apply to. I was hard at work to be better. I started off small making $5.15 at Duane Reade Pharmacy over by Crown Heights, you know the one across the street from that big White Castle? Yeah, that one. So anyways i started stacking, and making my way in NY meeting new people, making new connections. I started praying a lot more too. My struggle was bringing me closer and closer to God. Things started happening..doors started opening up for me. I was having a bit of difficulty at home with my mom and her personal situation, you know the deadbeat broke boyfriend that stay on the couch all day and don't work? And when you get to blasting the ni99a your own moms, who you thought you were protecting puts you on blast?! Well i said fuck it and my moms decided to kick me out the crib. She even gave me a deadline to dip; April 1st, 2OO7. I was like "WOoooOoooOW. :-O" but at the same time, this was my big chance. My chance to prove to myself that i could do it. That i could be great.

Suddenly i began to be blessed with gifts from all angles. It was crazy! Ask Seegal, Cedric & Frendy they"ll tell ya the same thing! Frendy, remember when I stopped by Bape that day with my hands full with resumes and job application forms and shit? and Seegal, remember when I was like yo, mom dukes is wildin on the kid? Man i started getting job interviews, like crazy, my pay at Duane Reade had even gone up to $8.5O an hour. I had got a scholarship interview at Norfolk State University in Virginia, they said that they had seen my paperwork and my grades and liked what they had seen. So i went down there ASAP. Yeah, just like that, bought me my payless shoes, and my H&M suit and hopped on that China Bus to go handle my business. Shit, ni99as even played Lord Of The Rings 1 & 2..on the ride there(LOL). Came back to NY and got a call from Capital One Bank {formerly North Fork Bank Bank}. The manager was like "How soon can you start?", I was like, "Miss. Dumon, I'll be there promptly @ 7am tomorrow." Started clocking $11.OO an hr, along with Duane Reade on the side. I packed my things and left my mom's crib. Kissed her on her cheek and told her bye and all that. Moved into a nice ass 1 bedroom apartment at a nice ass house out in Flat Lands. Decent rent, and all that.

Right after that i headed down to NSU with that full scholarship, to pursue my degree, and here's where I'm at now. On the honor roll at my school, with a 3.7 GPA, a new found swag, and sense of purpose. The gear been updated, the money been updated. I got models callin' my phone now; oh yeah i forgot, i got a cell phone now..(LOL). I got a priceless group of friends, that hold me down, and give me that desire to keep aiming for the stars. I never thought that I'd ever be where I'm at right now. So to my readers, If I can do it, trust me, you can do it. All it takes is a hunger for more, and a dream, and you got to sacrifice to gain. That's just how life is. I thank God for being with me the whole time too. I also wanna say that me and my mom dukes back friends too. I thank her too for putting me out. She gave me the pinch I needed to get on my shit.

Never let anyone tell you that you can't do it. These people are known as failures. Stay up. Stay fly and thanks for checking out the blog. We got a lot more in store, so stay tuned.

http://www.general-made.blogspot.com