Oba George

For the first time, I began to truly believe that this broke black kid from Norcross, Georgia, could make a name for himself. I could be “Dr. George.” That would be something. I would wear crisp button-ups and sharp slacks every day. Everyone would respect me.

Adolescent, black, and poor, Oba George grapples with evading the devious potholes that line ghetto streets. Illicit drugs, tense run-ins with law enforcement, and overwhelming despair threaten his dream of becoming a medical doctor. His lack of money and societal respect continually remind him why he should endure during his bleak journey. But he soon finds that there are other, invisible impediments hindering his journey to the American Dream.
“Are you like a doctor doctor?”
“We would prefer someone else.”
“Where’s the other doctor?”
These are just some of the inquiries that would abruptly make Oba consider his race.
Darker Shades of the American Dream is a raw, insightful, and thought-provoking memoir. Written in vivid and visceral anecdotes, it exposes the reader to several authentic, racially provocative events that illuminate the perpetual obstacles to minority success.