Skip to main content

Who was your first?

The other day I was downtown shooting some spring stills of the homeless and I overheard these two little kids talking about their first. Just like you, my reaction I was like, what? I listened for few more minutes and they were talking about being the first to do or be something great in their neighborhood's. One kid said he was going to be the first to not move back home with his parents. The other kid said he was going to be a mechanic because they own a beat down car that stays in the shop.

Just like most kids, these two little guys were sharp. They caught me ease dropping like I do often. They said "Mr, have you ever been the first at anything"? I replied, "yes". They both said, "what"? I replied, "I was my parents first born child". Jacob the older of the two boys said, "that's lame, give us something worth listening to". I let out a big laugh, I saw that these two little guys were looking for something to hold onto. So I began to go down my list of first.

I told them that I was in the first class of B.O.T.S.O a mentoring group for at risk youth, I'm also the first 4 year graduate that I know of on my father's side of the family, I was on the first Men's basketball team to win a state title at T. W. Andrews High School and I was the first African American elected to the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Videographers Association.

After I told them a few things about what those things meant they said, "Mr. you must be really old". All I could do was laugh.

The point of it all is that somebody has to be the first at something so that the next little person that comes along will believe that they can do it too.

Comments

Eve said…
With the way your vision is, you will be the first at many great things Mr. McQueen.
March 16, 2011 at 12:48 AM
Unknown said…
I really enjoyed reading this blog for many reasons! I guess you can learn a lot from being noisy!! Keep up the great work!

Sam
March 16, 2011 at 8:54 PM
Dave said…
If you dream and let our generations to come know that they can reach there dreams. The LORD will let us know what our dreams are and let us work towards those dreams but he will not let them fall in your lap, he wants us to work for them.
March 17, 2011 at 7:07 AM
ryan said…
well you ARE old! LOL
March 23, 2011 at 8:59 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Money Shot

The "Money Shot". It's not the type of shot where you look to get paid. It's the one that tells the largest story with the least amount of words. Today as I drove through Pen Lucy park, I saw this homeless lady at the stop light. I've driven through here daily for years and today was the first time I'd ever seen this lady. She was as worn as the soles of her shoes. She appeared to have the conscious mind of a 6 year old child. I only had about 20 seconds to capture the moment. It tends to be that way driving through the district where most of the show " The Wire " was filmed. Needless to say I was able to salvage what I referred to above as, " The Money Shot". After countless hours of studying the late great visual artist, Gordon Parks life stills, I've come to the conclusion that life stills are and should be timeless. They hold the frailties of life tight enough to crush them and soft enough to doctor them back to maximum h...
1 comment
Read more

The Measure of a Man.........

the details are below the photos it's a must read story for the men.... The title of this blog maybe familiar to some, it's that of the autobiography of actor Sidney Poitier.  When you mention his name the words courage, great, intelligent, daring, brilliant and faithful may come to mind.  I've got a new name that replaces those words, Von Johnson.   My friend. My brother.  My cousin.  My new HERO. How and what does that have to do with the title? Yesterday, I observed what it means to live the final portion of your wedding vows,  "till death do us part"...... I can't even put it into words how I felt yesterday.  The only word that comes close is "helpless".   It was one of the rare moments in life where you want to take someone else's pain and throw it down the river and start fresh. I learned what the measure of a man is all about.   Can you live on life's edge and handle all it dishes out?  Can you stand in the toughest moments of opposit...
22 comments
Read more

The Players That You Never Knew

With the opening Friday Night of the 2014 high school football season on the horizon, every barbershop in every small-town in America is probably buzzing with the conversation of who are greatest high school football players of all time.  It's a valid question considering the pool of talent that passes through most small towns.  People often wonder where these guys end up long after their playing days are over.  I've often asked the same question about many of my ex-teammates. Two in particular, Darius Brewnington and Kenny Shaw. If you were an athlete in the early 1990's they were arguably considered two of the most influential athletes in North Carolina's rich high school football history.  Unfortunately, like many other high profile athletes life happens.  However, even with the growing pains of life every man has his day of redemption.  With Darius and Kenny being former teammates of mine I wanted to see for myself who they are 20 years removed fr...
5 comments
Read more