A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team

“At fourteen years old in my neighborhood, kids had experienced what most soldiers witnessed in war. At fifteen, I had already run for my life, had bullets fly straight past my head, skipped over pools of blood, and witnessed dead bodies on the street.”

Relating to his book’s overarching theme of overcoming adversity, Cooper explains that his neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago is known for violence and murder. This threat of violence comes from the numerous gangs and their cliques and splinter groups that control the area’s various streets.

“The city of Chicago has about fifty different gangs and hundreds of different cliques—splinter groups. Some are known for their fancy cars, and others are notable for being stone-cold killers. These guys were born into this village, and this is all they know. I don’t think these guys join because they believe it’s going to be a good time, but for protection from the gang on the next block over and to be part of something.”

Cooper is referring to the cycle that has long affected kids in areas with strong gang influence. In many cases, the only way to protect oneself from the threat of violence from a gang is to join a gang. While some may join a gang for the feeling of inclusion, it is more frequently the case that kids are born into that lifestyle by geography and socioeconomic status.

“The barbershop is the black man’s country club. That’s where I go when I’m bored. I figured it’s better than hanging in the streets. My mom made it very clear that if you hang in the streets, you will have to leave the house. The barbershop sells everything: gym shoes, T.D. Jakes preaching tapes, porn, weed, candles. You name it, they have it.”

Cooper explains the importance of the barbershop in Black neighborhoods because it provides a sense of community. In providing an anecdote about receiving life advice from the older men there during his visit, he touches upon the idea that the barbershop is indeed far more than just a place to get a haircut, an idea that he reinforces by listing all the various items that can be purchased there.