Ron Suskind

A Hope in the Unseen (penned by Ron Suskind) follows the life of Cedric Jennings, an African American teenager. He attends Ballou Senior High in Washington D.C. - one of the most dangerous and crime-ridden areas in D.C. - and lives in a topsy turvy ghetto world where things like decent grades and making the honor roll are frowned upon his by peers. As if things couldn’t get more depressing, the audience learns Cedric lives alone with his mother, and the two of them regularly work hard to show more stave off living in poverty. Instead of submitting to the mentality that is cast over at Ballou (that any academic aspirations one might have are worthless and unworthy of pursing), Cedric unapologetically refuses to give up his dreams of attending an Ivy League school. Not only is he driven to succeed and graduate, his mother wholeheartedly believes he can do it and does whatever is in her power to help him realize his dreams. In his junior year of high school, Cedric is able to attend a college summer program at M.I.T. (a program called Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science). Unsurprisingly, at least to the reader, Cedric struggles with the workload as opposed to his other peers, who come from better schools and are middle class. His ghetto background sets him apart though he manages to make friends. A the end of the program, despite how much progress he’s made, Cedric is told by a professor that he wouldn’t be welcome at M.I.T. as a college student. Cedric returns to Ballou at the end of the summer disenchanted and discomforted by his prospects, but simultaneously comforted at not being set apart socially by his peers.

When he finds that one Ivy League college is much more accommodating of minority students like himself, Cedric seems to find renewed hope and a reason why he should keep working towards his dreams. As his senior year winds down, Cedric is able to receive several financial aid scholarships which allow him to attend the college of his choice. Not all of his college-bound peers share the same result, however. Though some of them are accepted to college, there is no way they can afford the tuition on their own, and others cannot go at all, which creates friction and resentment between Cedric and his classmates. Despite that, he is determined to go and to succeed at college no matter what obstacles he may face.

What stood out to me in this book is how much grit and an almost superhuman work ethic Cedric had. It would have been ridiculously easy for him to stop giving caring about academics a long time ago. He’s a poor, inner-city, minority teenager. He doesn’t have access to decent education, and has a father he doesn’t know in jail and on drugs. On top of the obstacles Cedric already faces, he lives in an area where crime is high and gangs are everywhere.There is every reason for Cedric to give up on his future. Almost none of his peers cared about their education, and if they did, they didn’t try to move heaven and hell to get out - mainly because of this impossible situation they were born into. Every possible obstacle Cedric could face, he had to. He couldn’t quite completely exist in either world he was experiencing (educated middle class and poor ghetto background). Instead of bending to peer pressure and allowing himself to fade into obscurity and not make something of his life, he chose - with the help of his mother, his faith, and some dedicated high school teachers - to aim high and to keep clawing his ways out of a poor neighborhood towards a better future.

Cedric’s mother, Barbara was reckless and immature before giving birth to him. She had a tendency towards liquor and bad relationships. Barbra wasn’t the most educated person out there- and it would have been easy for her to believe that her child would face a similar fate to the one she’d been dealing with. However, instead of slipping into that belief, and helping to set him up for failure and disappointment, Barbra does the complete opposite. She keeps him on a tight leash. Before, she had been all over the place; now, she was committed to bending over backwards to make something of her own life and make sure that her son didn’t stay in poverty.

It was moving to read about how committed Barbara is to Cedric through this period of their life, and how much she’d done for him beforehand. It was clear that she was determined to help Cedric. She was an incredible role model for him and helped him mature enough to be able to handle different challenges he would face before Cedric would move out and have to grow up and mature on his own.

After being told by Ballou’s principle that Cedric was “too proud for his own good”, Suskind decided to investigate that claim in 1994. He published two articles about Cedric, but eventually used those as references when working to write an entire novel about the reality of the Jennings family.

Now, I’m not one to really explicitly comment on someone’s race, but I do think this is worth mentioning. Ron Suskind is a white, male journalist who is middle class. As a result, he enjoys a lot of privilege that Cedric and other African American teenagers that he (Suskind) comes into contact with don’t. While writing A Hope in the Unseen it would have been incredibly easy to treat the Jennings and other black people as if they were merely dramatized characters or specimens to be discussed and observed from a literary standpoint. Suskind could have easily dominated the story even though he was just an observer for years on end to document the journey Cedric is on.

What is notable and commendable about this novel is that Suskind is very much absent from the story. He is able to use his mastery of storytelling to get into the heads of everybody Cedric comes into contact with (including Cedric himself). Instead of being overtly present throughout the story and offering direct or indirect commentary, you don’t see Suskind at all throughout the novel. It’s as if he got the story secondhand in detail. Though he spent several years with the Jennings family, he is excellent at removing himself from the story that unfolds. Suskind allows the people he writes about to exist as complicated, complex people who the reader often ends up developing a strong attachment or other fierce emotions towards.

There were parts of the novel that made me smile, like when Cedric was discussing music with his peers in a summer program or when he was in college. He would relate his own music taste with new friends, and play it on cassette tapes or talk about hip hop/rap artists they should check out. Suskind effortlessly related it to the reader, and this distinct transition is lost the first time around. Suskind makes the interactions Cedric has with peers and adults seem relatable or, at the very least, understandable - an entirely new world is accessible and explained without it feeling overwhelming or listlessly dragging on with no plot.

Although this was written roughly twenty years ago (Cedric attends high school and college in the 1990’s) it still offers a lot of insight into low-income, high crime areas and how difficult it is to fight and beat the odds when next to nobody is willing to help you. show less

This is a PHENOMENAL recounting of the 2008 financial meltdown - the heroes, villains, and Barack Obama, who falls in the middle. The most venal: all the banksters and their lobbyists, especially Blankfein and Dimon; Rahm Emanuel, he-man-woman-hater and Obama's Chief of Staff and old friend; Larry Summers, he-man-woman-hater and self-proclaimed expert on all matters economic; Tim Geithner, a man with no morals, in the pocket of Wall St. In Congress, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, who sold out show more to Wall St by blowing big holes in what would have been the reformation of how they do business. The heroes are the regulators Gary Gensler and Paul Volker; Peter Rouse, who succeeded Rahm Emanuel; Elizabeth Warren, who invented the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau but wasn't trusted to run it; Paul Volker, whose rule separating commercial banks from sketchy and lucrative debt financing was obliterated. The president, newly elected, keeps around his old Chicago campaign buddies and allows them to make disastrous decisions for him. The war between Wall St and Washington devolves into the greedy hands washing each other, and it takes two years for Obama to grasp the reins. Maybe not so shocking should be the pervasive sexism that sidelined talented professional women, as Emanuel and Summers never did conceal their lack of regard for their skills. This 2011 book is so riveting that almost 24 hours of audio, read by the outstanding James Lurie, flies by too quickly. A masterwork, an indictment, and a superb analysis. show less

A Hope in the Unseen is an amazingly well-written, true story of an impoverished, but determined young man. The author, Ron Suskind was a journalist for The Wallstreet Journal in 1994 when he met Cedric Jennings, a black kid in “the most troubled and violent school in the blighted southeast corner of Washington D.C.” What started out as desire to write a newspaper article on a student who was overcoming unbelievable odds, turned into a two year project, as Suskind follows Cedric as he show more graduates high school and embarks on a degree from an Ivy League school.

Cedric struggles against a myriad of problems that make innocent children grow-up way too fast. No environment in Cedric’s life is safe from danger or hostility being raised by a single mom, his father is in prison with his neighborhood overrun by gangs, drugs and violence. His living conditions are unstable; sometimes he is faced with trying to complete his homework in an apartment without heat and sometimes they do not even have an apartment. Cedric’s high school is cut throat complete with metal detectors, security guards, nonexistent textbooks, outdated supplies and unenthusiastic educators. At Frank W. Ballou High School, Cedric’s 4.02 grade point average leaves him a target among his classmates and teachers. His principle feels he is “too proud for his own good” and his fellow classmates despise his successes. Day in and day out, Cedric experiences painful isolation because of his fierce determination to succeed, his “headstrong, introspective and self-directed personality” and thick emotional armor he wears as a shield. Cedric is not unlike many of his fellow classmates in their commitment to survival, but his choices are determined by a strict moral compass, rooted in Christian faith that points him in the direction of college as his way out of his dysfunctional life.

Cedric is blessedly protected and guided by a few key adults in his life, especially his pious and self-sacrificing mother, Barbara. She knows to keep Cedric tethered to a short leash built on “strong physical discipline and tight scheduling”, and she makes sure Cedric is always either at home, school or at church. Struggling against her own impoverished and abusive background, Barbara raises Cedric in their church, believing emphatically in moral orderliness and strict guidelines between right and wrong, which she passes on to Cedric. Another one of Cedric’s most influential allies is a teacher from his high school, Mr. Clarence Taylor, whose individual attention and mentoring help guide Cedric towards his ultimate goal of a prestigious, college education.

Cedric’s acceptance into Brown University, is just the beginning of his very arduous journey. Cedric’s odyssey to Providence, Rhode Island is full of emotional upheavals and self-induced isolations. Cedric lacks an unbelievable amount of both social and scholarly skills, leaving him bursting at the seams. Cedric is so far behind his fellow classmates, that passing his classes requires an unimaginable amount of work. Cedric also faces an impossible struggle when trying to bridge the collective gap at Brown between race and prosperity. Cedric is a confused young man with every odd set against him and Suskind succeeds in taking his readers along through Cedric’s very real growing-pains.

What makes Suskind’s writing so enrapturing is the portrayal of Cedric’s authentic experience. Suskind’s journalistic writing style allows him to unobtrusively observe Cedric and the diverse population of people in Cedric’s life. Unlike other popular fictional books on race, like Running the Rift, this book reads like a novel, but is entrenched in a factual portrayal of real people in a community’s experience fraught with despair and endurance. Suskind checks and re-checks his understanding of events as only a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist can do. Suskind tirelessly interviews and observes Cedric, and his associates to make sure his portrayal of Cedric’s life is accurate. At the end of their campaign, Suskind hands Cedric the manuscript and a red marker, allowing him to correct or omit any untrue portrayals of his story.

This book fails to sugar-coat how very real and exquisitely unfair our country remains in dealing with racial and educational issues. Cedric’s struggle is far more difficult because of the inequality written into American laws pertaining to educational funding. It is exceedingly unfair and unjust to allow poor children in America to receive a sub-par education in comparison to their rich counterparts. Being a brilliant journalist, Suskind is able to highlight these very real issues while delicately portraying one young man’s personal journey of hope in a biased world. “The basic appeal of Cedric’s story was never rooted in his exceptionalism”, it is set by his very real appeal as a relatable, bungling, moody, young man who struggles with the consequences of his choices. Cedric’s unwavering dedication to his faith, family and studies sets him apart from his associates and makes this book, a fantastical read. show less

Reads like a fast-paced novel, but with the added kicker that this is, unfortunately, real stuff. Ron Suskind does a marvelous job of delving into the Obama administration's responses to the financial system fiasco and how it, like 9-11 did for President Bush, gave President Obama a rare opportunity to step up and lead the nation in addressing a critical issue. In Bush's case, energy independence. In Obama's case, significant structural reform of the financial system. Bush didn't even try, show more only asking us to go shopping. Obama did try, but couldn't, or wouldn't, stand up to his own staff people, much less Wall Street and the big banks. As a result, we ended up with watered-down legislation that does not significantly reduce the risk of similar financial crises recurring.

Similarly with health care reform, he didn't stand up to help ensure that real reform of the health care delivery "system" accompanied reform of health care insurance, with its related expansion of coverage. The former is the only way we can significantly address our runaway health care costs. The latter only determines how these costs get spread around among insurance companies and the insured, with taxpayers picking up the slack. As with financial system reform, many of the critical issues simply get kicked farther down the road, to the continued enrichment of existing vested interests. show less