AS A BOY, Carmen Garner was confronted by every conceivable human ill —poverty, drugs, sickness, violence, racism— He moved seventeen times, between relatives in the projects and foster care. He lost all of those he held most dear to AIDS, crack cocaine and incarceration. From this, Garner drew not despair, but strength. Confronted by ignorance, he turned to knowledge, the first in his family to go to college.
AS A MAN, Carmen Garner grew to discover that his character –battle hardened–could be used as a tool to reach out, to connect with young people. As a Public School teacher in inner-city Washington DC, Garner learned the power of his hard earned perspective, recognizing the raw potential in his students, and teaching them, above all things, that they have worth and talent and ability—the future made sacred in his classroom. Garner’s remarkable journey is told herein, in words, pictures and paintings.