Chapter 8

The Other Wes Moore: Chapter 8

The chapter started off with Mary the other Wes's mother, watching the evening news, when a story caught her attention. Four masked men broke into a jewelry store and ordered everyone to get down. One of the people in the store was Sergeant Bruce Prothero, a veteran of the Baltimore City police department who worked as a security guard at the jewelry store. He got a second job as a security guard to help support his wife and five children. The masked men stole $438,000 worth of jewelry and watches. Once they had what they wanted, they ran out to the getaway car. Prothero ran after them, when one of the masked men pull out a gun before he was shot three times at point blank range. He was able to stumble back toward the jewelry store but died before police got to the scene. Police were extremely determined to catch the suspects since they had killed a fellow officer. A break in the case came quickly when one of the suspects tried to sell some of the stolen watches to a drug dealer that had a wiretap on his phone. When police tracked him down, he admitted to being involved but insisted he was not the shooter. The next day, another suspect was caught, but he also insisted he was not the shooter, and that he had been unarmed. Mary saw the faces of her two sons On the television screen. Police search Mary’s house and question her about where her sons were. She has not heard from them in days, and police grudgingly accept her explanation, but do not leave the Moore family alone. A cousin’s wedding is disrupted a few days later, and all of the family members questioned. Unbeknownst to the family or the police, Tony and Wes had escaped to an uncle’s house in Philadelphia. They catch Tony first, as he walks out the door of his uncle’s house, followed by Wes, when he comes down the stairs a moment later. They’re arrested and put in jail along with the other two suspects. Tony and the other two perpetrators were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Wes insisted he was not there the day of the robbery and murder, so he took his case to trial. The jury found Wes guilty and sentenced him to life in prison without parole. “The guards placed their hands on Wes and shuffled him away.The hands of the state would stay on him for the rest of his life. Wes could finally see his future. Meanwhile the author Wes, completed his junior college requirements and becoming a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve, and returned to Baltimore. He had been accepted at Johns Hopkins University, much to the delight of his mother, who was living there again. Though he was not originally sold on the idea of attending Johns Hopkins, his adviser at Valley Forge put him in contact with the assistant director of admissions and Wes agreed to have lunch with him. He challenged Wes’s assumptions and perceptions of the school, and encouraged him to apply.Wes applied thinking he wouldn’t get in because his standardized test scores were lower than the school’s admission standards. However, months later Wes received noticed that not only had he been accepted. While at Johns Hopkins, Wes interned with Mayor Schmoke, the mayor of Baltimore. One day, the mayor asked Wes what he planned to do after he graduated. Wes didn’t really know. Schmoke talked to Wes about the Rhodes scholarship, how he had received it, along with other influential people in the United States, such as President Bill Clinton. He encouraged Wes to apply. Wes was preparing to study abroad in South Africa for the semester, Wes arrived in Langa, South Africa, in January, and was taken to what would be his home for the next six months. He was greeted warmly by “Mama,” and her two children, Zinzi and Viwe, who were members of the Xhsoa tribe. During his time there, he learned a lot from his host family, including the concept of ubuntu, the Xhosa word for humanity. Ubuntu, a way of life supported by their leaders, like Nelson Mandela, helped Wes frame his entire experience in South Africa.While in South Africa, Wes became good friends with Zinzi. A few weeks before Wes was to return to America, Zinzi explained that he was also about to embark on a journey. His journey would be into manhood, which was a four-week trip into the wilderness with Xhosa elders. When young men go on the trip they are circumcised to symbolize the removal of childish cloaks. As they spend the rest of the weeks healing, they learn the history of the Xhosa people and lands. They also learn the values of good husbands and fathers. Upon their return, they dress all in white and are treated to a large feast. They are treated as men, with respect and admiration from their families and community.Though Wes could not imagine the painful ritual Zinzi was about to undergo, when he saw a young man in the village dressed in all white, he understood where the man’s confidence came from and respected the journey. Wes understood that even though he did not have the same journey, he was also on the road to becoming a man. 

This chapter relates to the book, Outliers because it explained how the author became successful and the will power he demonstrated, by not giving up.