Holla Back...But Listen First: A Life Guide for Young Adults

By Mister Mann Frisby

Holla Back...But Listen First is a motivational book for young adults featuring inspiring anecdotes from celebrities and unknowns alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781617920189

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Holla Back But Listen First…A Life Guide for Young Adults

Copyright © 2008 Mister Mann Frisby

Skye Larieux Publishing, Inc.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

All right reserved under international and Pan-American copyright conventions.

Send all book orders, appearance, and interview requests to:

[e-mail]

Cover Design: Keith McCrea, [e-mail]

Cover Photography: Whitney Thomas, [e-mail]

Cover Models: Ramsey Chew III, Kiara Williams, Saul Montgomery, Cassie Poindexter, Jonathan Tate, Kia Bizzle, Devenie Young, Hasan Brown.

Content Editor: Renee Lucas Wayne, [e-mail]

Typesetting: Shawna A. Grundy, [e-mail]

Back Cover Headshots: Salt, Common, Mo’Nique, John Legend, India.Arie, Kirk Franklin, Bev Kearney, Bernard Hopkins, Jill Scott, Taraji Henson.

Published in the United States by Skye Larieux Publishing, Inc.

Printed in Canada by Hignell Printers

ISBN: 9781617920189 (E-Book Edition)  

props

I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for making me who I am. I wake up every day happy that He blessed me to be Mister Mann Frisby. I have never wanted to be anyone else and for that I am eternally grateful.

I am thankful for my talent, my ambition, my passion and for the fact that God always ‘makes a way out of no way’ for me. (If you don’t know you better ask somebody!)

I am thankful for my mother Joyce, aka Starr, who instilled in me the importance of literacy. Because of you I know that I can never read too many books.

I am thankful for my late Godmother Mae Frances Ligon, for showing me how to work hard and how to take care of myself. You saved my life.

I am thankful for all of my brothers and sisters - Vashti, Larneice, Terek, Joycelyn, and Malcolm. You inspire me in your own unique ways.

I am thankful for my first track coach, Mr. John Hubbard. I can never repay you for taking me out of the confines of my South Philly projects, both physically and mentally. You and the crew (Wilson, Thomas, Brooks) have been true role models for me.

I am thankful for my constant support system, namely Bev Kearney, Jill Scott, Jenice Armstrong, Ed Malet, Patricia (Bumi) Ogundana,  Dionne Craig, Sheka Bartley & Nichole Bartley-Govan, and Jamilah Leonard.

I am thankful for my staff who worked so hard and diligently to put this book together. Renee Lucas Wayne (Editor), Whitney Thomas (Photographer), Shawna Grundy (Typesetter), and Keith McCrea (Designer) are the truth!

I am thankful for all of my Brook Panthers. There will never be another school like our Castle on the Hill. 

I am thankful for the young men of PhatBack Mentor Program for keeping me on my toes and allowing me to be a positive resource in your lives. Stay encouraged in all of your endeavors, and never forget how powerful and awesome you all are. Last but not least,

I am thankful and grateful for my beautiful, God-sent daughter Skye Larieux. You are the motivation behind every good and positive thing in my life. I am so happy to see you blossoming into a wonderful little girl who works hard and loves to read. I fell in love with you the millisecond I saw you, and that love has only grown. Keep God first and you will go far. (You’ll go really, really far if you run the 400-meters in under 54 seconds by 12th grade. Then daddy won’t have to pay for college. But that’s the subject for another book. :)

For Skye…

One day soon you’ll be able to soak up all of the wisdom and inspiration in these pages. Until then, clean your room, do your homework, and stop drinking all of daddy’s juice every time I leave the room…

Introduction…

Now that you’ve  flipped back and forth between the front cover and back of the book a few times it’s time to start reading— because I put this book together just for you.

Before I set out on a mission to interview some of my favorite people, I thought of all of the young men and women in the world who are in need of inspiration and guidance.

Some of you see reading as a chore. Others are thrilled to crack open a new book. No matter how much you do–or don’t–read, I promise you will see yourself reflected in these pages.

If you consider yourself a warrior in the midst of trying circumstances, you’ll relate to April Holmes. If you’ve messed up in the past, but now feel you’re on the road to redemption, you’ll understand what Bernard Hopkins has to say. If you’re mad at the world and always seem to attract negative attention, India. Arie has a word or two just for you.

Young ladies, do yourself a favor and don’t just read the chapters on the names that you recognize. If you do, you’ll miss out on the passion and wisdom of women like Bev Kearney and Amber Noble. Fellas, the same goes for you. Please make sure you check out the ‘female chapters’ as well. Doing so will give you a greater level of appreciation for your mother, aunts, teachers, and girlfriends. (I know the young women will read the chapters featuring men, so I don’t even have to say it.)

Since you’re itching to turn the page and get to it, I won’t keep you any longer. As always, be inspired, be faithful, be encouraged and stay strong!

~ Mister Mann Frisby

Chapter 1

April Holmes has made a name for herself as a world-class athlete. The New Jersey native made headlines in 2004  when she won a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. She continued her rise in the sport of track & field by setting two world records in the 100 and 200 meter dashes in 2006. A graduate of Norfolk State University, Holmes founded her own foundation to help people with physical and developmental disabilities. As the first female to be endorsed by the Jordan brand, she is a beacon of tenacity, determination and resilience.

A Leg Up On the Competition

It was January of  2001. I was boarding a Regional Rail train on my way to  New York. The conductor decided that he was ready to go and started to pull away without shutting the door. I don’t know what happened next, but I ended up under the platform and on the track. The train came to a stop on my leg.

I remember laying there singing every church song that I could think of. I can’t remember all of the songs that I sang but I do remember singing Amazing Grace. As I was singing, I felt at peace. There were huge piles of snow on the track. I remember grabbing handfuls of snow and making snowballs. I threw snowballs to pass the time because I couldn’t believe what was happening.

I was awake and talking to everyone the entire time I was on the track. Initially I felt pain, but the paramedics gave me medicine to take it away. I kept telling them to hurry up and get the train off my leg. They made several attempts to lift it but nothing worked. Eventually they went with my first idea —to start the train up and go backwards.

I was a little delirious in the ambulance, but I remember someone asking if they were able to get my leg.  I also remember going into the emergency room and being highly upset that they were going to cut my new GAP pullover to remove it from my body. It was black and really, really nice. I had just got it during the Christmas season. All I could think of at the time was if there was a way I could take the jacket off so they wouldn’t cut it. They were trying to save my life, and I was worrying about how to save my jacket!

They did the surgery. I remember waking up and being pushed down the hallway by a tall black guy who told me that he was taking me to see my family. By that time, I was really concerned about my mom. I knew that I would be fine, but I was worried about how she was going to handle everything. When I got in the room I kept telling her that it would be OK.

I remember asking why I couldn’t feel my leg but my cousin didn’t answer me.  I had a neck brace on so I couldn’t see down to my feet. I asked again and she said, You’ll be fine. Everyone was standing there looking at me like I was in a coffin. Since no one would tell me anything, I lifted my head up and looked down. There was a big white cast on my leg but my foot wasn’t there. My family hurried and tried to push me back down, but I had already seen for myself that I didn’t have a foot. I thought about how I would never be able to run or play basketball again. I could tell that my mother was really breaking down on the inside, but trying to hold it together on the outside for me. I fell asleep almost immediately afterwards.

I always tell people that when I woke up later it seemed like the sunniest day of my life. To me it seemed like the sun was shining just a little bit brighter. It was clearly because I had a new lease on life. I wasn’t sure what path I was going to be on, but I knew that I had a new road to travel.

My hospital room was a happy place. I made it known that my room was not a place to cry and be sad, but a place to be happy. I would not allow anyone to stand over me like I was dead. I had so many visitors over the next few weeks. My story had made the news, so many people who I didn’t even know were coming to see me and wish me well. This one man and lady came from Delaware. I didn’t know either of them from a can of paint. They said they came because they were so touched by my spirit when they saw me on television. I also got a visit from Pat Croce. The doctor who did my surgery, Dr. Delong, had done surgery on him after he’d had his accident. He told me he’d heard about what happened, and  he was  encouraged by my story.

Not long after surgery, Dr. Delong gave me a magazine that featured disabled athletes. I didn’t know anyone who was disabled at the time. I remember thinking that I had only lost my leg a few days ago, and here he was telling me I should run.

I had run track for various track clubs from the age of five through high school. Then I ran track for Norfolk State and made All-American as part of the 4x400 relay. Competing under coach Laverne Sweat was one of the greatest experiences of my life. She was a renowned coach and she looked out for me. However, when I graduated in 1996 with a degree in communications and began working at a telecommunications company, I’d had no plans to compete again.

My cousin pointed to different athletes in the magazine and told me I could beat this girl and I could beat that girl. The more I flipped through the magazine, I saw that I had purpose. I knew that there was life after my injury.

Not long after that I asked Dr. Delong if he could have saved my leg. He told me that when he saw me laying there on the operating table he could tell by my body structure that I was an athlete. ‘I could have tried to save your leg,’ he said, ‘but I knew that there would be life for you after amputation.’ He asked me if I was upset and I told him absolutely not. I thanked him for saving my life.

I went home in February and got fitted for my prosthetic leg in March. Not long after I got my leg I checked into a rehab facility so they could teach me how to run.  For me, it was also important not to walk like I was handicapped. My therapist Andrea was really good at teaching me motor skills and how to walk correctly. By the end of April I was running on the treadmill.

My first track meet as an amputee was in Florida in 2002. There was not one single person in the stadium who knew I was. My first race was against the woman who had won the gold medal in the 2000 Paralympics. I placed second,  but I came within 10 meters of beating her. I felt really good after the first meet. In 2003 I broke the world record in 100