The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: Features

Kevin Williams '09 spent most of his childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., before moving to Jamaica. "I heard gunshots and parties while trying to go to sleep," Williams said of his Brooklyn home.

Kevin Williams '09 is a Jamaican from Brooklyn. He aspires to be Superman, sprints like the wind, and has a lot of shoes.

He has been called Macalester's bridge between multiculturalism and internationalism.

When he changed homelands, Williams said, the most immediate differences was going from no pets for years to being able to have 23 dogs, and realizing that 20 Jamaican dollars were only worth 50 cents.

In Jamaica, he dropped from 9th to 7th grade. "The education system is supposedly better in Jamaica than in New York City," Williams said.

Williams said that he's here at Macalester because the University of the West Indies is a dead end unless you want to be a lawyer or a doctor.

Williams sees the availability of opportunity throughout the American education system as a key asset.

When I asked him about life in Brooklyn, Williams said, "I heard gunshots and parties while trying to go to sleep."

He lived on a block completely surrounded by projects, but the block itself was almost suburban. I was surprised to hear that this didn't create much conflict.

"There seemed to be an understanding that you can't do [vandalism, drugs, violence] here," and a mutual respect between the very different communities.

Williams's dad left the family when Williams was three. He grew up with a strong-willed single mother who worked as a secretary and took him with her to New York University when she went back for her undergraduate degree.

Williams said they never tried to run his father down for child support since he could barely support himself.

"It was inspiring for me because even though he wasn't there, I managed to learn from his mistakes," Williams said of his father.

When Williams transferred to a middle school in Manhattan, he got his first real experience with "white culture," and racism.

"The principal wasn't fond of black students coming out ahead of white students," Williams said. "I'd raise my hand when no one else was, and they'd never call on me."

Continued...

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