Real Life Fears During Jim Crow Era Compound Horror for Incarcerated Children in ‘The Reformatory’
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez
It was all about the balance.
You didn’t think of it that way, though. All you were interested in was riding your bike with the big kids, pedaling without training wheels, and an adult holding you up.
You got a lot of skinned knees, but you could see the goal, and one day, zoom, you rode that bike all by yourself. So, now read “Activate Your Greatness” by Alex Toussaint and find that determination again.
He had what seemed like a privileged life.
The son of Haitian immigrants, Toussaint grew up in a stable, middle-class household with both parents involved in his upbringing and with education at the forefront. Alas, Toussaint fell in with the wrong crowd as a pre-teen, and his father, who was disabled by then, was unable to claw the boy back by himself.
Because of that, Toussaint was sent to “a military school in what he referred to as the middle of Nowhere, Missouri…” which made him hate his father. Nevertheless, he grew there and learned, but he eventually decided to force the school to expel him – which landed him back under his father’s thumb.
He was accepted at college, but he quit that, too. After another battle with his dad, Toussaint stormed out of his parent’s home to stay with a friend until another friend offered him a job at a new company called Flywheel.
Intrigued by the stationary bikes and spinning classes, Toussaint began to dream. He studied the classes and instructors, taught himself things he figured were important, and asked for a job as a spinning class instructor. From there, he was noticed by an up-and-coming business called Peleton…
To succeed requires confidence, Toussaint says. It means being “comfortable with… failing.” Success is knowing how “to turn your pain into power.” It’s being grateful for things big and small, seeing yourself as you hope to be, being unabashedly authentic, and knowing how to tame distractions.
“And once we glow internally,” Toussaint says, “we start to shine externally. It is impossible to ignore.”
Sometimes, when everything is in pieces around your feet, you just need to take a deep breath and remember that it’s all about the hustle. “Activate Your Greatness” is a great example.
From mistakes to milestones, Toussaint tells a dual story that readers will find quite interesting. First, he offers his memoir, filled with bootstrap-pulling and determination, but also a nod to the “angels” who gave him boosts along the way.
Surely, this happens all the time, but Toussaint makes it feel fresh, exciting, and unique.
The other, much smaller part of this book is a business memoir. Still a Peleton instructor, Toussaint was there at the launch, and he writes about how he does his job.
This will be of particular interest to anyone fascinated by an unusual workplace.
If you want a different kind of memoir that brings advice along for the ride, this book could be what you’re looking for. Find “Activate Your Greatness” and put the pedal to your mettle.
“Activate Your Greatness” by Alex Toussaint, c.2023, Henry Holt, $27.99, 245 pages.
