“I grew up with nothing,” he said. “I was born with nothing. I still have nothing. I will never have nothing. Forty-five years of living the way I have lived, I like ‘nothing.’ No one can take ‘nothing’ from you.” - Willie Bosket
“When you’re in hell,” he said, “you can’t predict the future.” -Willie Bosket
Who is Willie Bosket? Bosket was a genius. But one would never learn of his off the chart IQ until he is evaluated under negative circumstances. Jailed for two violent crimes (murder) at the age of 15. Willie thereafter was convicted of several felonies and under the habitual offender law received 25-life. While in prison Bosket was sentenced to a number of life sentences and is spending the the rest of his life in solitary confinement behind bars covered in plexi-glass. On the rare occasions that Willie receives a visitor he is sprawled across the gates and chained by his arms and legs against the the bars leaving little to no mobility.
If we trace Willie's family tree we will see that his great-great grandfather, Aaron Bosket was a humble sharecropper and a deacon. His son, however, Pud Bosket (known as a notorious "bad nigger" in his county), was the complete opposite. He had no respect for authority, sold moonshine, and served on chain gangs for robbery and assault. As did his son, James and his grandson, Butch (Willie's father). At 8 years old Butch's mother gave him a quarter and put him on a subway train telling him to never return. He was found days later asleep on the train by authorities and was put in a reform school. Butch later went on to murder two men. While incarcerated, he became the first U.S. prison inmate to receive a Ph.D and designation of Phi Beta Kappa. (It was found that Willie Bosket along with other Bosket men in his family, had an above average or genius IQ). Butch later died during a shootout with police officers labeled a "murder-suicide" because his girlfriend had also died in the incident.
If we trace Willie's family tree we will see that his great-great grandfather, Aaron Bosket was a humble sharecropper and a deacon. His son, however, Pud Bosket (known as a notorious "bad nigger" in his county), was the complete opposite. He had no respect for authority, sold moonshine, and served on chain gangs for robbery and assault. As did his son, James and his grandson, Butch (Willie's father). At 8 years old Butch's mother gave him a quarter and put him on a subway train telling him to never return. He was found days later asleep on the train by authorities and was put in a reform school. Butch later went on to murder two men. While incarcerated, he became the first U.S. prison inmate to receive a Ph.D and designation of Phi Beta Kappa. (It was found that Willie Bosket along with other Bosket men in his family, had an above average or genius IQ). Butch later died during a shootout with police officers labeled a "murder-suicide" because his girlfriend had also died in the incident.
At age 9 Willie wound up in the same reform school as his father. At age 15 he went on to commit the two murders that prompted "the Willie Bosket Law". This law allows children as young as 13 to be tried as adults.
I believe Willie and Butch for that matter could have been on the opposite side of those bars and gone on to great things had they been guided properly. Or it could be some kind of Bosket boys curse that could not be avoided.
Or maybe, sometimes intelligence does not supersede common sense.
Author James Baldwin told an audience at a benefit for the reform school attended by the Boskets: "These are all our children. We will profit by, or pay for, whatever they become.''
Or maybe, sometimes intelligence does not supersede common sense.
Author James Baldwin told an audience at a benefit for the reform school attended by the Boskets: "These are all our children. We will profit by, or pay for, whatever they become.''
For more on Willie Bosket please visit:
*As of March 2011, Bosket (NYSDOCS inmate number 84A6391) was housed in a special cell at Woodbourne Correctional Facility. He will not be eligible for parole until 2062. (Source, Wikipedia)
For Shannon "ShaBayBay" McKinney. If we all would have just paid more attention to the cries from your heart.
Missing you,
-LolaBee
We must protect our youth from becoming a statistic. We must challenge them and keep them engaged in education and activities of cultural enrichment. Unity in the community!!! That's the only way change can be made!!!!!
ReplyDelete@Sdsaul2881 Absolutely! its just so sad to see that there was absolutely no one that loved him. No one nurturing enough to be his friend and his mentor.
ReplyDeleteI have added more sites to this blog for your referral.
Thank you for reading!!!!
You’re very welcome. Thank you for bringing this to light. You are one of the reasons his story will not go unheard!
ReplyDeletePeople may not want to believe it, because a few people fight through. Environment, plays a very major role. The things we learn, the values we hold, at home are sometimes superseded by "fitting in". Or it could be plain bad guidance. Either way, if you those Bosket men in a different setting, things may have turned out otherwise. I don't doubt that within different circles certain things are accepted. As long as murder, robbery etc is acceptable in the "hood" things will stay the same.
ReplyDeleteStyles you made it. Schizophrenia played a major role. The odds were against them from the start. Butch Bosket was actually reformed to a degree, until he was placed back in the very same environment that contributed in his self destruction. ANOTHER question is why did the maternal factors in their lives give up on them at such an extremely early age?
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of hereditary mental illness in the world. Chances are his mother knew that he was predetermined to follow the same behaviors as his father, and she let him go out of fear. I can't justify it, though - since all the good mothers I know would be willing to sacrifice their lives to save those of their children. He could have been a great Black philosopher - and we need plenty to continue our history. This is an unfortunate story that probably exists out of many. We've got to change this somehow...
ReplyDeleteHis story touches my heart, I have never heard of him so this was a learning experience that I will share. I read 1 of the links and at the end he is speaking of they would have to kill him so that he can rest forever, maybe just maybe that is what he would like to happen so that he doesn't have to spend the rest of his life in prison. In some of these stories the parents are present and the children do turn out this way also, I have always wondered why that happens. Any thoughts ......
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading Lovie. Please click on "join site" so that you can be apprised of any future posts. Take time out to read the previous posts as well. One never knows why these kids turn out to be who they are. Sometimes you can come from a stable home and still go left instead of right. This isn't a problem that will disappear but hopefully there are ways for us to notice these signs and intercept any destructive behavior before they get out of hand.
ReplyDelete-LolaBee