Ben Carson Tells of His Journey from Poverty

Vol. 19, No. 33

June 8, 2000

Commencement 2000

Ben Carson tells of his journey from poverty

Benjamin S. Carson went from an angry street fighter in Detroit to become director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Carson, who attributes his escape from the poverty of his youth to the support and love of his mother, is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including an honorary degree from UD in 1997.

His autobiography, Gifted Hands, chronicles the road from a broken home and poor self-esteem to his life today. His second book, Think Big, elaborates on his philosophy of success in life, and his newest book, The Big Picture, offers an in-depth look at a professional surgeon's life, as well as his perspectives on priorities, race, society, success and living out a life of faith in a complex world.

He and his wife, Candy, created a program known as the Carson Scholars Fund, for students in grades four through 12 in Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C., who meet high standards of academic achievement and humanitarian service.

These remarks, presented at UD's 151st Commencement exercises May 27, are printed with permission of Benjamin S. Carson Sr., M.D.

Congratulations to all the graduates. You know that a Commencement builds dreams. I think back on a time when I was in your seat and also even much further back than that, when I was a youngster sometimes spending hours sitting in the hallways of Detroit's Receiving Hospital or Boston City Hospital.

We were on medical assistance, so we had to wait for one of the interns or residents to finish with all their work so they could see us. But, I used to entertain myself by listening to the PA system: "Dr. Jones, Dr. Jones to the emergency room; Dr. Johnson, Dr. Johnson to the clinic." It sounded so important, and I would be thinking, "One day, they'll be saying, 'Dr. Carson, Dr. Carson to the operating room.'" But, of course, nowadays we have beepers, so I still don't get to hear it. But, it was wonderful having that dream. You know, you have to have something that inspires you to go on.

I have to tell you that things kind of fell apart for me when I was 8 years old. My parents got divorced. My mother was one of 24 children and got married at age 13. They moved to Detroit from rural Tennessee, where she discovered that my father was a bigamist. (I was telling that story at a commencement at the University of Utah. Nobody thought it was that strange. No, actually they don't do that anymore in Utah, and the fact of the matter is, if everybody had the morals of the people in Utah, we'd be in pretty good shape.)

But, at any rate, things kind of fell apart, and we moved to Boston. (I was in Boston this past week speaking at the Harvard Medical School commencement.) But, things weren't so good while we were living there. We lived in one of the tenements. We became very, very familiar with poverty. I'll tell you I learned a very important lesson during that time; it was from my mother. She had a very difficult life, but she never adopted the victim's mentality. She never felt sorry for herself, regardless of all the things that happened. And, that was a good thing. The problem was she never felt sorry for us, either.

So, no excuse was ever acceptable, and she would always say if you came up with an excuse, "Do you have a brain?" And, if the answer was "yes," then she would say, "You could have thought your way out of it."

Well, eventually we moved back to Detroit; poverty was rampant. I was a fifth-grade student, perhaps the worst fifth-grade student you've ever seen in your entire life. My idea of a good day was when I got somebody else kicked out of class. Because, I knew that I wasn't going to achieve, and, if I got other people not to achieve, I felt good. You know, misery loves company. And, my nickname was "Dummy." We were having an argument