My Education Is My Hustle Magazine December/January 2013-2014 | Page 10

"A Fighting Chance"

I had a chance to sit down with Jonathan Johnson, an author who has honestly beat all odds that where against him from birth. He's alive to day to write about it in his new memoir, “A Fighting Chance” geared to be released in early 2014.

Crazie Ray : Where did the inspiration for the title come from?

Mr. Johnson: “ Since birth I’ve had to overcome many obstacles; born to a 15 year old mother, I’m a product of rape. I was adopted by the greatest parents in the world at the age of two, according to CPS (Child Protective Custody) I would only graduate high school due to my lack of motor skills.”

“At the age of fifteen I was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure and at the age of seventeen, after one failed transplant attempt, I received a kidney transplant that I still have to this day. Not only did I graduate high school, but I completed my undergraduate degree and went on to complete graduate school.”