The Sapphire Story
Hawthorne James
YMC: Tell us, Who is Mr. Hawthorne James?
HJ: Well that’s kind of a mouth full, I still consider myself a kid from the south side of Chicago who has been blessed enough to have tremendous, loving, extraordinary parents and grandparents; that I was able to touch and hold. This was my foundation and it gave me a boost to go and do what I wanted to do in life.
YMC: Mr. Hawthorne James choose five powerful words that will always identify your personality so our reader can get to know you?
HJ: Ambitious, dedicated, caring, determinate and take no prisoners.
YMC: "I chuckled! " We understand that you have a wonderful educational background. Can you explain to our readers your life experience at these schools you have attended? Like Holy Cross Jr. College and London Shakespeare Academy in London, England?
JH: Holy Cross was a Junior college in South Bend, Indiana and it’s almost directly across the street from the University Of Notre Dame. When I was in Chicago, I was an honor student. Then my parents moved to Michigan about 30 miles North of South Bend to a village called Vandalia, Michigan; and my grades went into the toilet because I had always attended a Catholic School from kindergarten, and up. Those people pushed me to do well. When I went to a public school they did not expect me or any of the Black American students to do well in school.
YMC: Yes,Black Americans at that time period were having a very difficult time excelling. Please continue.
HJ: How my father found Holy Cross well, my father was very supportive being the type of man that he was. He was on his way to the hospital because he had heart problems and diabetes he was diagnosed with and he was on his way to the hospital. He had taken a back route. He saw a sign saying Holy Cross Junior College is now accepting lay students for the fall. He stopped in there and spoke to a man named Brother John Driscoll and my father convinced him to take me on at Holy Cross. I had been rejected by every school and they accepted me. Holy Cross helped correct my errors and helped restore me academically and I was able to excel again. They placed me back on the right path again. This was a wonderful school for me because if I would have attended a four-year College, I would have been in trouble. Next,
"STRAIGHT TO THE POINT"