i worked intensively with nasir's brother kyrie but we'd often bring nasir with us on the various outings and adventures with go on in philadelphia. from a very young age nasir had an explosive temper, was constantly in trouble in his school and neighborhood. there were no programs that addressed the kind of needs that he had. after i moved away from philly to africa and then down to d.c., he slowly transitioned from the formal system to the streets. he dropped out of school, no one followed up on it, he entered the juvenile justice system and cycled through that until tragically he was shot to death on the very street i used to pick him up when he was a little boy with an unforgettablely brilliant smile. the second story i want to tell you is about michael here right to my left. as i said, i met michael and his family when they were living out of plastic bags, literally out of hefty bags at a homeless shelter at 14th and n street, eight blocks away from the white house. we started going to the library together and i became his big brother. though not formally with the big brother, big si