Welcome to Litsy!

My name is Yohancé.
It rhymes with Beyoncé, starts with a Y.
YOH-HON-SAY.
Like too many young people, I grew up amid poverty, homelessness, gang violence and drugs. But unlike many others, I found success. I reached for the skies – literally – and became a multi-decorated graduate of the famed Air Force Academy.
At age fourteen, I ran away, but not from home—because I never had one to begin with. At school I participated in every sport, club, and after-school activity, so that when the other kids finally left, I could settle in for the night by my locker. I spent my childhood dealing with gangs, drugs, violence, and my mother's mental illness, but the real enemy was always poverty.
This is The Blind Side meets The Pursuit of Happyness, except this time the father is just a boy. I drag my little brother through hell with me, ready to sacrifice myself to keep him alive. Now that the story is complete, I have written it all down in this memoir: Underprivileged Overachiever: A Crenshaw Story.
My memoir tells a unique story with candor, irreverent humor, bad jokes, and open-hearted sentiment. I recall the colorful people – both good and bad – who played important roles in my life. I explain how a child was forced very quickly to become an adult – and learned it the hard way.
My life story has been the subject of several media stories, including The Los Angeles Times. But Underprivileged Overachiever: A Crenshaw Story gives me the opportunity in 250 pages to share the deepest details of my life that I have never shared before.