When I was removed from my mother's custody and became a ward of the court through the foster-care system, I was required to meet with a psychiatrist. One time the doctor had a private meeting with my foster mother and informed her that, in his professional opinion, because of my extended exposure to a violent and desperate world, there was little hope of my becoming "normally adjusted." And he believed that since the law of averages was against me, I would most likely end up in prison or would commit suicide.
But what if we, like Colin Powell, used our negative environment to make us strive for something better?