In the book, The Other Wes Moore, two boys sharing the same name grow up in similar living situations. The boys resemble each other in terms of both being fatherless and growing up in rough areas where a life of crime and gang involvement is almost inevitable (according to the University of Michigan, only 76% of African American's who attend high school graduate while the others are most likely to spend the rest of their lives involved with drugs). This fate was not predetermined for both Wes Moore's due to the simple fact that they did not experience entirely similar upbringings. While the social environment in both cases exposed the boys to a life of crime the influence of direct role models, especially family had an even stronger impact.
