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Michael Hall
Race & Social Justice
6/6/16
Intellectual Biography
I grew up in an upper middle class family in Long Beach California with a younger
brother and an older sister raised by two well known and extremely successful District Attorneys
as parents. As a really young boy, I learned majority of my intelligence from talking with my
parents and asking them questions about the endless things I encountered day to day, as well as
observing their behavior. With my family is where I learned my grassroots knowledge about how
to treat all things and yourself. My intelligence began shifting in other ways as early as
Elementary school, the intelligence I was mainly experiencing was social intelligence. This is
where I began to learn how to interact with people and learned the new social structure we were
being programmed to follow. Throughout elementary school and middle school I do not consider
myself to have learned anything through the classes I had taken, and I would put High School in
that category as well, however the difference in High School was I was of the age to truly free
think. I decided what was right and wrong and I would learn from my mistakes, all through my
own efforts. As far as the educational material that was bing taught to us, I believe it served of
no good use to me as well as thousands of other students because the information was made to
just be regurgitated with no emphases on true mastery and understanding of the subject matter.
During my middle school and high school years Is where I was able to get the privilege
of learning about life through a completely different lens. And that was the lens of Firefighting,
and my career goal to be a Firefighter. During these years I was extremely lucky because several

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firefighters working for the Long Beach Fire Department took me under their wing and allowed
me to ride along with them at their stations, participate in training, and including me in their
camaraderie. Through the countless hours spent at the numerous stations throughout the city, is
where my knowledge of self as well as knowledge for the realities of the world began to
blossom. The one Long Beach Fireman that I attribute a lot of my intellectual growth to is
Firefighter John Wright with the Long Beach Fire Department. Aside from being an outstanding
truck fireman John was also my neighbor and my good friend. It was with John at Fire station 7
in North Long Beach where I spent most of my ride alongs and conducted the most hands on
training. It is impossible to pinpoint exactly what I learned while spending so much time at the
station because it goes much further than facts about equipment and procedures. As a young teen,
being exposed to death and the sad realities of life forced me to look at life in a different light.
And made me really realize the preciousness of life and to always enjoy the good things you
have in life and the people you enjoy because someday we must all face our mortality. Learning
this at such a young age made my interactions with everything I came in contact with that much
more meaningful.
It was through my desire to be a firefighter that I met my two best friends Luc Wechsung
and Diego Ramos during my sophomore year of high school. We met in the Long Beach Fire
Departments explorer program called Long Beach Search and Rescue. The reason why my
friendships with Luc and Diego are so influential in my intellectual development is because
together we all learned about the realities of the social world and were able to learn from each
others mistakes and experiences. Another reason is because all three of us were extremely
passionate about reaching our career goals as firemen more than anything else on this earth.

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Through out our times of friendship we are constantly pushing each other to better ourselves
physically and mentally. Being friends with them has taught me how to always have a great time
where ever I am all while staying motivated to complete my goals. Luc and Diego continue to be
influential parts in my life and the learning never stops when we get together, we always share
our experiences to help each other grow as people.
During my sophomore year of high school I began learning more and more about
spirituality and the spirituality of my African Ancestors. This is when I learned about Rastafari
and the spiritual movement which goal is to connect Black people around the world to their
ancestors homeland of Africa as well as setting out a lifestyle which will help benefit all living
things upon the earth. Another Spirituality which I was exposed to around this time was that of
Buddhism. I became extremely intrigued about these two spiritual philosophies and began
learning as much as I could about them until I was comfortable with trying them both out.
Through Living the righteous way as Buddhists and Rastas do, I truly learned the power of
positivity and the real effects it can bring forth when it comes to changing things for the better.
Now I am able to bring peace and positivity with me where ever I go.
Once I turned 18, my intellect became even more diverse in the sense that I was now
being perceived by our society as an adult black male and what helped to fuel my intellect was
that I was fully aware of the prejudices and stereotypes which would follow. I am also half white,
so I not only experienced prejudices from whites but also from other Black people who did not
feel as though I was black enough to be considered black. However, I learned that you can most
definitely learn from the negativity that is thrown at you and that is what I have currently been
dealing with and trying to overcome daily. Another obstacle I am faced with is being half white

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alongside being Black. Because I am of the two races in American history who have the most
tension. The two races are seen as opposite to one another, leaving me in the middle of it all.
Where I have really benefited intellectually through these events is by doing research and
learning about the history behind the turmoil between the two races I am a member of. As well as
attempting to try and bring the two races closer together.
Currently I am fusing all of the intellectual skills I mentioned above into my daily life in
order to grow mentally and further my knowledge constantly. You can never be done learning in
this life, and every day you have the potential to raise your intellect in almost everything you do.
That is one of the most important things I have learned throughout my time on earth. It is
important because it reminds us that learning and growing intellectually is what you make out of
it and access to more knowledge will always be available.