Up from the Projects: An Autobiography (Hoover Institution Press Publication) (Volume 600) - Hardcover

Nationally syndicated columnist and prolific author Walter E. Williams recalls some of the highlights and turning points of his life. From his lower middle class beginnings in a mixed but predominantly black neighborhood in West Philadelphia to his department chair at George Mason University, Williams tells an “only in America” story of a life of achievement.

Williams describes the influences of his early years—such as the teachers who demanded his best efforts and made no excuses for him—and tells how his two years in the army became an important part of his maturation process, in spite of the racism he encountered. He recounts his early time getting established in Los Angeles—getting his B.A., going on to grad school at UCLA, and beginning his teaching career. And he tells how his subsequent move to the Urban Institute in Washington opened his eyes to how decisions are really made in D.C.

When he recounts ultimately accepting his professorship appointment at George Mason University, the author marvels that “I never thought I’d be working there thirty years later.” And throughout the book, Willams refers to the immeasurable contribution of his wife of 48 years, who shared his vision through hard work and love.

 In this very frank and compelling autobiography, Walter E. Williams sets the record straight on his very public life, and in the process discusses some of the past in general— contrasting growing up black and poor in the 1940s and 1950s to the same today. As Williams says early on in his story, “just because you know where a person ended up in life doesn’t necessarily provide you with any certainties as to where he might have begun.” In Up From the Projects, he recounts many achievements that would have been unfathomable by his ancestors, underscoring his belief that, unlike so many other societies around the world, in America one needn’t start out at, or anywhere near, the top in order to eventually reach it.

Williams describes his humble beginnings growing up in a lower middle class, mixed neighborhood in West Philadelphia in the 1940s, raised by a strong and demanding mother who held high academic aspirations for her children. He recalls the teachers in middle school and later in high school who influenced him the most—teachers who always gave him an honest assessment of his learning and accepted no excuses. In describing his army experience, Williams recounts incidents of racial discrimination but stresses that his time in the army was a valuable part of his maturation process. He tells of his time “getting established” in Los Angeles—struggling happily through the first years of his marriage, getting his B.A. at Cal State LA and then his graduate degree at UCLA. As he describes his academic career, moving from teaching one class a week at Los Angeles City College to his eventual department chair at George Mason University, we find him overcoming one obstacle after another, accepting help when it is offered but never asking for special treatment, and ultimately illustrating that in America everything is indeed possible.

He leaves the reader with a key bit of advice, passed on by his stepfather and reflected throughout his own life: a lot of life is luck and chance and you never know when the opportunity train is going to come along. Be packed and ready to hop on board.