His autobiography is eye-opening

Tracy's autobiography, "I Am the New Black', is startling, not just for what it reveals about him, but also the culture he grew up in. It was published in 2009, five years before his accident, so I'd be curious to see how that affected his outlook on life.

I listened to the audiobook instead of reading the book, which from what I understand, is very different. The audiobook is read by Morgan himself, and is labeled as 'An Adaptation.'

When he talks about the culture he grew up in, it's a wonder how anyone gets out of there intact. On one hand there's the blatant drug use, which Morgan claims he never participated in, other than marijuana. But he did sell crack cocaine. But what struck me most was the blatant promiscuity. He mentions it casually like it's a trip to the local grocery store, but it's rife through the story. His father regularly cheated on his mother, he lost his virginity to his babysitter when he was eight (along with his brother, which happened at the same time and he watched), had frequent sex during high school, regularly screwed five-dollar crack whores while he was dealing it, and cheated on his own wives. And from how he describes it, this kind of behavior was normal in the culture he grew up in.

I'm the furthest thing from a prude - note my username - but I can't help but think this kind of behavior erodes a society. This isn't just one spouse cheating on another. It's a cultural ethic that disregards any respect for the opposite sex when it comes to relationships. It's not surprising this leads to so many broken homes and the subsequent problems resulting from that.

I'm glad that Morgan found his way out of that, but for every success story there are millions who don't make it out. Truly heartbreaking.