Johnathan Brunson, 26, says he defied stereotypes about African-American men when he chose to rise above negative peer pressure to attend N.C. State University. The Hunt High School graduate decided to share his experiences, opinions and advice in his new book, "Mirroring Society: Reflections on Spirituality, Race, Culture, and Gender."
"I had so much work accumulated, and I got the idea of basically putting together a collective book of my best essays, freelances with the News & Observer and the Durham Herald-Sun. It was like piecing a puzzle together," Brunson said.
He intends for the book to be more than pleasure reading.
"It is my goal for it to be used for class study. There's so much there for students and churches to live through," Brunson said.
Although Brunson would like everyone to read his book, his target audience is "16- to 25-year-olds, and all students, especially black males," he said.
Despite the impact Brunson's background played in shaping the book, he said the work is not autobiographical.
"It's more opinion-based but personable. It's a mix, a lot of research and opinion-based research," Brunson said. "I talk about violence in the home, but I have a father who's my role model who helped me end up where I am."
But it has been a long, convoluted road that led Brunson to N.C. State and then to writing his book.
Brunson's biggest challenge was "the lure of the streets. I had admiration for drug dealers, they had money, and I imagined they were respected and cool. But my father helped counter that imagination because he was real. I graduated with a 2.8 GPA, and I went to Charlotte University. I was trying to be like other males, not working hard on grades, but then I was not going to settle for less than my best, and then I transferred to N.C. State."
He credits his change in attitude to his dad, Johnny Brunson.
"I looked up to both of my parents, particularly my father. He worked at Parker's Barbecue, and I noticed his love for God, spiritual guidance, and his work ethic. He would come in after 12-hour days and never let his job affect how he was at home. That was instilled in me the most, that if I have to stay up late and drink coffee to get something done, I can do it. He gave me a hard work mentality," Brunson said.
Brunson was double majoring in political science with a concentration in law and justice, and in multidisciplinary studies with a concentration in Africana studies when he began to write.
Brunson began his writing career at N.C. State with a letter to one of the school newspapers, the Technician.
"The Technician had all these stereotypical images in the paper regarding minorities, and I sent in a paragraph on what I felt and why. The opinion editor apologized and said, 'I feel you should try to develop this into an article and we'll run it.' Although it never ran, both newspapers on campus sent me an e-mail wanting to hire me on the same day," Brunson said. (The other newspaper was the Newbia Message.)
N.C. State administrator Felicia Baity was impressed by Brunson's attitude.
"He's one of the most humble and generous people I've ever encountered in my life, definitely at N.C. State," Baity said.
Brunson, now a contributor to both the Durham Herald-Sun and the News & Observer, has come a long way since those N.C. State days.
His career at the Herald Sun began when he wrote a story about gang violence and e-mailed the work to the paper.
"I wrote my opinion about the gang violence issue and asked could I be a guest columnist. The Durham Herald Sun newspaper ran the article, which is actually an essay within my book, and I have been freelancing with them ever since," said Brunson.
His work appeared in the News & Observer when "they asked for people to talk about faith and Jesus Christ. Being a Christian first and foremost, I addressed who Jesus is to me and it ended up running within the News and Observer," Brunson said.
Brunson's resume also includes businessman, mentor and active volunteer.
"I not only wrote a book, I also started my own publishing company, Dedicated To Change, working with law students on developing a business plan. I also plan to start a scholarship fund for Hunt African-American male graduates to go to college," Brunson said.
His own college education has paid off. Brunson is a full-time customer representative at FedEx Kinko's, an associate professional with the mentoring agency "A United Community" and a guardian ad litem volunteer.
Baity has never been prouder.
"I read his book, and I thought it was good. I saw it all along the way, and I'm so happy for him. He's been talking about writing it for years, and he's not a talker, he's a doer. I am so happy to see it come to fruition," Baity said.
To order Brunson's book, go to www.johnathanbrunson.net.
For more information, contact Johnathan Brunson at jabrunso@gmail.com or write him at Dedicated To Change P.O. Box 37801 Raleigh, NC 27627.