Ask Antonio Hopson, writer, dad, and seventh-grade science teacher about the impact of the South End on his work, and you'll get an earful. The genial 37-year-old with the expressive green eyes laughs heartily, and often. He also pauses in midsentence and reflects. When he speaks, he is deliberate.
To meet Antonio Hopson is to meet someone who capitalized on the richness of the south end, his family's supportiveness, and his education at Cleveland High School to create an amazing life for himself and his young family. One of four children of a single mother , Hopson grew up in the Rainier Beach, Beacon Hill, and Columbia City neighborhoods.
As an active father of two little boys, Hopson resides in Rainier Beach with his wife, Marit Peters, a singer- songwriter, and their two children, Jackson, two and a half, and Sebi, 8 months. While Hopson makes his living as a Seventh grade biology teacher at the Lakeside School, he is also known as a novelist and actually serves on the levy oversight committee associated with Seattle Public Schools, as well as serving on various community boards.
I recently caught up with him to learn about his latest writing project and the impact of the South End on this work and his teaching.
"The South End gave me the most amazing gifts, especially with the diversity. I am an African-American. My mom was a single mom and while I am light skinned, I was 100 percent raised as a black male." However, as a child growing up in S.E. Seattle, he sometimes felt unaccepted by other African Americans.
"I didn't have a swag, I didn't use Afrocentric dialogue. I was a nerdy black male asking questions about space, a guy who played chess and soccer, hardly accepted by my peers." With this disclosure, he lets out a full belly laugh and pauses, pondering.
Hopson continued. "At Cleveland (high school) everyone mixed together and the diversity was amazing. I learned about Humbow, the different types of Asian Americans, the different cultures of Africa. Everything was all mixed up there. The experience was incredible." Hopson took lots of broadcast courses in high school. But it was the work of Mr. Smith, a biology teacher, that really captured his attention.
"Mr. Smith took us to the Green River to milk salmon and I was hooked! Then we had salmon for lunch and I had to learn more. I loved science and couldn't get enough of it. " After a stint at North Seattle Community College, he transferred to the University of Washington where he earned a bachelor's degree in environmental interpretation.
Hopson began teaching at the Perkins School, a small private school located in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle. While he loved the teaching and the kids, he struggled financially to survive on a beginning teacher's salary.
"It got to the point where I couldn't even afford to buy my friends a pitcher of beer", he said with a wry smile, then looked away, remembering.
He was going to quit and work in a friend's toy factory when an offer came to teach at Zion Prep, another private school with a 95 percent African American population. After three years there he was courted by Nancy Camino, the head of Lakeside's science department, to teach Seventh grade science. He's been there for the past five years and the contrast culturally between the various schools is striking.
"Lakeside is an amazing place. They have resources, small class sizes, and absolutely focused faculty members who are 100 percent committed to making kids succeed which doesn't always happen in other places such as public schools. At Cleveland it seems they taught to the middle of the class and the advanced and academically challenged students got left behind. Here that doesn't happen. I also see a huge difference culturally because the populations are different."
Hopson continues. "At Zion Prep, the communication style is different because teachers were teaching to the African American culture. For example, in the African American culture you would say to a child at home, " Get your black ass in the tub." It's very direct and clear and the child understands. At Lakeside, the teacher might say, 'I'd like you to come in after school. ' At Zion, the student didn't have a choice. They would do as that teacher directed. At Lakeside , it's a different way of communicating."
"The irony to me now, as a Lakeside faculty member, is that I competed against it as a Cleveland Chess club member. I'm aware of the extreme differences between the two places. But I love teaching. Every day is different. It's not like I'm moving luggage. It means something, it's going somewhere. I feel like I model myself after the great teachers I had. Teaching gives me a way to do something about the sickness in society. What it's really all about is taking care of one another. "
Antonio Hopson, the writer
But teaching isn't all this talented individual is about. Hopson is, at heart, a writer.
Growing up in S.E. Seattle, Hopson said the experience and the area's richness made him hopeful. "It gave me hope but you know, it made me a realist as well. It's gritty here and I want to dignify the people in my stories despite that grittiness. "His writing career began in the Fourth grade when he wrote a play in the form of a political satire about Jimmy Carter and his brother.
" Mr. Hollingshead, my teacher, told me 'Good job!" and I got lots of attention for it. That was cool. At night I would tell stories to my little brothers and torture them. The stories would be all about the people they loved but these people would get into trouble!" With that, Hopson smiled the grin of a teasing big brother, tantalized by the memories.
His next effort at writing was in high school where his play, "Walking on a Thin Line," was performed by the drama department.
"Charlie Royer, the mayor of Seattle at the time, came to see it and created the "Walking on a Thin Line" proclamation for the city, and again I got lots of attention. Unfortunately when I look back at that writing I can't help but grimace it was so bad!" He howls with laughter at the memory.
After this he started experimenting with novel writing, even going so far as to send a novel out to an editor written in all capital letters, a definite faux pas. His shift into fiction happened after he spent time living in a converted toolshed at a friend's place in West Seattle.
" I spent a lot of time alone there. I focused more on narrative writing and became less concerned about getting attention for my writing."
The experience yielded a treasure trove of richness. In January 2005 he published his first collection of short stories: "The Vernal Equinox of Death and Kisses and Other Short Stories." One such story is titled "Do Bikers Believe in Fairy Tales?" To research this story he hung out in the scariest hick bar in New Mexico.
"Scary! It was awful. I had to dare myself to even go in - broken windows, in the middle of nowhere. But I did it, I went in, I country danced and hung out with the bikers! I want to be an active learner and to do research for my stories. I want to give the people in my stories a dignity and to show the beauty of these people. I tend to be obsessed with the south end and its richness. My goal is to show the magic in all stories, to create a world not yet explained." Recently Hopson finished writing his first novel, "Ogden Messiah," an experience that led him to an amazing discovery.
"Up until now I had been writing for a white protagonist. I figured that no one would believe that these adventures in my story could happen to a black man, but they did. But now in my book, 'Ogden Messiah,' the protagonist is Black." He smiles, satisfied with this decision.
Hopson continues. "You know, there's magic in the mixture down here (in S.E. Seattle). There's magic between science and metacognition. What really inspires me is to try to walk the line between the two different extremes in the world - the stuff that's measurable and the things that can never be measured. It seems we're constantly trying to sort out where the things belong between the two extremes. That's magical and mystical. To me, the sorting and the measuring is the most titillating part of being alive, in teaching, in loving my wife, in writing, in hanging out with my kids."
Hopson's next work will explore the horrific experiences of Chinese immigrants smuggled into the United States in container ships, the risks and desires they have, and their stories.
For more information about Antonio Hopson and his writing, visit his website, www.antoniohopson.com.
Mary Sanford may be reached at editor@sdistrictjournal.com.[[In-content Ad]]
