The Black Pages: The Memoir Setting Me Free by Antonio Ricardo Cannady
“Throughout Cannady’s memoir, what shines through is his honesty, humility and heartfelt desire to help others overcome their challenges.”
According to society, not to mention his own family, Antonio Ricardo Cannady had zero chance of making something of himself. Born into an abusive household in the ghettos of Orlando, Florida, he came up in the 80s with an entire generation of poor Black kids whose lives were shaped by a violent, unpredictable and unforgiving world.
A Childhood Shaped by Violence and Betrayal
It was a world that left him emotionally stunted by the time he hit puberty. A world that told him to trust no one, not even himself. A world from which there seemed no escape, with no one there to guide him through the chaos. A world of toxic love, gutting betrayals, escapist addictions, grueling labor, and the daily threat and reality of violence.
Fast forward forty-something years. Cannady has not only faced his demons but conquered them to a large degree. He’s found success in stints as a screenwriter, musician, filmmaker and now as a community activist advocating for youth education requirements on emotional intelligence. The Black Pages: The Memoir Setting Me Free is his story of how he got there — and how he stays on the path to becoming the best version of himself he can be.
Facing Demons and Conquering Adversity
If there is one attribute that can be credited with Cannady’s survival on the roller coaster on fire in an earthquake that’s been his life, it is this: courage. The courage to follow his passions. The courage to step out of his comfort zone and take chances. The courage to get back up after being knocked down. And the most courageous thing of all? Opening up his heart to tell his story to the world.
The Black Pages is, by turns, vulnerable and raw. Cannady pulls every skeleton out of his closet and into the light of day. His violent upbringing and toxic romantic entanglements. His struggles with addiction and sobriety. His many missteps and lost opportunities. But also his insight and wisdom, hard-won from years of therapy, medication and self-reflection.
We follow him through the highs and lows, from leveraging his athletic abilities to get into a better high school to his struggles to complete a film production degree. From the cusp of a record deal to the halls of a drug rehab center. From working in the hellhole of a slaughterhouse to a six-figure television screenwriting gig. From a gun barrel jammed against the back of his head to the feeling that anything is possible when you set yourself free. It is as if Cannady has lived many, many lives. And he still has many more lives left to live.
Sharing Wisdom: The Path to Self-Actualization
Throughout Cannady’s memoir, what shines through is his honesty, humility and heartfelt desire to help others overcome their challenges. He reassures readers who were born into similar trauma and chaos that change is possible, that you can take charge of your circumstances, starting wherever you are with whatever you have, and building and growing from there. He demonstrates that it isn’t a smooth, linear ride to success. You will backslide. But the universe will reward you for forgiving yourself and trying again.
Cannady strongly believes that if he had the tools of self-knowledge he needed as a youth, he could have avoided the many patterns of pain he had inflicted on himself and others. But he also acknowledges that these experiences are what inform his successes, not in spite of, but because of. His gratitude extends not only to the positive things that happen to him but to the lessons the negative experiences have taught.
Each project he’s ever undertaken, whether it ended in failure or success, has been just a phase of an even more ambitious and important project: self-actualization. It’s a project Cannady strives to share with all of humanity so we can each heal from trauma, gain a crucial understanding of ourselves and each other, and create a better world together.
About Antonio Ricardo Cannady:
Antonio Ricardo Cannady is an independent Filmmaker, Author, and Community Activist, who currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Publish Date: 4/9/2024
Genre: Memoir
Author: Antonio Ricardo Cannady
Page Count: 224 pages
ISBN: 9798881120481
