Synopses & Reviews
An award-winning performer, writer, and motivational speaker shows you how to discover your unlimited potential and use your inner strength to triumph over any obstacle. Based on his powerful, true journey from a childhood rife with poverty, incarceration, addiction, and rage, to the successful adult life he achieved, Daniel Beaty presents the tools you need to overcome adversity and achieve greatness. By outlining an alternative mode of thinking, especially for the modern African American man bombarded by negative stereotypes in the media, Beaty empowers the individual and encourages readers of all backgrounds to learn from their cultural and family heritage while forgiving and letting go of the negative, so that only the positive remains.
Beatys story, supported by deeply personal advice from notable mentors such as Leontyne Price, Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee, serves as a strong reminder that success is ultimately possible not in spite of struggles but as a result of lessons learned and power drawn from those lessons.
Review
“Cherish this book, share it with your children, with your grandchildren so they can experience this powerful, inspiring work.”—Bill Cosby
“A wise and passionate book that lovingly guides us through steps to heal our souls and harness the power of joy.”—Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient
“Daniel Beaty has chosen to share his own compelling story to send a message of hope and healing to others working to overcome painful obstacles, including very difficult childhoods like his own. He reminds readers never to give up on themselves and of their own power to transform their futures.”—Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of Childrens Defense Fund
“Daniel Beatys beautifully rendered book takes us on a heros journey home to the self. Soul-searching and illuminating, there is a real potential for Transforming Pain to Power to help us create a needed new world. There is profound wisdom about life and healing deeply embedded in these pages. This is a gift to cherish and to give.”—Susan L. Taylor, bestselling author, former editor of Essence, and founder of CARES Mentoring
About the Author
Daniel Beaty is an award-winning actor, singer, writer, and motivational speaker. His critically acclaimed plays Through the Night, Emergency, Mr. Joy, and The Tallest Tree in the Forest - Paul Robeson, have garnered numerous awards including an Obie award for writing and performance and two NAACP Theater Awards. A highly requested keynote speaker and thought leader, Beaty has worked throughout the U.S., Europe, and Africa speaking and performing on programs with luminaries such as Deepak Chopra, Hill Harper, Jill Scott, Donnie McClurkin, and Bill Cosby. An adjunct professor at Columbia University (www.columbia.edu) and youth development specialist, Beaty has spoken at all staff retreats and led leadership training for non profits including City Year (www.cityyear.org) and Year Up (www.yearup.org). In fall 2013, Beaty launched a nationwide initiative using the tools of storytelling to help individuals and communities heal trauma funded by W.K. Kellogg and Ford Foundations among others. He holds a BA with Honors in English and Music from Yale University and an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre. His poem Knock Knock became an internet sensation receiving millions of views and has been transformed into a children's book, also titled Knock Knock, published by Little Brown Books.