{"id":4052,"date":"2024-09-26T14:11:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T18:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/?page_id=4052"},"modified":"2024-09-26T14:57:04","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T18:57:04","slug":"for-the-brothers-who-aint-here","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/","title":{"rendered":"For the Brothers Who Ain&#8217;t Here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Using James Baldwin\u2019s book, <em>Nobody Knows My Name <\/em>(1961), as a backdrop, in this trilogy, recorded in October of 2016, when I was 51, I am remembering some of \u201c<em>the brothers who ain\u2019t here<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls poster=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/220-Andre-Parker.png\" src=\"https:\/\/videos.files.wordpress.com\/zGA7xIdl\/220-nobody-knows-my-name-andre.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>For the brother who ain\u2019t here<\/em>.\u201d <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#f70202\" class=\"has-inline-color\">His name was Andre. <\/mark><\/strong>Remembering a childhood friend, a boy from the old neighborhood, who never grew to see his 30th birthday. Reflecting on the fun times we shared together, and what kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls poster=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/220-Scrappy-2.png\" src=\"https:\/\/videos.files.wordpress.com\/FnsYSOJw\/220-nobody-knows-my-name-scrappy-iii.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>For the brother who ain\u2019t here<\/em>.\u201d <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#f90101\" class=\"has-inline-color\">His name was Carlton<\/mark><\/strong>; we called him Scrappy. Remembering a dude I used to hang out with over 30 years ago, and sharing the side of him I came to know on his deathbed. Reflecting on all the weed we smoked together, and what kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls poster=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/220-Joe-Greene-2.png\" src=\"https:\/\/videos.files.wordpress.com\/QJp0oIku\/220-nobody-knows-my-name-joe-iii.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>For the brother who ain\u2019t here<\/em>.\u201d <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#f80202\" class=\"has-inline-color\">His name was Joe.<\/mark><\/strong> And he was 27 when I knew him. I was 21 and still in university. And Joe was the first grown-ass man I really knew outside of my family. He worked, rented his own apartment, paid his own bills and made his own meals \u2013 long before I did any of those things. Reflecting on Joe\u2019s aggressive nature, and his ambition, which inspired me all those years ago. And then he was gone. Just like that. Thinking about the kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the full audio podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/220-Nobody-Knows-My-Name-Full-Podcast.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Using James Baldwin\u2019s book, Nobody Knows My Name (1961), as a backdrop, in this trilogy, recorded in October of 2016, when I was 51, I am remembering some of \u201cthe brothers who ain\u2019t here.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Andre. Remembering a childhood friend, a boy from the old neighborhood, who never grew to see his 30th birthday. Reflecting on the fun times we shared together, and what kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have. \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Carlton; we called him Scrappy. Remembering a dude I used to hang out with over 30 years ago, and sharing the side of him I came to know on his deathbed. Reflecting on all the weed we smoked together, and what kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have.\u00a0 \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Joe. And he was 27 when I knew him. I was 21 and still in university. And Joe was the first grown-ass man I really knew outside of my family. He worked, rented his own apartment, paid <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4053,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4052","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>For the Brothers Who Ain&#039;t Here - Robert Wesley Branch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For the Brothers Who Ain&#039;t Here - Robert Wesley Branch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Using James Baldwin\u2019s book, Nobody Knows My Name (1961), as a backdrop, in this trilogy, recorded in October of 2016, when I was 51, I am remembering some of \u201cthe brothers who ain\u2019t here.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Andre. Remembering a childhood friend, a boy from the old neighborhood, who never grew to see his 30th birthday. Reflecting on the fun times we shared together, and what kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have. \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Carlton; we called him Scrappy. Remembering a dude I used to hang out with over 30 years ago, and sharing the side of him I came to know on his deathbed. Reflecting on all the weed we smoked together, and what kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have.\u00a0 \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Joe. And he was 27 when I knew him. I was 21 and still in university. And Joe was the first grown-ass man I really knew outside of my family. He worked, rented his own apartment, paid Read More ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Robert Wesley Branch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-26T18:57:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/000-For-the-Brothers-Who-Aint-Here-16x9-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1792\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/\",\"name\":\"For the Brothers Who Ain't Here - Robert Wesley Branch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/000-For-the-Brothers-Who-Aint-Here-16x9-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-26T18:11:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-26T18:57:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/000-For-the-Brothers-Who-Aint-Here-16x9-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/000-For-the-Brothers-Who-Aint-Here-16x9-1.jpeg\",\"width\":1792,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For the Brothers Who Ain&#8217;t Here\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/\",\"name\":\"Robert Wesley Branch\",\"description\":\"Cosmos-conceived. Earth-incarnated. District of Columbia-born. Maryland-raised. Storyteller. Taurus. Writer. Podcaster. Television producer. Foodie. Filmmaker.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For the Brothers Who Ain't Here - Robert Wesley Branch","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For the Brothers Who Ain't Here - Robert Wesley Branch","og_description":"Using James Baldwin\u2019s book, Nobody Knows My Name (1961), as a backdrop, in this trilogy, recorded in October of 2016, when I was 51, I am remembering some of \u201cthe brothers who ain\u2019t here.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Andre. Remembering a childhood friend, a boy from the old neighborhood, who never grew to see his 30th birthday. Reflecting on the fun times we shared together, and what kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have. \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Carlton; we called him Scrappy. Remembering a dude I used to hang out with over 30 years ago, and sharing the side of him I came to know on his deathbed. Reflecting on all the weed we smoked together, and what kind of man he would have become, had he lived to age 51, like I have.\u00a0 \u201cFor the brother who ain\u2019t here.\u201d His name was Joe. And he was 27 when I knew him. I was 21 and still in university. And Joe was the first grown-ass man I really knew outside of my family. He worked, rented his own apartment, paid Read More ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/","og_site_name":"Robert Wesley Branch","article_modified_time":"2024-09-26T18:57:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1792,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/000-For-the-Brothers-Who-Aint-Here-16x9-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/","url":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/","name":"For the Brothers Who Ain't Here - Robert Wesley Branch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/000-For-the-Brothers-Who-Aint-Here-16x9-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-09-26T18:11:30+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-26T18:57:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/000-For-the-Brothers-Who-Aint-Here-16x9-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/000-For-the-Brothers-Who-Aint-Here-16x9-1.jpeg","width":1792,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/for-the-brothers-who-aint-here\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For the Brothers Who Ain&#8217;t Here"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/","name":"Robert Wesley Branch","description":"Cosmos-conceived. Earth-incarnated. District of Columbia-born. Maryland-raised. Storyteller. Taurus. Writer. Podcaster. Television producer. Foodie. Filmmaker.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4052"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4071,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4052\/revisions\/4071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}