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Rafiq
Will is a large Black man who works with Marty. Though Will calls himself a deacon and wears a collar, he’s not actually ordained. He turned to the church after being laid off from a prestigious banking job; he first became a janitor and then a preacher. He feels that it’s his responsibility to remind people to follow Scripture and take care of their neighbors—not just focus on breaking into the middle class. This makes him unpopular with many who see Chicago’s Black middle class slipping away. Barack finds Will to be somewhat difficult to work with, in part because of his eccentric ideas (he openly smokes marijuana, leaves meetings he thinks are boring, and argues with people about Scripture instead of listening to their concerns) and in part because of his mixed reputation. However, Will remains committed to helping and he sticks with organizing projects in Chicago after Barack leaves his job.
Deacon Will Milton Quotes in Dreams from My Father
The Dreams from My Father quotes below are all either spoken by Deacon Will Milton or refer to Deacon Will Milton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 10
Quotes
That’s what the leadership was teaching me, day by day: that the self-interest I was supposed to be looking for extended well beyond the immediacy of issues, that beneath the small talk and sketchy biographies and received opinions people carried within them some central explanation of themselves. Stories full of terror and wonder, studded with events that still haunted or inspired them. Sacred stories.
And it was this realization, I think, that finally allowed me to share more of myself with the people I was working with [...]
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Get the entire Dreams from My Father LitChart as a printable PDF.
Deacon Will Milton Quotes in Dreams from My Father
The Dreams from My Father quotes below are all either spoken by Deacon Will Milton or refer to Deacon Will Milton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 10
Quotes
That’s what the leadership was teaching me, day by day: that the self-interest I was supposed to be looking for extended well beyond the immediacy of issues, that beneath the small talk and sketchy biographies and received opinions people carried within them some central explanation of themselves. Stories full of terror and wonder, studded with events that still haunted or inspired them. Sacred stories.
And it was this realization, I think, that finally allowed me to share more of myself with the people I was working with [...]
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
