The last two months of my life have been somewhat of a dream come true. And truly I can't explain it. It has been real crazy. I would like to extend my humblest form of gratitude to all those who have supported me and surely I cannot repay you all for your caring and support. So I will pray that Allah (God) will reward y'all for everything and may my hard work be placed in fruition for the future for not only myself but for the youth. Because everything I do at this time is circulated around making a better future for my young brothers and sisters of the world.

It is very remarkable how things happen with one not even knowing the true essence of it and can't even place in words the complete nature behind what transpires before your eyes. That's why it's best to step back so you can see the grander picture.

Here is a day in the life of Demetrius Hook Mitchell.
Always known as Waliyy Abdur Rahim (W.A.R.).
In the Name of Allah (God),

June 4, 2004
This morning as usual I'm up at 5am praising my God and preparing myself for what I have started. It's called the 6 in the Morning Club. It entails young men waking up at 5:30 or so preparing to deal with me for the next hour and a half before school. This morning, I implemented some drills that I learned at twenty or twenty-one. And I am teaching these same drills to these young men at the ripe age of 13, 14, 15 and 16 years of age.

This transition of me dealing with them and them dealing with me is a very tedious process because these are some things that they are not used to doing and the drills are making them very uncomfortable and I happen to be very patient with them. Also, I am not giving them any room for error. I am very hard on them. This morning we broke down and did push-ups because one person cursed and a few people talked back. I performed the push-ups with them because I wanted them to know that we are in this together. One individual quoted "why am I doing this when I done nothing wrong?" And my reply to that was that we wake up and come here as a team so we are all in this together. To be continued at a later date.

I would like to commend the parents for bring them in the morning because I know getting out of bed is not an easy task.

The program is designed to work on preparation, structure, dedication and a high form of discipline because as I often say to them, "who do they know that's up working hard and sweating at six in the morning?"

After leaving there today it was time to go conduct my own business at McClymonds High School in which I had to pick up the essays for the essay contest for the screening of Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell. (By the way, none of this would be possible if Kicked Down Productions and Fader Films didn't have a vision and a heart for my story.)

It is my job to review the essays and judge for the winner of the contest. The winner will receive a Mack retro jersey, $100, a gift certificate from the principal of McClymonds, YPA gifts and prizes from Reebok (Reebok sent me prizes for every participant in the contest). And the winner's essay will be posted on the website www.hookmichell.com.

Then I had one of the biggest tasks of my life to date. This was something that may make and break my future status economically. I had a conference call with four special individuals. Two of them you all know, Mr. Michael Skolnik of Kicked Down Productions and Mr. Rob Stone of Fader Films. And the other two are two new affiliates of Hook Inc., Mr. Que Gaskins and Ms. Wendy from Reebok International. We spoke for the first time since their company Reebok has "Honored" me with negotiating a contract. Yes, it sounds very hard to believe me having an apparel contract tossed at me and I have only been out for a mere two months from Prison. In this time God has blessed me with an abundance of His mercy. All praises to Allah (God).

We had a very wholesome and productive conversation that meant the world to me. Even though I couldn't express it at the time because in business you can't allow them to see you sweat. I was very proud of myself and the way that everything went and how I conducted myself in a businesslike and respectable manner. It was attributed to all the hard work of me educating myself for the fifty-one months I was incarcerated. Que and Wendy felt my vibe and motivation, as well as they welcomed my ideas. I pray to have a long relationship with the two of them and RBK.

This was right after I turned down _ _ _ _ _ dollars to play in the And1 Mix Tour. (Will speak about the tour later.)

After the call I had to go and have my hair cut because I was preparing myself for tomorrow's speaking engagement at the Teen Forum in Pittsburg, California. While at the shop I saw one of my 6 in the Morning Club members who had just come off major knee surgery and is recovering pretty well. But he had a few discomforts at the workout session this morning so I had asked him to ice his knee and when he told me he didn't, since I had been having knee problems also, we iced our knees together.

After receiving a haircut it was time to go work out myself. So I went back to McClymonds and hit the weights.

At this time I was receiving all types of calls of people asking me was I going to play in the And1 Mix Tour and having tons of requests to play in it. See, the whole Town (Oakland) know how much I love hoop (I have MBD, stay tuned for MBD. It will soon be unveiled under Hook Inc.) Plus the Town has hope for me to one day make it to the League (NBA), they have hope for my future, and they want me to ultimately place Oakland street ball on the map.

And to top the day off I had kicked it with an old brother of my past, you all know him by Isaiah "J.R." Rider but me and a chosen few know him as J. Starra. We stayed up all night reminiscing, reflecting and having a joyous time about the past. The next thing I know it was 6:00 Saturday morning and I had already been up since 5:00 Friday morning dealing with the 6 in the Morning Club. Man, we had a lot of making up to do and catching up for the lost disparity in time.

June 5, 2004
Now it's Saturday morning and I'm headed to the Teen Youth Forum on minimal amount of rest and I'm receiving tons of calls from all over asking me am I going to play against And1. The word around the Town is Hook going to play. People calling telling they want me to play. (But, I had to keep in mind that I had a bigger picture and longevity in my sight with the deal with Reebok.)

Now it's Saturday night and I'm receiving all kinds of calls saying how many people wanting to see me play. I was dealing with some individuals that are colder than L.H. (Lil Hook). They were all on the radio threatening me to bring my A-Game. One of the gentlemen said, "if he is so much of a legend, why is he scared to come play?" They were even announcing over the P.A. system that I was coming, and this had individuals calling and asking me was I going to come. The PR was even calling reporters saying that I was going to play and this was an hour before game time. So this had created a circus on my phone. Now I have people calling me from the Arena asking me am I going to play, and I'm having reporters calling me asking me am I going to play. All this and I have been so busy with tons of other things that I haven't even had a chance to truly re-acclimate myself to society.

All praises to Allah, God.

Surely at this time of writing I am very tired and working on less than two hours of rest and I have a full plate ahead of me for the upcoming week. I have to reward the winner of the essay contest on Tuesday; I have to be at the screening of my film at San Francisco Black Film Festival on Thursday and God willing I will be in Detroit on Saturday screening the film for an NBA Finals event.

Plus, I am sending in my paperwork this week for my 501(c)3 status for Project Straight Path as well as I'm attempting to place the final nails in Hook Inc.

I am truly grateful for this opportunity for me at this time for all my struggles and for the lifestyle that I had chosen before and for the lifestyle that God has placed before me now. Things have really transcended for the better and I am not just speaking for myself because all my endeavors right now are to please my Lord and to be very productive and helpful to society. I would like you all to know one thing. And this is that if anything good comes from me and/or the film it is from Allah (God), and that anything bad, evil or misleading is from me, the enemies inside all of us and in society. Amen.

Here is a message to all those I ever played with and against. Any part of my legendary status that you read about, hear about or even envision is a testimony to you all efforts. Because without you all being a part of my development as a basketball Student/Teacher I couldn't have been as good as I was and good as I am.

Thank you.

Hook Mitchell, W.A.R.

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