After seeing 'Hamilton: An American Musical' on Broadway, I was inspired to write a series on what this record-smashing production really means for our country and for our generation. This is the first installment.
Rise Up – How To Start With Nothing And End With Everything
Imagine the difference between the place where we're born and the place where we die. We can let the difference be minimal: stay in the same town, do the things that are easiest to do, and take up no challenges. Or we can make that difference as wide as an ocean.
On Tuesday, January 10th, I stood and looked down at the snow-covered grave of an immigrant. This man had died 191 years before I was born. When he started life, he was a nobody. He was an immigrant – a poor bastard orphan from some God-forgotten corner of the world. His whole family died or left him, and he didn't have a cent to his name. He was destined to die in poverty on some obscure island in the Caribbean – a nobody from nowhere, just the way he was born. But he refused to accept that. He worked hard and learned every last thing he could, and in time, he "wrote his way out of hell." He got himself "passage on a ship that was New York-bound," and he wrote himself to greatness. He helped build a nation. He was one of the most brilliant men of his day.
Carved into the weathered, snow-flecked stone was his name: Alexander Hamilton. He was born in a filthy shit-hole in the Caribbean to a father who left him and a mother who withered away from disease. He was born into nothing. But he died in greatness. If there's a story of what America is about, that's it.
America is the one place in the world where the impossible is possible.
Society's outcasts can build nations, can create timeless ideas that still influence us today. It was just as true in 1776 as it is in 2017. This, my friends, is why 'Hamilton: An American Musical' is one of the most amazing theatrical performances I've ever seen.
So why do we have a musical about this dude who's been dead for two centuries? A lot of you are probably thinking, "How the hell does this story apply to me at all?" I'll tell you how – it's about someone fighting for what they want no matter how high the hurdle.
I know I speak for a lot of my fellow millennials when I say we've got high expectations for ourselves. We were told our whole lives we could be whatever we wanted and that nothing is impossible. We were told that the world was at our fingertips. Now we're at the point in life where we choose what we'll be in life, and we realize that it takes more than just ambition to become something great. It takes hard work: blood, sweat, and tears.
This musical starts at the same point in Alexander's life that we're in right now. Alexander, fresh off the boat from the Caribbean, shows up in New York City to make a new beginning. He's headstrong, focused, and a little cocky. But this kid sees an opportunity to rise up and he takes it. He puts himself to work, fighting and leading in the Revolutionary War, and setting himself up to be an assistant to no one less than George Washington. He saw his shot and he took it. After the war, when he could have rested on his laurels and taken it easy, he threw that aside and jumped into politics. He worked like a madman, writing 51 of The Federalist Papers in less than six months, and the world saw him for what he was worth. This man had a warrior's spirit, and even his enemies agreed he would work his ass off for the chance to advance.
Hamilton's story is our own story too. Just like Hamilton did all those years ago, we're going to have to fight for greatness if we truly want it. You want that degree? Hit those friggin' books and earn it. You want that honors medal when you graduate? Sit your ass down and write like you need it to survive. You want that perfect job? No one's going to hand it to you, so work your ass off and show them why you deserve it. We can't use where we came from as an excuse or a crutch either. We may come from a posh suburb, a city street, a trailer park, or a country road - none of that matters. Where you come from can only define who you will be if you let it. Alexander Hamilton didn't let that disease-ridden shit-hole island define who he would be. He wrote his way out of hell. We can do that to... but only if we dedicate ourselves to it.
The story of Alexander Hamilton is a true American story, guys. America truly is a place where you can be anything, but you have to work for it. That's what Hamilton did, and you can do it too. Reach out and take what you want. Don't throw away your shot.