The Journey of Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell sat in a Harlem public library as a teenager and stared at an economics book he

barely understood, then whispered to himself that he would keep reading until the world

made sense. That quiet promise turned a high school dropout into one of the most influential

thinkers of the last century. Sowell grew up in poverty so sharp it shaped every

instinct he carried. He left home at seventeen. He held jobs that paid just enough

to survive. He joined the Marine Corps during the Korean War and trained as a photographer

because it was the only skill that offered a future. But the real turning point came when

he discovered education not as obligation but as escape. After the Marines he enrolled at Howard