Home
From The Bronx to Author: My Journey of Resilience and Determination
Author of This Wasn’t Lean On Me: Coming of Age in the Shadows of Joe Clark (1985–1989).
Born in 1971, Wilson Santos spent his earliest years growing up in the Bronx during the 1970s, surrounded by violence, hip hop culture, struggles, and the creativity that shaped an entire generation. In the 1980s, his journey continued in Paterson, New Jersey, where he became a student at Eastside High School during the controversial Joe Clark years that inspired the film Lean On Me.
The experience of those years — the challenges, mistakes, friendships, losses, and lessons — would eventually become the foundation for his 2026 memoir, This Wasn’t Lean On Me: Coming of Age in the Shadows of Joe Clark (1985–1989).
After serving in the U.S. Army, Santos spent the 1990s exploring the world through education, music, and creativity — getting his B.A. in English at Montclair State University, studying literature in England, filmmaking at New York University, working as a DJ, and producing music that would reach audiences around the world.
The 2000s brought a new chapter: single fatherhood, a return to higher education, and a deeper commitment to writing. While raising his son, Santos earned his M.A. in English from Montclair State University, wrote screenplays, poetry, and eventually became a college writing instructor at Montclair State and Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
In the 2010s, his creative journey expanded into filmmaking, teaching, and entrepreneurship — from award-winning documentary work to building arts-focused spaces dedicated to music, poetry, film, and community.
Today, Santos continues that same creative journey through memoir, poetry, songwriting, music, and storytelling — exploring the same question that has followed him throughout his life: how much of who we become is shaped by where we begin, and how much is shaped by what we choose to become.