Jonathan Burkett

Growing up in Jamaica, Jonathan ‘John’ Burkett feels loved by his grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins and, most of all, by his
grandfather. Little did Johnny know that this little childhood bliss is to end soon when a visitor from America takes him to live with his
family.

In the land of the free, the young boy finds himself trapped in a world that’s been turned upside down.

He finally meets his ‘real’ mother, but instead of joy at seeing his son, from whom she’s been separated when he was just a baby, she stares at him as if seeing someone else and cringes at the sight of
him. Instead of showering him with love and kisses, as a loving mother should, she showers him with beatings and death threats. Instead of cooking meals for her son, she serves him a plateful of insults. Instead of tucking him to bed at night, she continually kicks him out of her house so he ends up sleeping in friends’ houses, at the park, or on the streets.

One heartbreaking moment in the author’s life was when, after several plots to get him arrested, he straightforwardly asks his mother if she loves him. She looks him in the eye and simply answers, “No.”

This autobiography will grip at your heart as the author pours out his very soul, flooding each page with painful echoes of the past that will not die down while kept bottled up. In time, he realizes that his own grief has been passed on to him by his mother, who experienced incredible anguish at the hands of his biological father.

Meet the Author

Jonathan Anthony Burkett was born February 1, 1987. He is a bright outstanding writer inspired by many, as he continues to struggle in life. Devoted for achievement in his lifetime, he is willing to take any test. He told himself, that he would never give up no matter the trials and tribulations. He decided to write to help him move towards a bright future for himself; and because he knows that’s what his Grandparents want for him.

Jonathan Anthony Burkett life changed dramatically the year 2005 after he had survived a surgery that, he was told would better his life. Miraculously it did, along with his mind about life. A young man now, dedicated towards achieving goals in life, without his GED/High School Diploma, he had now looked at himself as in the world.  Having the urge now to get himself back into school to get either his GED/High School Diploma, Jonathan held back from it because his mind was to blocked up with all of the problems that he was having still in his life.

After days of thinking about how he was going to handle all of his living problems, he had gotten the idea to just find a good job, and to save up until he was able to provide everything that he needed, so that he may feel uplifted and then ready to strive for success. However, mistakes were made and jobless he became once again. That’s when he remembered what he had told himself, what he wanted to do if he survived hissurgery, and that was to share his life story with the world for many to see how merciful our father God is, to his children. In the future Jonathan will be of course writing more books along with having goals on becoming a scriptwriter, songwriter, actor and more things that he loves to do as doors begin to open up for him.  

Patiently Jonathan is still waiting, for if it was meant to be, victory will be in one of his open doors that he, will someday walk right through. 

 

Reviews for Neglected but Undefeated Official Apex Reviews Rating:  4 stars She beat him…she neglected him…she kicked him out of the house time and again…she even went so far as to try to set him up to be arrested…but perhaps the one thing that devastated Jonathan the most was when he asked her if she loved him, and she looked him in the eye and said, “No”…Throughout the pages of Neglected But Undefeated, author Jonathan Anthony Burkett recounts the traumatic upbringing that he experienced at the hands of his mother. One would think that, out of all the people in the world, we can count on our mothers to love us when no one else will – but in Burkett’s case, the opposite actually proved true. Holding him responsible for the pain she experienced at the hands of his father, Burkett’s mother tormented him on a daily basis, making his formative years a time of extended grief, sadness, and self-pity; however, through embracing the love of God, Burkett was finally able to heal from all the years of strife that plagued his upbringing and set himself on the path of freedom and ultimate victory that he continues to walk to this day.Rough, raw, real – and ultimately inspiring – Neglected But Undefeated is a powerful reminder of the incredible resiliency of the human spirit. A recommended read. Reviewed By Dominique Sessons You might expect Jonathan Anthony Burkett’ Neglected but Undefeated to be just another memoir, about life gone wrong for another black child. But this story is much more than pain and lost it’s surprisingly about reconciliation of a boy with his real Father. The first day I started “Neglected but Undefeated” I had to put it down for a couple of reasons. One was the shocking events that a child went through at the hands of his mother; (unbelievable). I had so many OMG moments while reading I just thought my mouth would remain in an O shape. Young Jonathan was shuffled from the states to Jamaica, and then made to live only a few steps from his mother’s house with a woman named Nicole; his mother’s best friend. Living at Nicole’s was good for Jonathan because it was there he received guidance and disciple after leaving his grandparents home in Jamaica. Jonathan is allowed to come home. But the verbal, physical and mental abuse doesn’t end. The abuse is so bad that Jonathan begins to have seizures which land him in the hospital for days. The authorities wonder what was going on in this young child’s life that would stress him out to the point of anxiety attacks and seizures. An investigation ensued and his mom is on her way to jail for child abuse and neglect. It is not my intent to review the darkness in this book but to show you the light. God conveniently place angels in our life just when we need them. For Jonathan his angel was called grandma, grandpa (Doctor) and Lori. On Saturday and Sundays Lori took Jonathan to church, his grandparents gave him a foundation in the Lord, but at such a young age he didn’t really get it. It wasn’t until he realized God’s Omnipresence, Omnipotence and Omniscient powers. I enjoyed reading this tough story, Neglected but Undefeated is not for the weak. I don’t have any children but I cannot imagine treating my own flesh and blood as she did. I’m glad the author found the love of God which would sustain him through all times. Missy Readers Paradise 3 book marks Book Review Divas Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars Neglected but Undefeated is a tear-jerking story about abuse, neglect, and healing A young child wakes up one morning on the laundry room floor in his home. He’s completely bruise from head to toe and can’t remember how he ended up sleeping there. Awaken by the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen, he eagerly stands up and walks into the other room and greets his mother who’s in the middle of cooking his favorite breakfast. Soon what starts out as a simple “Good morning mom” quickly escalates into a verbal tug-of-war. Suddenly the child’s mother begins to beat him with the hot frying pan she was previously using to cook the eggs in. After beating him with the pan, she then grabs a high heel shoe to finish the job she already started on his defenseless little body. Afterwards, she unplugs all the phone and walks out of the house, leaving him curdle up in pain on the kitchen floor. This is just one of the many tragic stories of Jonathan Burkett’s childhood growing up with a mother who didn’t love him, a step-father who turned a blind eye to the excessixe abuse and neglect, and the sexual molestation by the adult females in his life who he thought he could trust. As a child, all young Jonathan wanted was his mother’s love and attention. But in return, all he received was beatings and death threats. Around the age of fourteen, his mother threw him out of the house and with no place to go, he became homeless. One day, he sat his mother down and asked her if she loved him. His mother replied only sent him further down a spiraling hole of depression and uncontrollable rage. However, as Jonathan tries to piece his young adult life together, he encounter people who attempts to uplift and support him through his troubling times. But will the pain from his childhood destroy any chance for a happy future? About the Reviewer Joy Farrington is the author of A Literary Diva’s Guide… book series and owner of Lit Diva, Inc., which offers book marketing services for African-American authors. She is the creator and head reviewer for the Book Review Divas, editor of the online e-zine Nubian Lit, and president of Nubian Sistas Book Club. She lives in Miami, Fl.