E21 Frank Meeink: Recovering Skinhead

In this episode I was joined on the phone by recovering skinhead Frank Meeink. During his teens Frank was one of the most notorious and violent skinheads on the east coast of the US. Frank's story is one of the broken American family, inner city life, addiction, abandonment, racism, violence and ultimately, thankfully, redemption.

While Frank was in jail he became friends with a couple of black kids by playing sports with them in the prison yard. It was these friendships that first caused Frank to question some of his long held sectarian beliefs. Having left the Skinhead movement (a violent exit of course) Frank descended into addiction at the same time as he ascended into public speaking for America's Anti Defamation League.

 

Frank's work with the ADL exposed him to a world, and parts of himself, that he barely knew existed but Frank's recovery from his Neo-Nazi past and addictions was attritional rather than dramatic.  As Frank says himself; "There were no burning bushes."

 

Frank has since dedicated his life to the promotion of harmony rather than hate.  Frank founded the Harmony Through Hockey programme and currently works with Life After Hate.  Links to these sites, as well as all the other episode notes, can be found at inspirelandpodcast.com.

 

 Enjoy the episode. Dave