Early Life
Patrice Malcolm Oneal was born in New York City, New York, on December 7, 1969, and grew up in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Georgia, named him after Patrice Lumumba, the leader of the Congolese independence movement, and Malcolm X. He was raised by his mother and never met his father.
Oneal was a star football player at West Roxbury High School, ending his career with 3 letters in varsity football and a state championship his senior year. He turned down football scholarships in order to attend Northeastern University on a public housing grant, majoring in Performing Arts.
At the age of 17, Oneal was convicted of statutory rape of a 15 year old girl and sentenced to 60 days in prison, served during his summer break, so as not to disrupt his schooling. The act, which occurred when Oneal was still 16, would have been legal in most states, but Massachusetts lacks a close-in-age exception, and has an age of consent of 16. Oneal said his humor helped him to negotiate the harsh realities of prison.
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