A feature about Upstormed News founder Jonathan Anthony Burkett.
Some book titles describe a plot. Others describe a person. Jonathan Anthony Burkett’s memoir, Neglected But Undefeated, does the second. Its subtitle tells readers exactly where the story begins: The Life of a Boy Who Never Knew a Mother’s Love. Its title tells them where it ends up.
Burkett, the founder of Upstormed Inc. and the man behind Upstormed News, is an author, poet and recording artist. According to his website, he was born in Miami, Florida, in 1987 and raised in Jamaica by his grandparents. His memoir is the most personal piece of a body of work that also includes novels, poems and music. This feature looks at what the two halves of that title mean, and at what the book’s free introduction says about resilience.
The first word: Neglected
The memoir does not soften its starting point. The Books page on his site describes it as the story of growing up unwanted by his mother and refusing to be defeated. It covers his childhood in Jamaica with his grandparents, his mother’s absence, his seizures and the brain surgery he underwent on January 30, 2006.
In the introduction, which is posted free on his website, Burkett writes in his own voice about feeling unseen by his mother and about the question that followed him as a child: why she was so critical of him. He does not stop with childhood. The introduction also names the hardships that came later, including illness, loneliness and seasons when finding work was hard. On his home page he describes how neglect and confusion led him down “so many wrong routes” before he found his way.
That honesty is the point. The word “Neglected” is not there for sympathy. It is a plain statement of where one life started, offered so that readers who started in a similar place can recognize themselves.
You know my name, not my story.
Jonathan Anthony Burkett, Neglected But Undefeated
The second word: Undefeated
If the first word names the wound, the second names the outcome. “Undefeated” does not claim that nothing went wrong. It says the hard things did not get the last word.
In the introduction, Burkett reflects that hiding problems and feeling unloved can be dangerous. He credits two things with helping him move forward: therapy and faith. Faith runs through everything on his site. In his own words, “Faith is why I’m here today and faith is why I made it through.”
The introduction also describes growth. Burkett says he began writing and became an entrepreneur, and that he now sees life as an adventure to be enjoyed. The same site that hosts the excerpt lists the results of that turn: the Friends 2 Lovers series, with its first three books available, the novel Fighting To Become Champions, a collection of poems on faith, love and perseverance, music released through Upstormed Records, and a set of life-lesson titles marked as coming soon, including Don’t Give Up and Born To Make It.
What the introduction teaches about resilience
Read as a whole, the introduction offers a few lessons that reach beyond one man’s life:
- Name the hard thing. Burkett writes openly about neglect, illness and mistakes instead of hiding them.
- Do not carry it alone. He points to therapy and faith as the help that made a difference, and warns that hiding problems can be dangerous.
- Your start is not your finish. His site’s central message is that no one is defined by where they started.
- Build something. Writing and business became the ways he turned pain into purpose.
The excerpt page also opens the first chapter, titled “Good Morning, Mom,” and closes with a reminder that anyone in the U.S. who is struggling can call or text 988 for support.
Why it matters for families
Many children grow up with an absent or hurtful parent, and many adults are still carrying that weight. Stories like this one can open a conversation at home about feelings that are hard to say out loud. For parents and grandparents, the memoir is also a quiet tribute to the role grandparents can play when a child needs a safe place. If you or someone in your family is struggling, reaching out to a trusted adult, a pastor, a counselor or the 988 line is a strong first step.
Readers can find a free introduction to Neglected But Undefeated on Burkett’s website, along with links to purchase the book through the Upstormed Shop.
Sources: JonathanBurkett.com, “Jonathan Anthony Burkett” (accessed November 3, 2026); JonathanBurkett.com, “Story (About)” (accessed November 3, 2026); JonathanBurkett.com, “Neglected But Undefeated: Read an Excerpt” (accessed November 3, 2026); JonathanBurkett.com, “Books” (accessed November 3, 2026)
Learn more at jonathanburkett.com.
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