At a “Whites Only” drinking fountain in 1956 Mississippi, a young Black boy learns a lesson no classroom could teach—one that would shape the course of his life. For Joseph “One Pocket” Rucker Jr., the moment wasn’t just about racial injustice. It was about what comes next: what you do with the pain.

Raised in the shadow of segregation, poverty, and post-war struggle, Rucker carried the quiet strength of his grandfather—a World War I Buffalo Soldier and physician—who taught him to turn hatred into purpose. From a single back pocket sewn into hand-me-down jeans to the wards of Walter Reed Army Medical Center during the Vietnam War, Rucker’s path defied the odds. He stumbled. He failed. And then, in a hospital room with a wounded soldier whose face had been torn apart by war, he discovered the deeper meaning of healing—and the beginning of his life’s work as a reconstructive surgeon.

One Pocket is a raw, gripping Black memoir about rising above circumstance. It’s a story of grit, grace, and the kind of courage that doesn’t need permission. Rucker’s life is a call to anyone who’s ever been underestimated: your beginnings don’t define you—what you build from them does. An inspirational true story for readers of The Pact, Heavy, and When Breath Becomes Air, this is a deeply human African American biography of growing up poor, choosing purpose, and reshaping lives—starting with your own.

Joseph William Rucker, Jr., MC, FACS, was born in Natchez, Mississippi, and delivered by his grandfather, Johnathan N. Rucker, MD, in 1946. He obtained a B.A. degree from Albion College followed by Army service at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. He attended medical school at the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University and then completed a residency in Plastic and Reconstructive surgery at Wayne State University in Detroit. He retired in 2022 after thirty years of practice in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

At the request of numerous colleagues, family, and friends to write a book not only about his surgical career but also about his non-medical experiences, social interactions, and family dynamics, he decided to pick up his pen in 2022. He currently lives between Hudson, Wisconsin, and Scottsdale, Arizona, and the proud grandfather of Romy, Maxine, and Esther.