Ahmad Chadway

Ahmad Chadway is a fictional character from the Showtime television series Soul Food. He first appeared as the narrator and central character of the 1997 film Soul Food. Originally, he was named Ahmad Simmons, and was portrayed by Brandon Hammond. In the television series, the surname was changed to Chadway, and the role was assumed by Aaron Meeks.

Character Background

A lifelong resident of Chicago, Illinois, Ahmad is the oldest child of Kenny Chadway and Maxine Chadway. At the time of Ahmad's birth, Kenny and Maxine were not married to each other, and had barely finished high school. The couple soon married and eventually had a total of five children: Ahmad, Kelly (Taylor Love), Brooke, and a set of twins.

Even as a pre-teen, Ahmad demonstrated a level of maturity beyond his years. He shared a special relationship with his widowed grandmother Josephine Joseph (Irma P. Hall), whom he referred to as "Big Mama". Her illness and subsequent death (due to diabetes) led to a rift between Ahmad's mother Maxine and her sister Teri, disrupting the decades-long tradition of Sunday dinner being held at Big Mama's house. When the family seemed on the verge of drifting apart permanently, Ahmad manipulated his adult relatives into arriving for dinner one Sunday at Big Mama's home (now occupied by his aunt "Bird" and her husband Lem), which resulted in reconciliation and forgiveness.

Ahmad is an intellectually gifted student. To accommodate his needs, his parents used school vouchers to enroll him in one of Chicago's most exclusive private schools, Lakeside Preparatory Academy.^{[nb 1]} He continued to do well at Lakeside Prep, consistently earning decent grades. His transition to Lakeside Prep was a rocky one, as he was one of the few African American students there, and perhaps the only one from a working-class background. Eventually adjusting to the new environment, he learned to balance his time between neighborhood friends like Reggie (Kevin Rahsaan Grant) and K.C. (Donovan Ian Hunter McKnight), and new friends from school, primarily Mike (Bradley Reid) and Callie (Tamara Hope).

Like many boys his age, Ahmad becomes fixated with girls as he entered adolescence. During his middle school years, he has several girlfriends including Keisha (Nicole Hardy) and Amina (Keenan Macwilliam). He even briefly engages in a flirtatious relationship with Callie.

Ahmad aspires to become a filmmaker, and speculates that he may one day write a screenplay about his experiences as a member of the Joseph family.

Notes

1. ↑ This would have been impossible in the "real world", as the state of Illinois does not have a school voucher program.

References