My Mother abandoned me many times as a child, my father was nowhere to be found. I was raised up in dire poverty where crime happened everyday right before my eyes. I endured extreme child abuse mentally and physically. I was raised in a household that had rats, roaches and at times no running water, no lights, no heat and very little food to eat. The streets became my refuge. I committed robberies, broke into people homes/businesses, snatched pocket books, I did pretty much anything I could to get money. As a child I justified my actions as a way of survival because I used most of the money to by food or school clothes. At age 15, I started a gang called, North Durham Vice.

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I knew I was a leader since I was seven years old. I always manipulated and controlled people who hung around me. So starting a gang and getting people to commit crime for me or with me came natural for me. I could have been a CEO of an multi-billion dollar company instead my life was derailed by my environment, poverty and my family circumstances. Today I don’t believe in giving excuses but I must say your fate can get derailed whether for the good or the worst by forces that are not in your control.

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My fate derailed for the worst and I received a 30yr. prison sentence at age 19, where I was confined to a steel cell the size of a bathroom with no windows, a water fountain attached to the commode. I was fed my meals like an animal in a zoo through a small sliding steel trap door. For two years, I was let out of my cell for only 45 minutes a day for recreation. This type of treatment I have seen drive people literally crazy. Only the strong survive and by the grace of God my mind was strong enough to endure the mental distress. During my incarceration I often prayed to God that if he would free me from prison I would dedicate the rest of my life my life to helping kids that are being raised in the same circumstances that derailed my life’s path.

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My 30yr. sentence was over turned by the supreme court finding that I was unjustly sentenced. After serving a total of five years in prison I was released back into society. I was released with only $40 dollars in my pocket and basically no where to go. So I turned back to the life of crime as an excuse of survival but now that I’m older and wiser I realize that it was only a lack of faith in God. Six years later I was still living a life of crime. But God would not let me sleep one night and ask me did I remember the promises I made him in prison? And he stated that he came to collect the debt I owed him. And over night my life changed drastically. Amazingly that morning I was rebirth into a new man. I could actually feel that my heart, mind and soul was renewed. 

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God never said it would be easy. Through tremendous trials and tribulations, sacrifices, struggles, heart aches and pain I leaned to God and committed to my calling. He saved me for a reason and I have to share my story. I’ve been stabbed on two different occasions, I’ve been in three highway accidents going more than 60mph. In one of the accidents someone died. I’ve been hit in the top of the head with the oak stick of an axe handle and my head was split wide open and I had to recovery from head surgery. I’ve been in many shoot outs were people was trying to take my life. I’ve been shot in the leg and in another incident I was shot directly in the head which the bullet ricocheted off my skull and took a piece of my skull off. I’ve been walking around for 32 years with a whole in my head the size of a quarter. Through it all, I’m not a vegetable. I’m not confined to a wheel chair, I have all my faculties. The God I serve is an Amazing God. At age 52, I don’t look like what I’ve been through. God can turn your mess into success. I hope my story inspired you to live your life to the fullest.