My Journey to Redemption: Violence, Gang, Affiliation, Abandonment, Sexual Abuse and Addiction

Fasten your seatbelts, folks. Let me take you on a ride that is unimaginable to any adult or child! It was especially unimaginable to a young boy. I was born in New Orleans to a single mother of five children. I was reared in the Florida housing project; it was housing that reflected a very impoverished community. This type of housing was offered at little to no cost at all to indigent families. It is established in low-income areas that are infested with alcoholism, drug addiction, sexual abuse, and unemployment. I was seemingly born into a dysfunctional lifestyle, generations of dysfunction. My mother was a chronic alcoholic. She barhopped frequently and was often an absentee parent. I never knew my biological father, so I would always latch on to any male figure that I thought was a good role model. Sounds familiar yet? As a child, I experienced and witnessed violence firsthand. I was exposed to things that were alarming and continue to haunt me. I call the haunting demons. I ran from those demons: gang affiliation, drugs and alcohol, and even the very often visible subject I saw daily-domestic abuse against women. I now understand that there was a higher power watching over me. During the troublesome times in my life, I could have died at least six times! God is good. I am still here to share my story. I hope this book offers solace to others that may have experienced something very similar.