268,563
total hearts received for Moments That Survive

I grew up in Newburgh, New York. As a teen, I moved down south to North Carolina, where I studied music and played on multiple basketball teams, moving back to New York. In my early 20s, I was robbed at gunpoint. A bullet put me in a wheelchair and wound up at Coler.

Today, my focus lies on my 10-year-old daughter, Nuatej, and in music: I produced my first album, OPEN DOORS Reality Poets Vol. 1, in 2019. My poetry and writings have been published in Wheeling & Healing: A Poetry Anthology Edited by OPEN DOORS Reality Poets. I’m a recipient of the Center For Cultural Innovation Grant, with which I started a music program aimed to keep youth off the streets and in the studio.

Some of my poetry and music speaks to this experience with gun violence. Check out my work on the Open Doors website.

Reacting shows support for gun violence survivors.

268,563