This book is about the life journey of a poor Black boy born to a family of sharecroppers in rural Virginia, who moved to Detroit, Michigan in the 1960s where the boy became involved in a life of crime, drugs, and gangs. Destined for a life or crime, and prison or an early death, the boy sought a better life by joining the US Marines and found himself eventually becoming that which he despised as a youth in Detroit: A cop in Compton, California, one of the most violent and gang-ridden cities in America in the 1980s and 90s. The book is about the racism the author experienced, the tremendous emotional and physical loss he experienced both on the job and off, but mostly this book is about redemption and the ability to rise through adversity no matter the odds.