Publisher's Synopsis
The year is 1969. Chicago's inner city is riddled with drugs, gangs, violent crime, and despair of epidemic proportion. Born to drug addicted parents, Jemal Gibson's options early in life are gang banging, selling drugs, prison, and possibly death - like so many of those who had come before him. These same options that operate in a cyclical pattern have been affecting a multitude of families for decades. As family and friends in his old neighborhood still deal in meager amounts of drugs to this day, Jemal is selling billions of dollars worth of drugs. The amount of money most street dealers aspire to, Jemal deals legally. Although he physically makes it out of the ghetto, during his ascent up the corporate ladder, Jemal's heartstrings are constantly tugged at from his place of origin. His close ties to his family and friends, who continue to struggle, often draw him in as if he had never left. This keeps drugs, gangs, violence, and death as common occurrences in his personal life, while balancing corporate politics and multi-million dollar business deals. This memoir is full of heart-wrenching twists and turns of the impact of drugs - both illegal and legal. It is an incredibly intertwined duality of dealing drugs on back streets and Main street - with bifurcated results. From the emotionally painful depths of a young man's heart comes a roller-coaster ride of story with a powerful end! Foreword by Les Brown
