About the Author

Sulaiman Jenkins is an academic scholar and a researcher in the field of applied linguistics. Originally from Brooklyn, New York he has been teaching as a professor of English in Saudi Arabia for over 16 years. He has published a number of articles in top tier publications and his research interests concern race, identity, and language. He graduated from some of America's most elite academic institutions (St. Andrew's School '99 and New York University '04) and with his education hopes to produce significant pieces of writing in his career that help America examine issues that are sensitive yet central to his lived experiences growing up in the inner city: namely, race relations, police brutality, drugs and gang violence, incarceration and the prison system, and employment discrimination. Mutah Wassin Shabazz Beale, better known as Napoleon, is a former member of Tupac's rap group Outlawz. Beale has since converted to Islam and is now a motivational speaker. Mutah narrated intriguing, insightful, and at times chilling accounts of his life growing up in crime ridden Irvington, New Jersey. He also recounts how his life took and unexpected turn for the better when he pursued a career in rap and met Tupac Shakur. His voice provides a layer of authenticity to an inspirational story about overcoming immeasurable odds.