Montego Bay- Jamaica Event Highlights

This past Saturday, in Montego Bay Jamaica, we managed to gather about 1,000 youth for the Shoulda Been Dead event. So far we have done the event in many places, including 5 other countries, and it has always been well received. 

But here in Jamaica was a bit different. As in other places, it was well received, but there is such a great need for this type of event here, that I have not seen until now. The youth all over the world are suffering, but the amount of youth suffering serious family problems here, astonished me. 

There are so many young ladies who were raped by a family member or who are forced to sell their body, because the PARENT wants them to. Young guys who are being taught to get money, no matter how they have to get it... And many other things. This place, really needs help. 

But besides the horrors of many youth in Jamaica, the country is also very beautiful, with many very polite and hospitable people. This trip so far has been extremely helpful.

Here are some highlights of the Montego Bay event. 

Close to 1,000 youth gathered. 

YPG Montego Bay

Youth Leader in Jamaica

Me together with the leader of the country

We found some identical twins. Both got the book. 

Me and the Mrs. Tired after I finished signing books

A great performance by the youth there. It was "dance/poetry"

The event was extremely successful. I believe that many youth people made big decisions that day, to change their lives.

Please, keep your eyes on the page for more feedback from Jamaica. We have a big event this Saturday at Emancipation Park- Kingston Jamaica.

I hope to see you there.



Montego Bay - Jamaica
Destaques do evento

No último sábado, em Montego Bay, Jamaica, nós conseguimos alcançar cerca de 1000 jovens para o evento Eu Deveria Estar Morto. Até agora nós realizamos o evento em vários lugares, incluindo 5 outros países, e tem sido sempre bem recebido.

Mas na Jamaica foi um pouco diferente. Como nos outros lugares, o evento foi bem recebido, mas existe uma necessidade tão grande desse tipo de evento aqui, como eu não tinha visto até agora. Jovens de todos os lugares do mundo estão sofrendo, mas a quantidade de jovens sofrendo com sérios problemas familiares aqui me surpreendeu.

Há muitas jovens que foram estupradas por um membro da família pu que foram forçadas a vender seus corpos, porque os PAIS querem que eles façam isso. Jovens rapazes que foram ensinados a conseguir dinheiro, não importa o que eles tenham que fazer para isso... E muitas outras coisas. Este lugar realmente precisa de ajuda. Mas além dos horrores enfrentados por muitos jovens na Jamaica, o país também muito bonito, com muitas pessoas muito educadas e hospitaleiras. Essa viagem tem sido até agora extremamente útil.
Aqui estão alguns destaques do evento de Montego Bay.

- Cerca de 1000 jovens alcançados.
- Força Jovem de Montego Bay
- Lider do Força Jovem na Jamaica
- Eu junto com os líderes do país
- Nós encontramos gêmeas identicas. Ambas adquiriram o livro.
- Eu e minha esposa. Cansados depois de terminar de assinar livros.
- Uma ótima apresentação dos jovens daqui. Foi uma dança/poesia

O evento foi extremamente bem sucedido. Eu acredito que muitos jovens tomaram grandes decisões nesse dia para mudar suas vidas.

Por favor, fique de olho no blog para mais notícias da Jamaica. Nós teremos um grande evento neste sábado no Emancipation Park - Kingston Jamaica.

Espero te ver lá.

25,000 Youth Rescued in Brazil in ONE day!

Nearly a week ago, in one day we hit two cities back to back and spoke to about 25,000 youth. I teamed up with the "Where U Going" Team in Brazil (South America), who are better known as the "Dose Maid Forte" Team which literally means (A Stronger Dose). The idea is to raise awareness that drugs and crime are not the "strongest" or best way to solve your problems. There is a positive escape. And that is the direction that the Youth Power Group and I are aiming to share with people.

Check out some of the photos of the events below. 

Below is a picture of Rio de Janeiro Brazil where 10,000 youth gathered to receive help to break free from drugs, crime, prostitution, etc. The response was amazing. 

Below is a picture of Sao Paulo Brazil where the same event was held on the same day 5 hrs later, in a hall that fit 6,000. But the turn out was 15,000 so we had to put people in the parking area downstairs.

Here is the parking area filled with nearly 4,000 youth eager to hear the message story of my life and the message of hope.

Below is one happy youth member taking a picture after getting his book autographed. 

The events on August 25th, 2012 were a great success. I only hope that there will be many more opportunities such as these to reach out to the masses and let them know that no matter how bad your life is, no matter how many terrible decisions you've made, no matter your past. There is a "Stronger Dose" available than any other drug. There is hope and there is a way out. 

Brazil has been great...

Here is another video with some updates on how things are going over here in Brazil. To write everything out would take too long, so I decided to do a video. Check it out and leave your comments.

Shoulda Been Dead Block Party in New York

Here is some of the highlights of the Shoulda Been Dead tour that I did in New York last month. To see more, full length performances, keep your eyes on my website ShouldaBeenDead.com. I will be putting them up within a week.

Visiting the "City of Angels" (Los Angeles) next week

Sunday February 12th

8pm- Event in San Jose YPG Headquarters

Monday February 13th (San Jose)

International Studies Academy - 655 De Haro St. San Francisco,CA 94107- 10am - 11am

Lionel Wilson College Prep Academy - 400 105th Ave. Oakland, CA 94603- 2:50pm - 3:50pm

Tuesday February 14th (Los Angeles)

John C. Freemont High School - 7676 South San Pedro St. Los Angeles, CA 90003: 9am - 10am

New Design Charter School - 2303 S. Figueroa Way Los Angeles,CA 90007: 11am - 12 noon

George Washington Prepatory High School - 10860 South Denker Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90047: 2pm - 3pm

Wednesday February 15th (Fresno)

• SunnySide High School - 1019 South Peach Ave. Fresno, CA 93727: 9:45am - 10:45am
• Event at Fresno YPG Headquarters at 5pm

Thursday February 16th (Escondido)

Escondido High School - 1535 North Broadway Escondido, CA 92026: 8am - 9am & 1pm - 2pm

Book Signing at Escondido YPG Headquarters at 6pm

Friday February 17th (Los Angeles)

Santee Education High School - 1921 South Maple Ave. Los Angeles,CA 90011: 9:30am - 10:30am

Alain Leroy Locke High School - 325 East 111th St. Los Angeles,CA 90061: 11:40am - 12:40pm

Joseph Le Conte Middle School - 1316 North Bronson Ave. Hollywood,CA 90028: 2pm - 3pm

Saturday February 18th (Los Angeles)

• Book Signing in L.A. YPG Headquarters at 12 noon

Then.........

I'm headed back home to Dallas Texas!!!

The MARINE

At a school assembly that I spoke at, there was a man who spoke for a few minutes just after I finished talking to the students.

The man told a story that was very interesting to me. The story was of another assembly that took place some time before. The assembly was held by military officers who wanted to interest the young men in possibly joining the Armed Forces.

And there is where the story begins...

On the day, there were representatives from all four of the major military forces present. There was an Army recruit, Navy, Air Force and of course a Marine.

The whole assembly was supposed to take an hour, so they needed to divide the time between the four of them. The Army recruit went first. He spent 30 minutes convincing the young men that the army was the best choice for them to serve their country. The next to go was the Navy recruit. Feeling that the army recruit had been selfish to take so long, he was determined to get his time in. So he spent 15 minutes talking and urging the youth to join the Navy. After he was done there was only 15 minutes left in the whole assembly, and next up was the Air Force recruit. He decided, he would not rush himself, because the other two had been so selfish and took 10 minutes trying to convince the young men to join the Air Force.

By now the assembly would be ending in 5 minutes, so the Marine recruit had almost no time to "convince" the youth to join.

Oddly enough, he didn't seem bothered at all!

After all three of them; the Army, Navy and Air Force recruits were done, the Marine walked sternly up to the podium with only 5 minutes left and opened his mouth. But what he would say, would only take a few seconds. Without cracking a smile he looked straight out into the crowd of young men and said, "to be quit honest, I don't see one person in this room who looks worthy to be a Marine. But if you think you've got what it takes, meet me in the hallway after the assembly". "HuRAA!"

The moral of the story is... When something is truly great, it doesn't take 30mins, 15 or 10 to convince a person. They should feel honored to be apart of something that is truly great.

So if you are confident in yourself, you don't need to go to great lengths to seek others approval, you can lift up your head and stand firm on who you are.

Would you have gone to one of the other three recruiters, or would you have been brave enough to step up and try out for the Marines?

Don't Sugar-Coat it...

I don't know about all of you who read this, but I know about me...

When someone has something to say to me, I would rather they say it straight, just like it is, than to beat around the bush. I know it doesn't feel good to hear things raw and uncut, but it is far better than someone trying to smile in your face, whilst feeling something in their heart.

That just doesn't make sense.

And worst than holding it in, is to sugar-coat it so that it sounds softer or easier to swallow. I can't stand that! If you have a problem, just say it already. Don't act like it is smaller than what it really felt like to you. I may not like or agree with what you are saying, but I want to know that that is how you feel.

And a real man or woman is like this; they don't look for the softest way out. They are strong enough to take the punch and keep their head up. I believe this is the best type of person to deal with. The one that will give you the truth, even when it hurts, and mean the absolute best by doing it.

You just need to be tough enough to take it. So you who are reading this, should stop being soft and sensitive and grow some thicker skin. Take what is dished out and deal with it. You will become stronger and better by doing that.

You may live to regret it...

I read this statement not too long ago which said, "never regret anything, because an one point, that was exactly what you wanted".

The second part is true, whatever you end up regretting later, is something that at one point you choose to do. Or else you choose to do something else that lead to what happened. So we can't blame anyone for the bad things that happen, because we knew the risks involved, before getting involved.

But that's not the point of this blog post. I was thinking, so many times we make poor decisions and then regret them later. But it's as if in the moment it seems to make so much sense to do. In the moment, we are blind to everything we will lose if we make that choice. In the moment it's like there is this evil voice in our head saying "do it, do it, do it"! And we tend to listen to that voice and not think about the consequences.

Then you know what happens later? We feel like crap, and we totally regret what we did.

It happens to the girl who slept with a guy on the first date. It happens to the guy who got so drunk at the party that he took his clothes off or did something else that totally made him look like an idiot. It happens to the youth that yells back at the mom and ends up grounded. It happens to the person who lies and then realizes that there is no way that that lie will stay secret. It happens to the person who was going down the right track in life and slowly starts to drift and follow bad examples, until the point where he or she does something irreparable. And the list goes on and on and on.

Thousands of people are living with regrets. And why? Because they don't take enough time to think about the consequences of there actions. They are living in the here and now, instead of thinking about the morning after. So, they ruin their life.

You and I both need to learn to think first, then act second.

If we don't...

We may live to regret it.