Bøger af Wesley Hawkins

The Stunning Story of Our NeighborsWelcome to the meanest streets in America.Where Wesley Hawkins grew up, abandoned buildings were called "abandominiums." More families lived in these burned-out houses without utilities than could afford rent or running water. Neighbors shared electricity by running extension cords out of their windows, and and anyone had anything, shared.But it wasn't all tales of heartwarming community. In such extreme poverty, drugs were the only way out. Whether you were using them - like Hawkins' mother, whose heartbreaking story inspired his mentorship work - or selling them, like Hawkins was by the age of eleven in order to help feed his brothers and sisters.Some of you readers know exactly the America that Wesley Hawkins grew up in. You know it because you live there too. The most surprising part of this story, for you, might be the triumph through which Hawkins got out of the drug game and dedicated his life to helping other kids succeed and move up in the world while avoiding the drugs that destroyed his family, and killed his mother and her husband. Hawkins hopes his story will show you new worlds that are possible for you.Other readers may be more shocked by the true stories of tragedy contained in these pages - the sexual abuse suffered by Hawkins' grandmother and his mother, the abuse of children in underground fighting rings, and the deaths and his mother and her husband from drug-related causes. Hawkins hopes this book might change the way you see your neighbors, and those laws which show little regard for their well-being.Hawkins' non-profit, The Nolita Project, seeks to show youth raised in poverty that a better future really is possible for them. The Nolita Project provides mentorship, supportive relationships, tutoring, classes, and other services to kids from neighborhoods like the ones Hawkins himself grew up in. Read this book, and visit DearNolita.org, to find out how you can help.

In the wee hours, on October 14th, 1981 a breezy, foggy morning, my partner driving our police unit along with other Atlantic City police units were in a high speed, approximately sixty miles per hour pursuit, of a possible assault suspect, shots had been fired when my partner and I joined in on the pursuit; my partner who was driving and wearing his own personal bullet proof vest. Sadly, he was not able to put his side panels to his vest on, I was inched down in the passenger seat with the shotgun between my legs, while my eyes were leveled with the dashboard, when suddenly more shots were fired by the suspect, at both police cars that had the suspect's vehicle sandwiched in, heading westbound out of the city, crossing over the bridge. Shots rang out, my partner screamed "Mom!" suddenly we spun out on top of the bridge, me not realizing it; my partner had been shot twice, one bullet behind his left ear, not penetrating his scalp, the other shot, piercing the side of his vest; which if it didn't would have exited the other side striking me in my head. But God allowed me to step out with faith twice, once surviving the shootout, and second, surviving the mistreatment of the Atlantic City Police Department, but God had me when I didn't have myself. Some thirty plus years later, I give the testimony of "My Bridge Over Troubled Waters."

It''s in the back of every officer''s mind: the bullet that could end his or her life. They take the risk and are heroes for it-but can you imagine doing this at a time when bulletproof vests were not standard? In the early 80s Hawkins and his partner chased down a suspect in Atlantic City NJ only to end up in a shoot out. This is hardly out of the ordinary-except Hawkins wasn''t wearing a vest because it was not yet part of operations policy. His partner was wearing a vest, but he died and Hawkins lived. This is an autobiography unlike any you''ve ever read before. The details of Wesley Hawkins''s personal history channel emotions and reactions you can hardly anticipate. Read the inside story of real politics and police work as Hawkins shares the miracle of his survival that he knows only God is responsible for.