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The journey to hell and back

THE STREETS WERE dangerous, but I survived them because I had a loving extended family that nurtured my spirit and an educational environment that built my mind. Those things held me for a time, but eventually I chose to let go.

“The money I earned sustained me, but it also supported a marijuana habit that led to harder drugs and darker places. Eventually, I lost everything, and found myself immersed in the very streets I’d managed to avoid.” – Solomon Jones

Perhaps it was the desire to fit in, or an attempt to quell the ache I felt inside. Whatever the reason, I began using marijuana and alcohol in high school, and although I went on to study journalism at Temple University, poverty had convinced me that money was more important than waiting for a degree.

I dropped out and took a job. The money I earned sustained me, but it also supported a marijuana habit that led to harder drugs and darker places. Eventually, I lost everything, and found myself immersed in the very streets I’d managed to avoid.

I lived in my car at first, then in abandoned houses, eking out a hardscrabble existence that eventually took me to a hospital bed with a case of bacterial pneumonia. A doctor told me that I was so sick upon my arrival I had only a 50/50 chance of walking out alive.

Click here to read my powerful story in the Philadelphia Daily News. Video below.

Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com. Click here to learn more about Solomon