Location: United States
Member Since:
Feb. 08, 2012
Gibran Tariq
Biography
Biography
For most of my life, I was the guy most wannabee thugs wished they could be. Officially declared a "menace to society", I was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for my role as mastermind of a series of daring bank robberies in the 70s. Two involved shootouts. One with the police. The other with a citizen in a bank parking lot where I narrowly missed being killed. While confined, I took part in an even more daring prison escape.
Despite this seeming penchant for violence, I consoled myself with the notion that I was merely a poet trapped in a gangsta's body and oddly enough, this wasn't far from the truth as I had evolved from a family of teachers, four of whom taught English. As such, I learned, early on, to respect and to appreciate language since my grandmother was very strict and would not tolerate improper grammar under her roof.
From the start, there appeared to be a household conspiracy to convert me into a writer. By the time I was ten, I possessed a private library fit for a scholar, had a new typewriter, a big desk, and plenty of blank paper. By 11, I had mastered the dictionary, was a whiz at Scrabble, and was a honor roll student in school. At 12, I had completed my first novel.
By my 13th birthday, I had discovered hustling and I immediately dropped out of school and adopted "the streets" as my home. By 14, I was in reform school for assaulting a police officer. While there, I was a star journalist, the first black deemed smart enough to work in the print shop and on the in-house newsletter. I served one year and a day.
Upon my release, with hardly any delays, I embarked on a personal crime spree, and at 15, was sent to prison where I was the youngest convict there.
While in the Youth Center, I acquired my high school diploma at 16, wrote my first play, turned militant, and when released at 19, went to New York to join the Black Panthers.
In New York, I discovered heroin. Writing and the revolution would both have to wait as a drug habit left little room for anything else. When I tired of being a junkie, I kicked my fascination with getting high, but years later would emerge as the "alleged" kingpin of a notorious heroin distribution ring.
Finally brought down by the FBI and DEA in 1997, I again was sent to federal prison. This time I would be gone for a decade, but once more I turned back to what I had turned my back on: writing. I studied journalism, started a writer's colony, mentored other aspiring prison writers, four of whom are now publised, one a bestselling street-lit author. I edited and founded various newsletters, performed freelance editorial services for outside writers while quietly perfecting my craft.
Hailed by some as the greatest prison writer ever, I was interviewed by numerous tv and print outlets. My writings have even been studied in an English class at an university where I was invited to lecture.
While in the Atlanta Federal Pentitenary, I published two novels, but soured on traditional publishing after a deal gone bad with a well-known publisher. I also developed two programs. One, PROJECT UPLIFT, deals with drug-dealer addiction. The second, GIRLSMART, concerns at-risk, teenaged, black girls. This program is a counter to the BET-inspired video vixen syndrome where sistas opt to employ their booty rather than their brains.
If anyone is interested in either of these program, I will offer more data on them as soon as I prepare my website. However, if anyone is interested in my recent novel,When I Say Jump, or SNAPSHOTS, a book of daily affirmations, they can be purchased online at Amazon.com.
After spending over 35 years of my life in some of the toughest prisons in America, I can unequivocally say that I have finally gone from wrong to "write!" At last!
For most of my life, I was the guy most wannabee thugs wished they could be. Officially declared a "menace to society", I was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for my role as mastermind of a series of daring bank robberies in the 70s. Two involved shootouts. One with the police. The other with a citizen in a bank parking lot where I narrowly missed being killed. While confined, I took part in an even more daring prison escape.
Despite this seeming penchant for violence, I consoled myself with the notion that I was merely a poet trapped in a gangsta's body and oddly enough, this wasn't far from the truth as I had evolved from a family of teachers, four of whom taught English. As such, I learned, early on, to respect and to appreciate language since my grandmother was very strict and would not tolerate improper grammar under her roof.
From the start, there appeared to be a household conspiracy to convert me into a writer. By the time I was ten, I possessed a private library fit for a scholar, had a new typewriter, a big desk, and plenty of blank paper. By 11, I had mastered the dictionary, was a whiz at Scrabble, and was a honor roll student in school. At 12, I had completed my first novel.
By my 13th birthday, I had discovered hustling and I immediately dropped out of school and adopted "the streets" as my home. By 14, I was in reform school for assaulting a police officer. While there, I was a star journalist, the first black deemed smart enough to work in the print shop and on the in-house newsletter. I served one year and a day.
Upon my release, with hardly any delays, I embarked on a personal crime spree, and at 15, was sent to prison where I was the youngest convict there.
While in the Youth Center, I acquired my high school diploma at 16, wrote my first play, turned militant, and when released at 19, went to New York to join the Black Panthers.
In New York, I discovered heroin. Writing and the revolution would both have to wait as a drug habit left little room for anything else. When I tired of being a junkie, I kicked my fascination with getting high, but years later would emerge as the "alleged" kingpin of a notorious heroin distribution ring.
Finally brought down by the FBI and DEA in 1997, I again was sent to federal prison. This time I would be gone for a decade, but once more I turned back to what I had turned my back on: writing. I studied journalism, started a writer's colony, mentored other aspiring prison writers, four of whom are now publised, one a bestselling street-lit author. I edited and founded various newsletters, performed freelance editorial services for outside writers while quietly perfecting my craft.
Hailed by some as the greatest prison writer ever, I was interviewed by numerous tv and print outlets. My writings have even been studied in an English class at an university where I was invited to lecture.
While in the Atlanta Federal Pentitenary, I published two novels, but soured on traditional publishing after a deal gone bad with a well-known publisher. I also developed two programs. One, PROJECT UPLIFT, deals with drug-dealer addiction. The second, GIRLSMART, concerns at-risk, teenaged, black girls. This program is a counter to the BET-inspired video vixen syndrome where sistas opt to employ their booty rather than their brains.
If anyone is interested in either of these program, I will offer more data on them as soon as I prepare my website. However, if anyone is interested in my recent novel,When I Say Jump, or SNAPSHOTS, a book of daily affirmations, they can be purchased online at Amazon.com.
After spending over 35 years of my life in some of the toughest prisons in America, I can unequivocally say that I have finally gone from wrong to "write!" At last!
Where to find Gibran Tariq online
Where to buy in print
Books
Snapshots
by Gibran Tariq
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 62,380.
Language:
English.
Published: February 10, 2012
.
Categories:
Nonfiction » Inspiration » Daily affirmations, Nonfiction » Inspiration » Personal inspiration
Snapshots is a cover-to-cover inspirational guide for African-Americans who aspire to understand themselves and the world in which they live. This book will set your soul on fire. It is not merely a book of affirmations. It is a key that you can use to unlock the start of each morning and then provide you with a passport into the mystery of tomorrow.
Read and Rejoice!