Guest Appearance (Spider)

Growing up in Philly was a lesson that no school could have prepared me for. I lived on the south side with my moms, my twin brother Jalen and my older brother, Trevor. I never met my father, the dude left while my mother was six months pregnant. My mother stayed in church, she always dragged Jalen and I along and for the most part we went without complaining. When we reached 13, I started playing the block. I was tired of wearing Trevor's hand me downs and having to share them with my twin. I wanted to be just as fresh as the D boys. I continued to focus on school only because I didn't want to alert my mother to the things I was getting into but everyday it was becoming more of a struggle. I was being drawn deeper into to the drug life and I couldn't find my way out. My breaking point came when my twin brother became a target because of some work I put in. The bullet missed his heart by an inch. I think it was more than a wake up call for me, it brought me back to reality. Unfortunately my enemies still wanted me dead so my family was no longer safe but with limited funds, we were still stuck in Philly. I got word that there was a bounty on my head but I wasn't raised to be fearful of any man, he bled like me. While coming from school, I was ambushed. I wasn't prepared as I should've been and that mistake damn there cost me my life. I was shot twice, once in my shoulder and the other in my leg. I was also stabbed twice in my chest and once in my back and beat inches away from death. I spent a few weeks in the hospital, and I only had time to think and heal. As much preaching and praying that my mother had done, I was starting to see that the life I was living was getting me nowhere fast. I didn't want to end up dead. My mother was able to get an emergency transfer to another office, out of Philly, due to my accident. We moved to Atlanta, and it turned out to be the best thing. After my injuries healed, I started to take life a lot more serious. I was able to graduate high school top of my class and move on to college. I played college ball for a while, but went to graduate school instead of the NBA. I wanted to do more for my community and show that a black man could live through hell but make the necessary changes before it was too late. I went back to Philly a few years after I graduated grad school, went to my old neighborhood to see if I saw anyone I used to hang with, but I didn't. However the 'hood was still the same. I've since created an organization designed to help intervene in the lives of black youth going down the wrong path. I know now with an open mind, and a determined heart anything is possible.

- Jaden Miller (Formally known as Spider)