With the recurring presence of funerals and prison in Deangelo Collier’s life, he realized it was time to make a decision – he had to stop his family’s cursed cycle.
Collier, who was born in Gallaway, Tennessee, moved to Memphis when he was 6 years old, and his mother raised him alone. Being raised in a single-parent household created obstacles during his childhood.
“My mom was on government assistance, Section 8 and food stamps,” Collier said. “I also had to face a lot of family generation curses.”
Most of his family’s decisions resulted in death or prison sentences. Collier naturally followed in his family’s footsteps because this atmosphere surrounded him during his childhood.
Collier became a gang member and went to jail for some of the choices he made, but certain factors caused him to turn his life around. After losing five of his close friends, he realized he had to change before he ended up in a body bag or prison cell.
Also, if Collier continued living this way, the family curse would continue for another generation.
“I didn’t want my younger family (members) to follow in my footsteps,” Colier said. “I had to sacrifice my lifestyle for the sake of my family’s future.”
Collier decided to write a book, Breaking the Family Curse: Testimony Still Loading..., which focuses on the obstacles he faced in his life and how his faith allowed him to overcome them.
“The book is about how adversaries have been having a stronghold over my family for generations,” the 22-year-old said. “It is also about my testimony, because God saw the good in me and has given me the strength to help break some of my family generational curses.”
Collier published the book in June 2016, and many people have praised it on social media and supported it by wearing shirts with the book’s title. Collier said he plans to write more books and hopes his readers gain the knowledge of God and the strength to overcome life’s challenges and break their own family’s curses.
Aside from being an author, Collier recently became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and will graduate with a degree in criminal justice later this spring.
“I never pictured me this way, and I still don’t believe the things that I have accomplished…I’m coming for everything the enemy said my family can’t have,” Collier said.
Collier hopes people who are living the lifestyle he once did view him as an example and will then change their life for the better before it is too late.
“I hope that they stay away from people who would have a negative impact on their life and find God,” Collier said. “Nothing is impossible. One can overcome obstacles and be victorious.”
Collier greets readers and signs their books at a book signing in June 2016. He published Breaking the Family Curse: Testimony Still Loading... and plans to write more books in the future.
