BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Duece King is an author, film maker and producer. He lives in Atlanta, but he never forgot where he came from: Buffalo's Bailey Kensington area.
"It was fun. But it was dangerous growing up in that hostile environment. It kind of made me callus," King said.
King said he started to hang out with the wrong crowd at a young age.
"I was the worst of the worst... It's only by the grace of God that I'm standing here talking to you right now. I think that God has used me as a vehicle and give back to the community that I played a major part in creating some of this havoc out here," King said.
But King said that lifestyle ended when he went to prison on drug and weapons charges.
"I didn't want to come back and do the same things I was doing before I left. I just started writing to create, to actually escape the reality of what I've been going through," King said.
King said he kept writing once he got out of prison, with Buffalo as his inspiration.
"I had no direction. I didn't have a plan. I just started grinding and pounding the pavement every day," King said.
Now, King has published three novels. Two have become films. He has also written, produced and co-directed four more movies.
King said he is back in Buffalo to tell his tale to people who may find themselves on the path he once walked.
"It's important to come back to Buffalo to share my story because this is the community that cultivated me. I want to give hope to the ones that experienced the same things that I had experienced," King said.
Pastor James Giles, the president of Back to Basics Outreach Ministries, said he hopes King's story will help people local anti-violence groups are helping see their path can change.
"They each are bringing members of the community participants that we deal with so they can hear what success looks like. They might be end gamed and hopefully they hear an inspiring message," Pastor Giles said.
