Derrick was locked up the week before he turned 21 years old.
Between 2005 to 2008, he bounced in and out of various state institutions in the Houston, Texas area and served nearly 18 months behind bars.
It was this experience that drew Derrick into a journey of introspection and self-reflection.
Both sides of his family had quite a history of drug and alcohol abuse, and prison as well.
As a child, he’d already visited his father in prison.
When he was arrested he realized just how powerless he’d become.
No matter how many times he called his mother or called his girlfriend or called his lawyer, there was nothing anybody could do for him.
He had to look at the calendar and say, “I’m not going home until next year.”
Once he got to the point of accepting that and accepting, “Okay, I’m here. There’s nowhere I can go. I can either cry and moan or I could become a more hardened criminal if I want to.”
The opportunity was always there, but Derrick chose a different path.
He started to journal every day.
He also discovered meditation.
His grandmother sent him books about Buddhism.
He got out of prison for the final time in October 2008.
He wasn’t very aware of politics, but Barack Obama was about to be elected President.
It was an interesting time to be coming back into the world, not only to have the cloud of drug addiction lifting off, but also the cloud of depression and for the first time in his life.
Derrick started going to the library every day.
While he was at the library, he rediscovered that he loved to learn, read, write, and explore his mind.
He started checking out various books at the library.
One of the books he read was on the American drug war.
He became fascinated by the war on Cannabis and the role that money, racism and corruption plays in it.
“That was a real eye-opener for me.”
He started connecting with various activist groups and spiritual communities, and people began contacting him to write on lots of different topics.
“I was able to turn my interest in writing into a career of sorts, writing in an alternative independent media, writing articles and producing documentaries, writing books.”
He began to realize that traditional activism had its limitations, “with people failing to look at their own actions and say, how am I contributing to this problem? How am I playing a role in it?”
Around 2012, 2013, the phrase “The Conscious Resistance” came to Derrick.
He realized that this struggle, our struggle, entails working on both areas, working on and healing our own personal traumas, our doubts, fears, and insecurities, as well as working to expose things going on in the world like 5G and other important issues.
Which is what Derrick has been doing for nearly a decade and led him to running for mayor of Houston last year.
For my next interview, I’m delighted to welcome freelance investigative journalist, author, and public speaker, Derrick Broze.
