My name is Melvin Negrón. I was born and raised in Vineland Nj. I can honestly say I was raised by the streets & prisons. More then 2/3 of my life was spent in prisons. I started hustling by age 11 & by the time I was 14 I joined the Almighty Latin King Queen Nation as a Peewee King but b/c this area wasn’t familiar with gangs of that magnitude like that, my affiliation was limited to when I was locked up. However at the age of 18 I was recrowned by the Lion Tribe Chapter out of the Bronx NY. I quickly rose in the ranks to 1st crown. So for the next 20 plus years I lead different chapters within the Latin Kings in this state as well as different cities in other states. Not to mention I was also incarcerated in each of these states! It wasn’t until my baby brother died from an overdose that I started to question my life. Up until then I glorified the life, even though I still chose to keep doing the same! Nothing truly started to change until July 8th, 2016; the day I was sentenced to the least amount of time I was ever given. I knew I’d be home within 3 months. Or so I thought. God had different plans and he need me to not just see but believe! On October 27, 2016 while sitting in Trenton State Prison I was faced with the fact that I was either going to spend the rest of my life in prison or die the very next day! Either way, I was done! So that night while sitting on the edge of my bunk, something hit me. For the 1st time in my entire life, I dropped to my knees and told God that I couldn’t do this anymore! I finally surrendered to Him. Whatever my life’s purpose was (to live or die) I was ready for him to take over! It’s easy to say this from behind the wall b/c that what a lot of guys do when locked up but for me I knew this was real. Now I just had follow thru once I came home! Now 2 years have passed since dropping to my knees and God has shown me that miracles can happen! He uses me as a vessel to help others see that everyone & anyone can make it! Now I go back to the same prison I was released from and speak to men in there about my road to redemption. I also speak at several different rehabilitation facilities. I do outreach with the youth in Delsea Gardens. I recently teamed up with Wrektified Inc. out of Houston Tx. & several organizations from this are to put on an event in Delsea Gardens called “Bless The Block” which was to offer employment, help with drug addiction, resources for different programs to help empower our community. Now I’m currently doing an event called “Celebration Of Life” on November 3rd. It’s for anyone who has lost a loved one or family member to the streets either through addiction or violence. Myself and 2 other former gang members who at one time were my rivals an now today are a Pastor (my Pastor) & a Christian music artist along with other artist have put this event together for the people. This is just the tip of the iceberg! A lot has happened since I started this journey but a lot has yet to be revealed! Whatever he has planned though; I’m ready!