His boldness and self-confidence are amazing. He talks tough in spite of his condition as a blind man. His glowing dark skin combines with the artificial gold teeth in his mouth to reinforce his self-assurance. On his neck, a golden crucifix dangles on his branded white T-shirt on which T.H.U.G.G. is inscribed. But behind this flamboyant image of Bishop Renold Bell, an African-American, is a life of drug trafficking and addiction from which he transitioned into missionary activities. Our reporter met him in St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America recently and he shared his life experience in his baritone voice.

He said: “My name is Bishop Renold Bell. I want you to publish my story to the world that drugs or crime does not pay. I am now a motivational speaker going from communities to churches, preaching against the use of drugs.

“I am a musician and also a publisher. I have published some books, among which is T.H.UG.G Journey, where I wrote about my life. I have been to jail 40 times as a result of drug addiction, women battering, fighting, gun charges and many more.

”I was born on December 26, 1972 in New York, and I am the only child of my parents, Gerald Price and Miriam. I went into drugs early in life. My mother died at age 22 when I was barely six years old. She died from alcohol consumption.

”It was my father who introduced my mother to alcohol. The two were alcoholics on the streets of Queens, New York. I did not know my father as such because since age 11, I have not seen him till now.

“The last time I saw my father was in 1984 during my grandmother’s funeral. What really shocked me was that when I saw my daddy walk through the church doors to pay respects to grandma, I didn’t know how he knew that she had passed away.

“He did not look clean like others and was smelling alcohol. That was the last time I saw him till this day. And do you know that my father did not know I was shot and now blind or that he has grandchildren? I suffer mentally and spend everyday thinking whether my father is alive or dead.”

Bell also spoke about his mother whom he said he only knew faintly, saying “When I was six years old, my grandmother asked whether I would attend a funeral where family and friends gathered to view the remains of someone who was never leaving this world and I might not see her again. She also said that that would be the last time I would see my mother.

“I was confused because I didn’t understand it was my mother whom I saw. She looked as if she was just sleeping, and that was the last time I would see her.”

Summarising his relationship with his parents, he said he didn’t know a lot about his younger life “except how they (parents) had me posted up at liquor stores. I would always see liquor bottles in my baby pic.”

Bell said he did not complete his high school. ”In fact, I had only six months to go, but I would rather hang out in the streets with my friends, drinking, smoking, and having a good time with the girls and selling drugs.

“I became Chris Bell, the ‘Stickup man’ as I continued my nefarious activities. In the beginning of April 1991, I held up a man on Calhoun Street, dug my hand into his pocket and asked him to give me his money and then fled to a friend’s place.

“The guy I held followed me. He called the police, who surrounded the house to prevent me from escaping. The lady of the house let them in, and they found 38 special guns in the house.

“But it wasn’t linked to me, because I never pulled out a gun to rob the man. But I went to jail for battery.

“At another time my friend Cedric and I robbed a drug house. But when we couldn’t find the drug money, we decided to take the two big concert speakers that I knew could bring some money. I sold the speakers.”

How I was shot in the eye at 18

Bell recalled how as an 18-year-old, his inebriated self requested his friend to shoot at him and he was shot in the eye.

He said: “I blame alcohol to this day as I allowed it to alter my mind and I asked my friend to shoot me.

“Alcohol is no one’s friend. And how stupid I was to get drunk on April 25, 1991 and asked a friend to shoot me.

”I was shot in the eye at age 18 over drugs money. We argued over the money realised from drug business, and the guy, Cedric, asked me for his own share of the money.

“I was drunk and laughing. I said to him, ‘Hold up! Don’t be fronting me like that. I’m going to pay you.’ But my friend hollered, ‘I’m going to get half of what you sold!’

“I declined and said I would give him twenty now and twenty later, after I had flipped the cocaine to make some more money.

“Already, I knew I was the get-paid man, so I already knew that he would agree to what I was saying. But he took offence to how I was going to break him off.

“In annoyance, he asked me to pack my clothes and my other stolen merchandise and leave his house just because I wouldn’t pay him at once. So I was upset, because he knew I had nowhere to go.

“So I said it’s like you want to shoot me or something, and he replied that it wasn’t a bad idea. I told him, ‘Then you can shoot me; get your gun and shoot me’.

”To my chagrin, my friend went into his room and brought out a 12-gauge pump shotgun. Then I said, ‘You really have a gun?’ He replied in the affirmative. I said, ‘Well, use it! Shoot me!’ and he pulled the trigger.

“But the gun was on safety. I yelled at him that my name is Chris Bell, I am not scared. Then I was 18 and he was 17. He pulled out the gun, I asked him to shoot me, and I heard gboooooo. That was 32 years ago.

“The next thing I remember was waking up at the hospital after six weeks in coma. Thereafter, I could not see anymore. I was in coma for six weeks and my head was swollen like a pumpkin. I thought I was going to die.

“When I woke up from coma and asked where I was and I was told what had happened to me, I began to recollect every detail of the story from friend to drug money and when I asked him to shoot me.”

Bell said he did not realise the severity of his blindness until he wanted to watch the Chicago Bull Championship game.

He said: ”On the day of Chicago Bull, Lisa, my pregnant wife, was in hospital room with me and I told her to turn on the television in order to watch the game, but she said the television was on.

“I told her to bring it closer because I couldn’t see it. She did, and I told her to tune into another channel, yet everything was totally dark.’’

Life as a blind man

He narrated how difficult it is to live without his sight, saying: ”Living with blindness was stressful and frustrating. I would wake up in the morning ready to eat when everybody was asleep. I became a burden.

“My family members were helping me to dress up. But I could eat on my own.”

Bell said he started eating bags of carrots, believing nutritionists who say that carrots can make one regain one’s sight.

”After a whole year of eating carrots with no signs of improvement, I removed carrots from my diet and started taking marijuana with the belief that I could regain my vision. But the marijuana didn’t last too long because all it did was to make me paranoid”

Asked what became of his friend who shot and blinded him, he said: ”The guy who shot me was 17 years old then. He went to jail but was later freed.

Asked whether he later met the man that shot him, Bell said he was on his way to Ozzie’s Club one day when he heard his friend’s voice calling him.

“The voice said, ‘Chris, come here’. The voice sounded so familiar. When I asked who was calling, the caller replied Cedric. It was the guy that shot me.

“We started chatting. “We drove to a liquor store and I bought a beer for him. We spent a couple of hours together but I didn’t bring up the shooting matter.

“But he told me that he was sentenced to 15 years but only served two and a half years.’’

I went to jail 40 times

When asked how many times Chris went to jail, he began by counting on his finger tips… ”91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96… I went to jail 40 times within six years.

“Before I got shot, I robbed a man. I saw him on the street, picked his pocket and started running. I was caught and jailed.

“I went to jail 40 times within six years before I met Christ; from misconduct and stealing to handgun and doing drugs. While I was blind, I was still using a gun.

“I was thinking crazy. I had a gun and could shoot. If I heard your voice, I would target where the voice came from.

“I went to jail when I beat my girlfriend. I was crazy. Even when I was blind, I was still doing all those things: stealing, selling drugs and fighting.

“The judge did not care whether I was blind. I never thought a blind man could go to jail but I went.”

My main message now is humility. Without humility, you cannot change your life. Accept Jesus Christ as your saviour.

“My message to everybody in the United States and Africa is humility. That is why I am sharing my story. I am now a motivational speaker, speaking the truth and realities of life.

The Bishop said he Is married to a Ghanaian.

He said: ”My family is in Ghana. I married a lady who already had three children. I met the lady on Facebook. I went to Ghana to meet her and I will soon go back to Ghana to see my lover.”

Despite being blind, Bell did not stop committing crime.

He said: ”In 1992, I went to jail for punching a bouncer in the face at the club. I thought I would not be in trouble being a blind man, but I was wrong. I was charged to court and the Judge sentenced me to 60 days in the Allen County jail.

“But my 30 days among the criminals was hell as some of the inmates were serving 60 years in jail. There was fighting, yelling and a lot of criminal activities where they were locked up.

“When I left jail, I went into drug business again. I would wait till end of the month when I would collect Social Security cheque of 200 dollars in order to turn it to 400 dollars and hereby buy dope.

“But I got cheated because of my blindness, as they give me less than what I was supposed to make. I got ripped off… I stopped using pager because people would hear my voice.

“I put up with a sister whom I paid 150 dollars per month out of my 400. I was happy because I could sell dope and drink, so I didn’t need to talk to a pager and call or receive calls from customers.

“Here I met a lady named Vette, who became my girlfriend. Although I had a two-year-old son and she was three months pregnant with another man when I met her, that didn’t stop me from loving her. We loved each other.

”I went to jail again when two of my friends were fighting and a police was called but one of my friends handed a metal in my hands. When I felt what it was, it was a gun.

“I dropped it on the ground and it fell on our feet. The police arrested me over the gun, and since I had a bad reputation, I was charged and I went to jail again. The Judge gave me 90 days and a fine.

”When my old girlfriend Vette drove me around and I sold drugs, I kept the money with her. The following day, I found that she was spending the money I had given her with another man. I was mad.

“So I called Tommy, my cousin, to pick me up. I had a gun and my cousin was not aware. He took me to Vette to talk. I knocked on her door but she didn’t let me in. So I pulled out my gun and fired shots through the window.

“The police were looking for me everywhere, and I knew I had to leave Indiana.

“I started going to church because the only things that are hit in church are drums, clappings and beautiful voices and singing.

“In the church I narrated my story. I moved into my friend Terrance Cole’s place. He was once shot in the head with a .22 revolver that rendered him paralysed in his right hand and leg.

“My name became popular and my story made headlines in newspapers like ‘If you let me live , I’ll serve you’, Ex drug dealer is now blind THUGG IV Christ, Pavement pounding gives way to national TV spot’.

“I was featuring a once-in-a-month show called Examine Yourself Live. This time, I began to feel for Cedric who shot me. I started defending him when the media asked questions about him.

“I also went to the Judge to have him set free. Examine Yourself was hot that month because people didn’t want to see me help him. But I went as far as visiting him in jail for encouragement. I told him that I was on his side and that it was part of my project CPT (Change People Today).

“I did what I believed was right, and because of that, God, through my forgiveness, started opening more doors for me by giving me the chance to speak to communities and church groups”. (The Nation)

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