Crossing Farmers Boulevard A Journey to Oneness in a Polarizing World

Defining moments refine our potential and give birth to our purpose. These unexpected twists of events, unforeseen challenges, and courageous leaps of faith outline the blueprint of the lives we build. Crossing Farmers Boulevard: A Journey to Oneness in a Polarizing World is a collection of the pivotal moments that shaped the character, tenacity, and empathy of Dr. Ronald J. Peters, Jr. Born during the infancy of hip-hop culture in Queens, New York, an inquisitive young man discovers a world of wonder and limitless possibilities when he crosses Farmers Boulevard, sometimes with almost deadly consequences, but always with valuable lessons learned. As a child, he was challenged by dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, and an environment that perpetuated fight-or-flight reactive behaviors, including drug use, violence, and devaluation. He utilized hip-hop as a form of self-therapy. Tagging and drawing provided him with an escape from the confines of his learning disabilities and the outlet he needed to self-nurture and exercise his God-given creative thoughts. These expressive activities cultivated his understanding of the polarity of his perceived academic weaknesses and the innovative gifts that they could afford. As an adult, he became a university professor and defied end-stage kidney disease. His engaging memoir plays out as the reverse engineering of an improbable life's journey full of adventure, discovery, and the transformative power of love.

Dr. Peters has held faculty appointments at the University of Houston Department of Health andHuman Performance, Houston Baptist University Center for Health Studies, Prairie View A&M University Department of Health and Human Performance, and Texas Southern UniversityDepartment of Health Sciences. He served as director of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Applied Research Initiative with the Southwest Prevention Center at The University of Texas School of Public Health and was the principal investigator of the Houston Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program, funded by the National Institute of Justice. In addition, he served as CEO of Intervention & ResearchAssociates, a preventive research organization that provided applied health intervention and research evaluation services to universities and nonprofit organizations nationally and abroad.He retired in 2014 as an associate professor of behavioral sciences from The University of Texas. During his tenure, he published more than one hundred peer-reviewed papers in the professional literature and received more than five million dollars in federal grants to investigate health behaviors amongincarcerated and vulnerable populations. His research has been featured on ABC News, CBS News, CNN, ESPN, Good Morning America, National Public Radio, NBC News, VICELAND, and NFL Live and in USA Today as well as a myriad of other national and international media outlets. Dr. Peters's teaching and serviceawards include the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Golden Key Honor Society, African American Alumni of the Year from Virginia Commonwealth University, Legend in Education Award from the Ivy Educational and Charitable Foundation, and Living Legend Award from the Blue Triangle Multi-CulturalAssociation. In addition, he was inducted into the Texas and Southwestern Region Halls of Fame of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Dr. Peters currently lives with his family in Pearland,Texas.