“A lot of folks refer to 
some of my previous ventures as failures. I take that as an extreme insult. I’m joking, but I think failure is sort of a matter of perspective. We have this culture valued at Uber, which we call the champion’s mind-set. And champions’ mind-set isn’t always about winning. It’s about putting everything you have on the field, every ounce of passion and energy you have. And if you get knocked down, overcoming adversity. If you do those two things, you put everything you’ve got into it, and you keep getting back up, it’s impossible to fail. So that’s how I feel about it. It never felt like failure to me.” (Travis Kalanick – Co-Founder & CEO of Uber)
People try to pigeonhole me into my worst criminal moment as a sixteen year young child to box me into a thug/criminal category for the rest of my life. People love to generalize, to box people into their worst moments to project their insecurities about themselves onto others. Nonetheless, we must look at our past mistakes as exactly what they are, past mistakes. And, we must leave the worst of us in the past and become better today so that we can shine bright tomorrow.
Mistakes and errors in judgments, no matter how egregious they are, does not make you a failure. We can all lose a battle, but it doesn’t mean that we have lost the war. Life is like a marathon, and you have to approach the sport of living like an athlete. A part of defining your own finish line is defining what success means to you. In order to reach your success, you must condition yourself for the brutal obstacle courses that the game of life will definitely present to you. If you slip, you have to get back up, stay focused on the goals, and keep running. Even when your wind is depleted and your feet are blistered. You have to find the will to keep moving forward.
Halim A. Flowers
DOB- 09-01-80
Washington, D.C.
30 years to life
Contact Information-
Halim Flowers
#11967-007
Federal Correctional Institution Gilmer
P.O. Box 6000
Glennville, West Virginia 26351
My name is Halim Flowers and I am an author, poet, blogger(CriminalU.co), and at-risk youth advocate. I have been incarcerated for 18 years, since I was 16 years of age for aiding and abetting a felony murder in a case where I was not the shooter and the person charged as the gunman had his case dismissed and was never tried for this offense. I know it sounds crazy but it is my destiny for now and I embrace. My passion in life is learning and helping to enlighten and inspire others, especially helping to develop the character and lives of young men. I was featured in an Emmy award winning documentary about my experiences as a child at the adult D.C. Jail titled "Thug Life In DC"(See Thug Life In DC at YouTube) and I have authored nine books in the genres of self-help, prisoner reform, juvenile justice, memoir, and poetry(See Halim Flowers at Amazon.com). I very contrite for my past criminal offenses and seriously committed to helping our youth to understand "Victim's Impact" and breaking the "school-to-prison pipeline".