Bemus Point sculptor Isaiah Rashad II works with hammer and chisel on a concrete bust of Harriet Tubman, intended for placement in her home in the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park located in Auburn. P-J file photo

Current Jamestown resident Isaiah Rashad II has been through a lot to get him to where he is today — a known author and speaker.

Rashad originally grew up in Buffalo but moved to Jamestown later in life. He wrote his first book in 2007 after writing for a few small papers before that. It was in 2007, during a time in his life where he had lost everything after his small business went down, and Rashad found himself homeless and trying to figure out his life, that in a moment of desperation where he was even contemplating suicide, that he began to write.

“Something in me said to write,” Rashad said. “So, I wrote what I knew and published it, and that’s how I started my career.”

Rashad was a member of a gang from the age of seven to 12 years old. He spent time in multiple foster homes, and for a while growing up had times when he was on the street and homeless. It was then that he tried to find his way out.

“I tried to apply for the state police when I was 17,” Rashad said. “I was laughed at and told I needed experience. I enlisted in the Army and did my four years there and then came back to New York to try again. Only, I came back and missed the test to be a part of the force by a few days. They only do this test every three or four years, so that was my last chance. I said, ‘what do I do?'”

It was then that Rashad heard about police in Minneapolis that were hiring, so he drove down there and was finally hired as a cop. Rashad spent years as a federal police officer and a sheriff. He moved to Colorado and became a deputy sheriff in Denver on the gang unit. Rashad became a state trooper in Colorado and eventually after ending up in the hospital multiple times and losing many of his partners, left the force to teach cadets. While teaching, Rashad decided he wanted to do something more and returned to NY to be a professor, and then eventually decided he wanted to be a speaker. This was when he began to write and speak about his experiences and what he knew. Rashad also works with the Jamestown human rights commission to help with the homeless alongside the mayor.

Rashad has now published nine books and essays, and speaks at different venues two or three times a week.

Rashad’s works focus on true crime and many incidents he was involved in during his time in a gang or on the police force. Some of his notable books include “Man’s Search For Peace,” and “Battlefield Business”, but his latest one, “Homicide of a Rat” is the one Rashad said he is the most proud of.

“‘Homicide of a Rat’ is probably the last book I’m going to write,” Rashad said. “The format is different from any others that I have done. It is basically two people in a coffee shop having a conversation about everything. It is not meant to be read quickly. It’s meant to be thought-provoking and an introduction to a larger conversation.”

Rashad also has future speaking events lined up, including at the Lakewood Library on February 25 at 12 p.m. His topic for that day will be how to write a personal empire plan, with the idea of helping people get recentered and rebuild their empires, while also figuring out what that might be.

Rashad encourages everyone to support local libraries and authors.

“Spend time at the library,” Rashad said. “Support your local libraries. Take your kids and family. Libraries are the last stand for helping your community I think, and I think supporting libraries and writers is important. Writing saved my life.”