Luis J. Lopez, a.k.a. Macho, was born and raised in East New York, Brooklyn. He grew up in the ’80s, a time when the crack epidemic was ravaging many major cities. At a young age, Luis found himself shouldering a responsibility no child should be forced to bear — he had to help provide food and other basic necessities for his younger siblings.

Although he was too young to get a job, Luis felt it was his duty as the oldest son to help provide for his family, so he turned to selling drugs. His adolescent mind never had a chance to consider whether he was making the right or wrong decision. All he knew was, there were little stomachs growling at home and “hustling” was the only option available for a kid in his situation to make money and quickly put food on the table.

Some say he was a product of his environment, but in reality, he saw the lifestyle more fortunate children in his neighborhood were living and wanted the same for himself and his siblings. But his mother could not afford the name brand shoes or clothes the other kids had, so he was often bullied. 

At the age of 14, Luis’ life would change forever. Shot in the face and left paralyzed from the neck down, he would be confined to a wheelchair as a quadriplegic, unable to walk or care for himself. But his nickname wasn’t ‘Macho’ for nothing — he was a fighter. So for the next twenty-seven years, he adapted to his disability and reintegrated into society.

With a new outlook on life, he became more sensitive to the problems affecting inner city neighborhoods. He repeatedly watched the same circumstances that lead him down the wrong path, play out in the lives of other children.

Fed up with the negativity and despair he was seeing, Luis decided to become an agent of change and would dedicate his life to warning at-risk youth about the dangers of embracing the street life.

Unfortunately, within a year of making the decision to embrace positivity, Luis’ younger brother became a victim of gun violence and was shot 7 times. Luckily, he survived..