Bishop Dr. Phillip Dukes is a man who has lived three distinct lives. He was brought up in a upright churchgoing family. He veered far from his upbringing it his teens and twenties becoming a major dealer and addict. In his early thirties he returned to his disciplined upbringing. Despite his body being ravaged by his desolate lifestyle Dukes achieved his doctorate and became a Bishop in his church. Today Dr. Dukes is an activist against gun violence and mentors youngsters to avoid making the mistakes that he did.
Philip Myles Dukes was raised in Riviera Beach from a child 8 years old by his grandmother and my aunt. who were devout Messianic Christians. They inculcated him with their basic morals and ethics for working and being a productive citizen.
By the time he was 14 Phillip had moved away from those morals and values because He ha been caught up in the drug retail market and drug use. The young teen’s older brother was using marijuana and heroin. His uncle was a pimp. With temptation surrounding him, he tried marijuana at age 14 and that's when the spiral began.
Before reaching 16 his Uncle begin to teach him the street game. He was quickly dealing marijuana and cocaine. It was a part of the social fabric of the community. Drugs flowed freely on the streets of Riviera Beach Blessed with his large stature and gregarious personality dukes quickly became a focal point in the system.
Every day he watched the pimps and pushers standing on the corner making money. The girls and the cars the money and the status seemed so cool to him. He justified going 180 on his moral upbringing. Why should he work hard like his mom and auntie? He could sell nickel bags of pot and make more money in a day than the two women together learned in a month. on top of those lures, the boy saw that it was allowed. Everyone got away with it could get away with it so he could too. The money started coming fast. At 16 in 1974 he was making more a week selling nickel bags weed than his parents altogether just barely made in a month.
Ive was hooked my the cash. He barely graduated high school in 1976 by this time the money had more than double and he had moved away from my foundational dream which was of becoming a senator or are a politician to help change my neighborhoods as a child.
He really want to be like PASTOR King, This all got side tracked. He realized that he was hooked into the street life, It was exciting exhilarating however he always felt out of place because of his moral up-bringing. The money, sex and the drugs kept him bound. In another year, I
he was on cocaine but didn’t never realized the power it held over him. Dukes maintained one of the biggest lucrative street drug businesses in the city of Riviera beach between 1975 and 1978. At 20 years old he was facing his second court case. He faced 13 charges and I was on probation. He faced a 5 - 15 year sentence. He attorney got him a plea deal of one year.
That 1 year in prison was the most important year of his life. Dukes began to change his mind so he could enter the third stage of his development. He found out I was not made to be locked up, However he was still using drugs even while locked up. They were smuggled in. When he got out he will still abusing Marijuana, cocaine, and PCP.
By 1981 a new ruinous drug came on the street - crack cocaine. He became seriously hooked on crack. He tried it once and instantly became addicted from 1982 until 1988. I overdosed 3 times between 1985 and 1987.There were times when he would be so high he could not remember anything. He would wake up on the floor sometime naked and confused There were times he was homeless. One night while being housed by a friend, he flipped out. His friend would help him to overcome his addiction.
By June 1988 he was free, He went back to his home church that his grandmother and family members founded, It and there I got his life back on track through prayer to THE GOD OF ISREAL and counseling with those elders.
To date it has been 31 years since he used any illegal drugs or had trouble with the law. Dukes now lives that life that he had before he was caught up in at from 14 years old to 37.
That part of his life was the learning lesson for him. He was in rebellion and went astray. He has earned his doctorate and is a bishop in his church. He now uses his experience to help others not go down that path.
Philip Myles Dukes was raised in Riviera Beach from a child 8 years old by his grandmother and my aunt. who were devout Messianic Christians. They inculcated him with their basic morals and ethics for working and being a productive citizen.
By the time he was 14 Phillip had moved away from those morals and values because He ha been caught up in the drug retail market and drug use. The young teen’s older brother was using marijuana and heroin. His uncle was a pimp. With temptation surrounding him, he tried marijuana at age 14 and that's when the spiral began.
Before reaching 16 his Uncle begin to teach him the street game. He was quickly dealing marijuana and cocaine. It was a part of the social fabric of the community. Drugs flowed freely on the streets of Riviera Beach Blessed with his large stature and gregarious personality dukes quickly became a focal point in the system.
Every day he watched the pimps and pushers standing on the corner making money. The girls and the cars the money and the status seemed so cool to him. He justified going 180 on his moral upbringing. Why should he work hard like his mom and auntie? He could sell nickel bags of pot and make more money in a day than the two women together learned in a month. on top of those lures, the boy saw that it was allowed. Everyone got away with it could get away with it so he could too. The money started coming fast. At 16 in 1974 he was making more a week selling nickel bags weed than his parents altogether just barely made in a month.
Ive was hooked my the cash. He barely graduated high school in 1976 by this time the money had more than double and he had moved away from my foundational dream which was of becoming a senator or are a politician to help change my neighborhoods as a child.
He really want to be like PASTOR King, This all got side tracked. He realized that he was hooked into the street life, It was exciting exhilarating however he always felt out of place because of his moral up-bringing. The money, sex and the drugs kept him bound. In another year, I
he was on cocaine but didn’t never realized the power it held over him. Dukes maintained one of the biggest lucrative street drug businesses in the city of Riviera beach between 1975 and 1978. At 20 years old he was facing his second court case. He faced 13 charges and I was on probation. He faced a 5 - 15 year sentence. He attorney got him a plea deal of one year.
That 1 year in prison was the most important year of his life. Dukes began to change his mind so he could enter the third stage of his development. He found out I was not made to be locked up, However he was still using drugs even while locked up. They were smuggled in. When he got out he will still abusing Marijuana, cocaine, and PCP.
By 1981 a new ruinous drug came on the street - crack cocaine. He became seriously hooked on crack. He tried it once and instantly became addicted from 1982 until 1988. I overdosed 3 times between 1985 and 1987.There were times when he would be so high he could not remember anything. He would wake up on the floor sometime naked and confused There were times he was homeless. One night while being housed by a friend, he flipped out. His friend would help him to overcome his addiction.
By June 1988 he was free, He went back to his home church that his grandmother and family members founded, It and there I got his life back on track through prayer to THE GOD OF ISREAL and counseling with those elders.
To date it has been 31 years since he used any illegal drugs or had trouble with the law. Dukes now lives that life that he had before he was caught up in at from 14 years old to 37.
That part of his life was the learning lesson for him. He was in rebellion and went astray. He has earned his doctorate and is a bishop in his church. He now uses his experience to help others not go down that path.