ANTHONY DURDEN

Anthony Durden — Founder, President, and COO of S.H.E.A.R. Inc. and an active member of the Circle of Brotherhood — was born in Miami, moved to Compton, CA at age 6 after his parents' divorce, got pulled into drugs, gangs, and robbery as a teen, and returned to Miami at 18. Between ages 18 and 32 he served 14 years incarcerated (armed robbery, weapons and resisting‑arrest charges). About 15 years before a 2019 Miami Times profile, while homeless and using crack in an abandoned Overtown building, he experienced what he describes as a call from God — and preached his first sermon in that crack house. The Miami Rescue Mission became the turning point: he rebuilt his life there, learned computer skills, and landed a job through a mission contact at a professional lighting company (Chauvet), where he's worked 12+ years — a trade he now also uses to help light church and community events.

His own framing of the ministry's philosophy: "God is not waiting on you to get fixed, he will meet you where you are."

CONNECTION TO THE TALENT CATALOG/ TALENT4CHANGE

S.H.E.A.R. Inc. is a formal T4C Miami Village partner org (alongside H2O Digital Arts), and the relationship spans several distinct threads:

• T4C has sponsored Durden's Hip‑Hop Summit & Black Business Expo with a Change Rover DJ workshop and bookbags, via T4C's relationship with Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp. TTC member Ephniko also hosted a DJ Workshop at the expo.
• Separately, Stylist Boost (T4C's mobile beauty salon/barbershop Change Rover build) ran at Northwestern Senior High — free haircuts, clothes and suits for students and unhoused men, alongside 5000 Role Models, Miami Rescue Mission and 100 Suits.
• DJ Lu (ILoveAvenue) hosted DJ workshops at two events in Durden's orbit: the Wheelchair Basketball event — part of Miami Gardens' Special Games (Nov 6, 2021, Bunche Park Recreational Center, hosted by Councilwoman Shannan "Lady" Ighodaro, with SHEAR Inc. as an event sponsor) — and at Circle of Brotherhood HQ (the Dr. Dorothy Bendross‑Mindingall Social & Economic Institute) as part of ILoveAvenue's "Christmas in July" toy drive, a collaboration DJ Lu and T4C have repeated multiple times.
• Durden helped Ignite The Culture (ITC) secure a 2024 Change Rover sponsorship — T4C handled setup/breakdown and ran a DJ Workshop inside the Change Rover led by Brotha Scott. Durden connected TTC and ITC, which led to TTC presenting the Talent Search Contest opportunity to TTC member Lil Yellow — who won 1st place, credited to TTC's own performance consultation. The Change Rover was then used as a Live Stage prop for picture opportunities for ITC talent competition participants, guests, and even celebrity judges Locksmith and Goalden Chyld in support of the Winner TTC's very own Lil Yellow.
• Durden organized a hip‑hop event at Circle of Brotherhood HQ featuring TTC members Alexander Star, TruAlity MENTOR, and Popp Da Rippa.
• Durden got the Change Rover (Mobile Innovation Station) featured in the MLK Parade, spotlighting Circle of Brotherhood's community work for several years until the Change Rover relocated to Ohio where it now supports Oberlin College and Community Radio and El Centro for Community Services.

Speaking / Testimony — Booked through Circle of Speakers under the framing "From Crack to Christ." Their pitch: "If you want to reach the unreachable, he is your guy." Fits reentry programs, recovery ministries, youth‑at‑risk assemblies, men's conferences.

Hip‑Hop Summit & Black Business Expo — His flagship annual event (2026 edition: Sat Aug 8, 1–5pm, at S.H.E.A.R.'s home address), combining music‑industry discussion with Black entrepreneurship networking — the natural anchor point for continued TTC/T4C collaboration.

Prison & Death Row Ministry — Regularly ministers inside correctional facilities, including death row.

Street Baptisms / "Saving Souls Challenge" — Created a social‑media evangelism movement; performs public baptisms of former gang members and addicts on the street (one Facebook video hit ~2 million views).

S.H.E.A.R. Inc. programs:

• Holy Ghost N Da Hood — Saving Our Youth (mentoring for ages 13–18, especially ex‑offenders, aimed at preventing truancy; also runs as an annual gospel concert at Miami Rescue Mission)
• Friend's & Family Day Beach Bash Baptism (homeless outreach)
• Neighbors4Neighbors Adopt‑A-Family (Thanksgiving/Christmas distribution)
• Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Easter events
• School clothes, uniforms, and supply distribution

Circle of Brotherhood involvement — One of nine members in the group's 2019 "Operation Hunger Strike" against gun violence; the org offers leadership development, life‑skills training, employment services, and career/transitional counseling (same 5120 NW 24th Ave address as S.H.E.A.R.).

Volunteer chaplaincy — Monthly volunteer at Miami Rescue Mission hosting Bible studies; active at Koinonia Worship Center & Village (Pastor Eric H. Jones Jr.).

Youth sports/community partnership — Works with the Florida Youth Football League (co‑founded by Flo Rida); helped lead fundraising to renovate Edison High School's fieldhouse in Little Haiti.

• Minister overcame addictions with help from God, mission — Miami Times (2019)
• Miami Black Business Expo asks who profits from hip‑hop and Black creativity — Miami Times
• Florida Street Preacher Issues 'Saving Souls Challenge' — CBN News (2017)
• CHAUVET DJ and TRUSST Prove to Be a Saving Grace for S.H.E.A.R., Inc.
• 9 Circle of Brotherhood members embark on a hunger strike — Miami Times (2019)
• Circle of Speakers listing
• https://boldjourney.com/meet‑anthony‑durden/