Butterflies in the Trenches: The Hood, an Epic Bike Ride, and Finding Inspiration

A vital memoir from one of Canada’s most courageous athletes and anti-racism activists, Butterflies in the Trenches is a riveting look at Toronto public housing, the drug trade for a childhood dealer, and the journey of a young Black man seeking redemption through sports and STEM education.

“Society gave us a script to follow based on our postal code and skin colour, but we ripped that stuff up and made a script of our own.”

Curtis Carmichael is an award-winning STEM educator, Team Canada Duathlete, and the founder of Ride for Promise. He was three-quarters of the way through his cross-Canada charity bike ride when the realization struck him: he wanted to help the teens coming up in the hood now... but first, he needed to help himself.

Butterflies in the Trenches is the candid story of Curtis' life in the public housing projects in Scarborough, Ontario, where he grew up surrounded by trap houses, attending underfunded schools, and avoiding drive-by shootings. He shares raw and intimate stories from his childhood as a drug dealer and hustler and explores the effects of poverty, systemic racism, and police brutality on Black and low-income communities.

Curtis writes with powerful honesty and precision about life in the hood, mental health challenges, and the education he received from the dealers, rappers, hood philosophers, inmates, self-taught entrepreneurs, and OG’s who shared the street corner with him. The eye-opening stories in Butterflies in the Trenches are both an education for teens ready to support themselves and their communities, and an incredible story of a young man who breaks the cycle of poverty. Illustrated with more than 100 photographs and brought to life with an augmented reality mobile app, podcasts, and videos, Butterflies in the Trenches is an inspiring testimony to the resilience, willpower, and purpose of a young Black man with a deep love for a community that refuses to give up.

Foreword By Michael "Pinball" Clemons

Only available on: curtiscarmichael(dot)ca