Lawayne Childrey is an award winning and successful journalist. It wasn't always like that, though.

Although few black gay men from the South ever talk about their sexuality or coming up in the deep south, the ones that do stand out. Lawayne Childrey shouldn't be alive today. When he was 4, he watched his cousin burn alive in a fire. When he was 5 all the way to second grade, Lawayne was molested. Diagnosed with HIV and then "full blown AIDS," he watched his lover die in the early 90s as well as heterosexual friends all around him. He then developed drug addictions and got into abusive relationships. He was gone beyond repair. And yet, he turned it around. This is how he did. He always believed in God and that his life had purpose.  He's an Edward R. Murrow Award Winning Journalist who lives in Nashville. His book is: "Peeling Back the Layers: A Story of Trauma, Grace and Triumph."  Enjoy the episode! The Jake Sasseville Show is produced by Profoundly Human Media. (c) 2015 All Rights Reserved.   www.JakeRadio.org