Franklin D. Deese was born in the late 50s in the tumultuous South, swimming in the sweltering heat of segregation and racism. He was reared during the turbulent 60s, amidst the civil rights movement and the unrest of a humanity being suffocated by racial discrimination. He came of age as a teenager and later a young man during the 70s, unable to avoid a system that promoted experimentation with drugs, sex and street life; yet a system designed to punish those who pushed the limits. In the 80s, he spent his early adulthood in the dismal crypts of a cruel and oppressive prison system. Convicted for robbery, he was ironically sentenced to a system designed to rob a person of all future potential. He was paroled in 1989 with $30.00 in his pockets and the clothes on his back, facing mountains you can't begin to imagine. In spite of all those negatives, however, Franklin was able to over-come his challenges. Through study, mentorship and etermination, he learned how to move the mountains from his path and today it is undisputed that he is the only African American to be elected to the offi ce of Mayor, of any municipality in the county where he grew up -AND- the only African American in the United States to serve over 10 years in the prison system as a felon and then be elected to the top job of the city in the same county in which he was convicted.