The Legend of Step To

Book excerpt: Marvin “Step To” Baker is crushed by two untimely personal tragedies. A drunk driver kills his beloved cousin Tim. The chance and glory of Tim and Step To winning an Olympic gold medal, a long-held dream of theirs, is destroyed forever. Step To (an inner-city term which meant to boldly assert one’s self, be courageous, go forth and face challenges with direct action and disregard the risks and results) is left an angry, broken-hearted, ornery and rebellious black man without hope and purpose in his life. He later becomes encouraged and enlightened to help the black community by Elaine, a militant community activist who falls in love with him. In a fit of dispair, however, Step To ends up joining a drug trafficking gang. But when the gang abducts Elaine and holds her and some of her allies hostage, Step To becomes a crusader, hellbent on saving the woman he loves and the black/brown community amidst both violent crime and racial turmoil in 1980 Compton, California.