You never know where you’re going to find Queens New York native, Erica Ford. She pops up throwing out the first pitch at Citi Field for a Mets game, she hangs out, sitting in the floor seats at Madison Square with the stars like Fat Joe and Tracey Morgan to see the Knicks. Yesterday she was literally in White House’s Oval Office for a meeting surrounding anti-gun violence. Now, the activist and community leader nicknamed “The Peace Doctor” has earned another title, author. Her new self-published tome, “The Peace Doctor’s Playbook” arrives today.
Besides various journal entries, Ford’s “Playbook” provides daily reflections and affirmations interactive prompts and actionable tools. She describes the literary package as “a yearlong companion to inspire healing, clarity, and empowerment.”
“For me it’s discipline,” Ford says about what it took for her to write and publish a book. “The book is comprised of messages and quotes that I used to send to young people over the last 20 years. I’m one of those people that I don’t throw stuff away. I save stuff. So I put it all together and I put some tools and messages alongside it. I put some QR codes in the book that allow you to connect to community so we can be intentional about life.”
“The hip-hop community, it’s so much jealousy now,” she added about her motivation to put out the book. “People are hustling so they can eat and stay alive, the competition makes it tough for it to be real community. If I’m not looking at you as my brother or my sister or my comrade, the person that compliments me and adds value to my life, and value to who I am, then we’re not having a real relationship. ‘The Peace Doctor Playbook’ helps you sit down and slow down and be intentional about your life. Be intentional. “
High ranking Roc Nation Executive and close friend of Ford, Emory Jones, gave her inspirational words to get the book started.
“He always calls me ‘The Modern Day Superhero,’” she said about her and Jones’ conversation. “He was like ‘you gotta have a tool. You gotta have something physical.’”
Today’s December 12 release date holds a special significance in Ford’s life. It was over three decades she attended a rally and was sparked to dedicate her life to peace.
“37 years ago today, I went to upstate New York to a rally to stop violence and committed myself to this,” she explained. “So in order to do something for 37 years straight, it takes some intentionality, it takes some discipline. It takes some being committed to something other than yourself. I was really moved by the people at that rally. Some you don’t know, some of those people you’re very familiar with. Sonny Carson, who was the father of Professor X from X Clan was there. He was a walking encyclopedia in terms of Black knowledge, in terms of Africa and so on and so forth. Minister Farrakhan was there. That was the first time Farrakhan ever marched. Jesse Jackson was there. Reverend Al Sharpton was there, he had just became somebody that was moving into his major activism. Viola Plummer, who’s a modern-day Harriet Tubman, was there. She was actually one of the reasons I was there, to see her.”
Had Ford not gone to that rally that day, who knows how her life would have ended up. She was about to embark and entirely different trajectory. As a 20 something year old back then, she had aspirations of becoming a “crooked cop.” As fate would have it though, Erica joined a movement to uplift, encourage and educate the community. She’s worked alongside artists such as Tupac Shakur and Ja Rule over the years in her activism endeavors, she’s been part of initiatives put forth by the White House to help save lives in the Black community and the organization she founded and ran for decades, LIFE Camp, started groundbreaking programs that empowered thousands of individuals and families to break the cycle of violence and promote peace. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and Oprah Winfrey have all honored her for her humanitarian efforts.
“The Peace Doctor’s Playbook is available digitally on www.ericaford.org, www.amazon.com and physical copies are available in various bookstores and shops.
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