Author: Dr. Jabali Zuberi Limbani

Jabali Zuberi Limbani grew up in a small southern town in a dysfunctional family with an abusive, alcoholic father and a co-dependent mother who became a single parent dependant on welfare when his parents were forced to separate. Moving to a northern city at age 15 with his mother and siblings, Jabali experienced a number of conflicts living in a broken home and struggling to adapt to a city life without a father. Undergoing a culture shock and identity crisis, Jabali was initiated into a street life of crime and gravitated to delinquent and criminal behavior, substance abuse and heroin addiction. As a petty thief and small time hustler, he dropped out of school in his senior year when the fast paced, gleam and glamour of street life, quick money, fine women and fast cars took precedent over the three “R’s, thinking this was his rites of passage to manhood. Barely escaping death through shoot outs and shooting up drugs and going in and out of jail like they were mini vacations for crimes ranging from misdemeanors to felony convictions, Jabali’s self esteem hit rock bottom in prison when he had to question his own insanity for having a rat as his best friend! I Believe to My Soul: Trials and Triumphs of an African Male Growing Up in America, details a chronology of events involving daily struggles for survival. Having endured a poverty stricken plantation life in early childhood, a troubled urban ghetto life during adolescence, and a drug addicted, criminal lifestyle in his young adulthood, Jabali gives candid accounts of his experiences regarding the dramatic changes he would undergo in transitioning from a plantation to penitentiary to acquiring a Ph.D. Dr. Limbani holds an Associate degree in Business Administration, a Bachelors degree in Human Resources Development, a Masters degree in Social Work, a Specialists degree in Humanistic Psychology, and a Doctorates degree in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Limbani maintains a private clinical practice, a licensed residential treatment facility, and a supervised independent living home for adjudicated youth. He founded a male mentor program, in 1991 and has devoted a part of his life to helping boys become responsible young men by mentoring young males through rites of passage activities for the past 25 years.