I was born June 9, 1969, in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised on Chicago's South Side. I attended Marcus Garvey Elementary School, Kate Starr Kellogg Elementary School, and graduated from Mount Carmel High School with the Class of 1987.

During my youth, sports played an important role in my life. At Mount Carmel I participated in football, wrestling, track and field, and briefly judo. I also competed during my high-school years with the Chi-Town Smokers summer track club.

After high school, I attended Illinois State University, Chicago State University, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. At Chicago State I studied physics and was influenced by professors and mentors including Dr. Elliott Treadwell and Dr. Justin Kanayo Akujieze. During that period I also participated in high-temperature superconductivity research associated with Argonne National Laboratory.

I later attended the African World Research Institute in Chicago, where Dr. Batu Shakari was my chief instructor. I graduated with the Class of 2004, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Science.

I began my career with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in 1997 and have spent much of my career at the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant. I eventually became a Chief Electrical Operator, supervising and helping maintain critical electrical and wastewater-treatment infrastructure serving the Chicago area.

I married Shaneka on June 10, 1995. Our family includes our son Marcel and our twin daughters Amari and Amira. Family has remained one of the central parts of my life.

For approximately two decades I coached and served young people through the South Holland Jets youth football program, beginning around 2004 and continuing through 2024. Coaching allowed me to pass along discipline, teamwork, confidence, and many of the lessons that athletics gave me when I was young.

I am also a Prince Hall Affiliated Mason and a member of Cornerstone Lodge No. 91 in Chicago. I served as Worshipful Master during 2015–2016 and again in 2020. I was recognized as Worshipful Master of the Year in 2020 and later served the Lodge as Secretary.

One of my major personal projects is preserving the history of my family for my children, grandchildren, and future generations. My research includes the Andrews, Norsworthy, Adams, Mills, Neal, Ferguson, Larkin, Turner, Heard, and Lockett/Locket families.

My paternal research follows the Andrews family through my father Clyde Andrews, my grandfather George Andrews, and earlier generations including Searcy Bailey Andrews, Squire Norsworthy Andrews, and Mary Norsworthy Andrews, with roots in Mississippi and Union Parish, Louisiana.

My maternal research follows my mother Darlene Adams Andrews through Leonard Adams Sr., Eva Lou Mills Adams, Lawson Adams Sr., Robert B. Mills, and the broader Adams and Mills families of Mississippi, Georgia, and northwest Indiana.

I have a particular interest in preserving old photographs, cemetery records, obituaries, newspapers, census records, probate files, church records, school records, military records, family Bibles, and the firsthand memories of older relatives. I believe family history should distinguish documented facts from family tradition and unresolved research.

I welcome respectful contact from relatives and fellow researchers who may have photographs, documents, corrections, family stories, cemetery information, or other records relating to these families.

My purpose in this work is simple: to preserve as much of our family's story as possible so that the generations who come after us will know who came before them.