Butterflies in the Trenches is the candid story of Curtis' life in the public housing projects in Scarborough, Ontario, where he grew up surrounded by trap houses, attending underfunded schools, and avoiding drive-by shootings. He shares raw and intimate stories from his childhood as a drug dealer and hustler and explores the effects of poverty, systemic racism, and police brutality on Black and low-income communities. Curtis writes vividly and with powerful honesty about life in the hood, mental health challenges, and the education he received from the dealers, rappers, hood philosophers, inmates, self-taught entrepreneurs, and OG’s who shared the street corner with him. The eye-opening stories in Butterflies in the Trenches are both an education for teens ready to become self-sufficient and support their communities, and an incredible story of a young man who breaks the cycle of poverty.