Harford County man seizes second chance after prison through social media

A Harford County, Maryland man is seizing his second chance after prison with the help of social media. 

For Douglas White, food review videos have quite literally been life-changing. 

"My mother was on drugs, my father was on drugs," said Douglas. "I fell victim to the streets at an early age."

Growing up in Edgewood, White faced homelessness and hunger. He did whatever he could to survive.

"The only thing that I know really is how to get in the streets and survive, and that day is when my life changed tremendously," said White.

Conviction and prison 

At 15, White was charged with attempted murder, assault and robbery, and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

"I was in that cell by myself, and I didn't have no books or nothing. And when I opened the drawer, I seen a bible," said White.

From there, he started feeding his faith by reading, writing, and praying for a better life.

"I said, 'God, I don't know if you can hear me, I don't know if you real, I don't know who you is. But I'm asking you to give me the strength to make it through this prison system,'" said White.

He held onto that hope for 13 years until his release in May 2024.

A second chance 

White's first stop after prison was a meal with a friend that changed everything.

"She took me to go get something to eat, and that changed my life," said White.

A Big Mac — his first bite of freedom — caught on camera.

"It really like knocked me out my socks," said White.

A few days later, after learning about TikTok, he decided to make an account and post his reaction video. 

Becoming social media savvy 

"I'm about to put it on there, and she said hold on, you have to use a hashtag. And I'm like, 'What is a hashtag?' I don't know what a hashtag is after at the time," said White.

Hours later, the video had 300,000 views.

"People from Africa, people from China saying, 'Keep going, we love your video.' And I'm like, it's still not registering to me. And then it was a guy. I remember, he said, 'My father did 42 years in prison. The way that you took a bite of that, I hope my father gets to taste that one day.' And that right there, I said, 'I'm motivating people.' And I said I think I've got something here," said White.

Now with hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views, White is using his platform to give back—serving meals, supporting others, and proving it's never too late to rewrite your recipe.

"What food means to me is freedom," said White. "I'm showing people, it's not how you fall, it's how you get back up."

You can follow White's journey on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at @Mealticketnu_.