Sa’eed “King Ty” Mustafa Talks About His New Book

By Journalist Ms. Jones

HIGHLAND – Town of Highlands Councilman CSM Sa’eed Mustafa, also known as “King Ty,” recently wrote a book titled “Resilient Transition: Combating the Feelings of Stress and Anxiety.” Mustafa, a retired US Army Command Sergeant Major who served 30 years in the Army, released the book on September 11, 2021.

“I’m writing this book and it has a lot of layers to it. It talks about, first of all, transitioning from military to civilian life. What that is really like, when you leave this institution, called the military. And secondly, we had a pandemic… got the whole world shook up. The whole world stressed out, the whole world anxious, but not unlike when 9/11 hit. We are the center of finance in New York City. And so therefore, it rippled across the world and we ultimately ended up in a long, protracted war…. These… correlations here and 911 [are] symbolic, for me as a soldier to drop the book on that date for people to have hope in the world,” said Mustafa who was formally a Transition Counselor at West Point for a year for people leaving the military. “I noticed that there was one common thread between all these people, which was also present in me when I left. It is anxiousness… There’s this unknown… like, what’s it gonna be like when I take this uniform off? What’s life gonna be like? Am I gonna get a job? Am I gonna fit back into the community?”

Mustafa’s book has been a great resource for first responders as well. He works with them first-hand as a City Councilman.

“At the height of the pandemic, when we had the morgue filled, we used refrigeration trucks for our deceased… It was like a war zone,” said Mustafa. “Being in the politics over in Town of Highlands as a councilman… I got people in the ambulance corps. I got police officers that I’m over. A colleague of mine, her daughter, came out of high school, became a nurse, went to work down in New York City. She has seen so many die. That girl was shook up during this pandemic… 21 years old…She had to go seek counseling over this thing.”

Many people are experiencing stress and anxiety, especially during this pandemic. Mustafa, a 2020 New York State Veteran Hall of Fame Inductee by New York State Senator James Skoufis for his work in the community, wrote the book for everyone, not just for people in the military or first responders.

“[My book] talks about, assess your mental state… assess your emotional state… It’s okay to have stress. It’s okay to have anxiety. But… let’s manage it in a positive way,” said Mustafa who believes in combating stress and anxiety using music, meditation, and a positive mindset. “The first step is being resilient, not giving up on life, not taking your own life because it seems like there’s no end in sight…Remain positive, believe in yourself. And then there are certain things that will calm you down… Music is proven that if you go listen to certain music, it’ll bring down your blood pressure… Meditate and take yourself outside of your normal day to day activity and just stop for a minute. Close your eyes and go into a form of meditation it will bring you peace and bring you calm… Positive energy… will come back to you… They have meditation classes… yoga… Tai Chi… music therapy.”

Mustafa has become the ambassador for equine therapy for GallopNYC, an organization that offers therapeutic horsemanship programs to people. Equine Therapy is used to promote emotional growth in people.

“I’m working on a sequel to my book to say the next thing that you can use… to reduce your stress and anxiety is equine therapy… That’s where horses are healing humans,” said Mustafa who is a descendent of a Buffalo Soldier. “Black people were the original cowboys in America. Now that history’s been whitewashed… Many of them went on to be great rodeo stars… But, when the history books were written, they left us out. When TV shows were made, they left us out. When the movies were made, they left us out… So, we got to know that this is part of our heritage to get out here and learn about this particular thing called horsemanship… What I want to do is reconnect us back to our history… Our people are the ones who mastered this thing… As a former Army Command Sergeant Major, descendent of Buffalo Soldiers, [I] could not only heal the world through music, meditation, and a positive mindset, but also reconnect our people to our rightful place in history to reconnect with our legacy.”

You can buy Mustafa’s book, “Resilient Transition: Combating the Feelings of Stress and Anxiety,” on Amazon.

Journalist Ms. Jones