My Hood To Your Hood

I used to tell people that I'm from the hood but I'm not hood. It's kind of like wearing a basketball jersey but not actually playing on the team. I grew up in a working class household and every neighborhood I lived in was never too far from the roughest spots in the city. I've been in West Philadelphia (cue in Fresh Prince Theme Music) all of my life and the most important lesson this city has taught me about is the value of life. Sometimes I consider myself blessed and other times, I consider myself lucky because it's almost too easy to become a manufactured product of a dysfunctional environment. I remember at a young age my parents warned me about drug dealers while walking home to our old apartment building. I remember seeing small vials decorating the area where the curb and the street met. While I attended elementary school, they informed us about the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) campaign and the importance of just saying no to drugs. I never even thought about selling drugs until college when I got offered to push coke but I declined, but they were other kids who grew up not that far from me who didn't have the same option of a higher education, though I believe that there's always an option without having to risk your life in the process.

Hard Knock Life

Guns, Guns and More Guns. The general media exposed me to Black on Black crime in the inner city. The first gun I ever saw in person belonged to my dad. It was a small .22 that he hid under the bed when we moved into our current home. We had our house broken into before and he didn't want to take that risk again. I never had an affinity for guns unlike my cousin who I honestly believe thinks that having a gun adds more to his masculinity. It pisses me off t because out there in the streets, things have gotten out of control. Back when my father did his thing as a young man, the streets had a code of ethics where the older guys pretty much ran everything. Nowadays the new breed are not only killing themselves they are killing cops as well. The black community as a whole is effed up (there I said it) and we constantly exploit ourselves due to an everlasting epidemic of ignorance. I wish these kids knew that there was more to the world than just the block.

On My Block

They say everything happens for a reason. I used to wonder when things would change for the better but trying to find that answer was similar to locating a needle in the haystack. I realize that the only way anything will ever evolve is if we actually understood the value of our own lives by utilizing our potential. On my block, Your block, Or hoods you know about probably have a ton of brilliant minds whose growth is stunted by hustling backwards. I can't knock anybody's hustle but I hope that one day people recognize that just because life may have thrown you unavoidable obstacles, you can still rise to the top no matter what those teachers, bosses, family members said was impossible. Live Your Life

"We Run The Streets, The Streets Don't Run We" Jay-Z on Kingdom Come