Still Thugging

Thug n.a hoodlum or ruffian; formerly,a professional assassin in India; Today's thug comes in many more forms and the definition is much more wide spread.A young man with a ball cap,sagging jeans and a knack for speaking Ebonics fluently can be considered a thug.There should be no argument that before Tupac emerged on the scene in the early 90's the word thug was rarely if ever used to describe a black man.I myself began using the word about that time because I felt it was a title that would give my life meaning,as if it would strengthen my standing in the community as somebody not to f#ck with.(today I continue to use the word only in a different context)As I stated earlier many names have been derived from the word thug such as goon or gangsta to describe ourselves and others.In order to drive the title home what recent generations of men have done is become murderers,killing off potential doctors,lawyers and maybe even community leaders.I guess what I'm saying is many families will never get the chance to see what one would've became and this goes for the incarcerated as well.The streets of the inner cities such St.Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Flint and countless others are running crimson with the blood of our youth, OUR FUTURE! One of the things I've noted is that we have men and women with resources to reach out but refuse to because of the fear of failure or they feel their time would be wasted(we have to get them while they're young). As I've stated in previous writings I myself was once part of the problem instead of part of the solution. It took the majority of my youth and adulthood of being in institutions,being shot six times,homelessness and estranged from my family to finally begin to think straight. Not to brow beat anyone but God spared my life as He have with others and for that I'm indebted to my children and yours as well.Too many times we make it out never having the commonsense or compassion to reach back and help someone else,not even our own. The saying goes "it takes a village to raise a child",and I believe that to be true. The only reason black men are not extinct is because black women are producing more babies that thy're not even capable of caring for. I'am deathly afraid for my son so with every passing day I hope and pray for his well being but whatever he becomes in life I know that I have played a role, a major role(what now comes to mind is save our sons and daughters)-James Doe 1776