It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at!
So I took a trip back to the Bronx in NYC last week and during my errands I made a stop in the South Bronx to 148th street and Willis Avenue. This exact corner is where I use to stand as a child with my father as he made his living. A street pharmacist as some folks would call it. It was a struggle back then to survive in the city and raise a child as a single male. Whatever the challenge, my dad still did it. The interesting thing about me standing on this corner in 2018 is that the sidewalks are newer, some of the buildings have changed but the same type of people are still here. I could still see folks drinking wine, selling their items to make a living and had the look of being lost that I almost had tears in my eyes. For some reason I felt as if their were lost souls filling that corner.
It's interesting to grow up in a place that you want to leave but also grow to love. I knew that one day in my adulthood I would leave the tall ghetto skyscrapers and crowded streets and find a new environment to connect to. Even though my physical being didn't leave the city until I was 39 my mind was gone for almost 40 years. The "hood" has many components to it, positive and negative. It's important to rid the negatives as fast as possible even while your body is still there. If not you will take that negative ghetto mentality with you. You can live in Beverly Hills and still be "hood like" and destroy your life in a totally new environment. This is why you see a variety of music artists, actors and sports stars, all races getting into "hood like" trouble. They have not cleared their minds from that negative ghetto mentality. Money doesn't change your mind, it only changes your bank account.
Now the hood can have many positive traits as well. I love the hood for the positive influences it gave me such as fast thinking, maneuvering dangerous situations, spotting frauds and con artists, being creative, and surviving with minimum means. I use these traits everyday of my life regardless of where I am. I know many folks that do not have these instincts based on a non-hood like upbringing and live life in a different way. It's all about where your mind is currently that will make all the difference and how it effects the life you want. So if you are from the hood, I encourage you to take the best characteristics from it that you can find and use it to your best ability and leave the rest behind. And if you are not from the hood and see "hood like" behavior, please try to understand that its not that easy to let go and to have an open mind and not judge folks so fast. It is an extremely difficult lifestyle and environment and can take years to identify that "hood like" behaviors can be dangerous to communities depending on the levels. So in closing, during my visit thru my old stomping grounds I felt appreciative of what those streets taught me. They made me a better person, father and community member and gave me a reason to still feel good!
What are you currently feeling good about?
This is a video from Eric B. & Rakim explaining a bit about the ghetto mindset.