Hello, friends and family. People keep asking me about the crime in our city and why there are so many “thugs” and “criminals,” as they are so often called. I call them what they really are: kids with no guidelines, no love, and full of anger.
I’ve told a few of my customers this problem didn’t “just start.” It’s been going on for a while, and the glass has overflowed. If you’ve read my past writing, you know I’ve written a lot about crime in the city. Remember, I just want people to think about what leads to this chaos.
I had my share of violence while growing up in a hood of Southeast D.C. I barely made it out of that place — and out of prison — alive and in my right mind. In the last year I’ve been attacked when selling my papers. People ask me, “Why don’t they just move out of the hood and do better for themselves?” Trust me, it’s really not that simple when there are no guidelines.
As a child growing up in the projects, I saw the police handcuff my mother. Why? Because she was on her way to night school to get a better job to get her family out of the hood. Despite the harassment and confusion, she DID graduate and move us out from being waist-deep in the hood. Thank God.
Love and peace.
