Gaining One's Definition

Common and Cee-Lo have this one track that is ill mellow, yet very powerful.

Curiosity killed the catechism
Understanding and wisdom became the rhythm that I played to
And became a slave to master self
A rich man is one with knowledge, happiness and his health


Some of the stories today's teens can tell you they've been through are sure to raise many people's eyebrows. No wonder the generational and cultural gap was so evident and on display in the city council chamber this week. Sht is real in the field, B. But roses do still poke through those concrete pores. No doubt.

We been struggling since single shot gauges

Without the guidance of our fathers
All we know is how to double clutch revolvers
-Billy Danze (of MOP)

we seem so free in throwing around the words at-risk and high-risk to describe our city youth. at times, it can be maddening when you come to the realization that many things - no matter how hard you work or pray - are simply out of your hands. it can be frustrating. downright depressing. but you can never give up. that only begets a cycle of endless apathy.

so as i literally criss-crossed the city today, i had the chance to interact with a wide array of people. i should write a book about all of the disparate character studies that can found in a daily sweep.

we throw out suggestions and gripes and complaints, but offers solutions far and few between.

we rally for business and economic development, but don't really lend much credibility to entrepreneurial cultivation.

and some people talk without thinking. methinks that is a cardinal sin all by itself.

and boston city concilor jerry mcdermott is a d!ckhead. quote me, homie. he showed his a$$ yesterday. mad youth rolled through the city council's chambers because they were to vote on the new budget. everybody got up and gave their little monologues. but apparently, after too much talking, heads started getting antsy. but then mcdermott started puffing his chest out. so, like a wave, cats started standing up and turning turning their backs to the center (mainly because of mcdermott's comments). very dramatic from what i heard. you can peep the entire meeting online. scroll to the 2-hour mark to listen and see for yourself. i only heard consalvo and mike ross speak. i left right after ross played himself by speaking in favor of the budget. let's see how accurately horace's prediction will play out with that one. so anyways, after it got a little rowdy, they called in the blue boys and escorted much of the people out of the chambers. just unfortunate how flaherty got all shook up. hey, what can ya expect from city government. democracy at its finest, right?

we clamor for safer streets, yet don't truly put the effort in to make them safer.

a year ago today, one of the youth from Project Hip-Hop lost his life at the hands of an unknown assailant.

i had just met son a few days prior when PHH had its summer retreat for youth who were going to be participating in the summer program.

this afternoon, this year's teens will venture out to the burbs for the same retreat. it's a way for them to bond, and gain new insight on being young leaders and activists, etc.

he was supposed to roll out a few days later with the group on a road trip across several states to get out of Boston and see some new sights and have some new experiences.

but obviously, that was not so.

though i only had a brief encounter with him, it is still very fresh in my mind.

i often think back to when i was 17.

the run-ins i had were obvioulsy not that bad since i'm still here to write about them. but yet, i cannot help but rationalize about the state of my peoples. not our people. my peoples.

matter of fact. last evening, i found myself unexpectedly roaming some roxbury blocks because of rumors of some drama popping off with youth from another hood.

it can be frustrating. nauseating. overwhelming. how do you balance that line of doing something with not overdoing it. well maybe overdo it is not the right word. but i haven't had the best way with words lately. so let's just say progress is only as evident as your perception of the initial problem. i met two mothers last night of teenage boys. you could see the anxiety in their faces. your could feel the vulnerability in their hugs and handshakes.

until shT truly hits home do you realize the importance of something that was previously insignificant or even irrelevant. but now it's an issue. now, it's a priority.

so although he didn't make it onto our to-do list, please do what you can.

rest in peace, kareem. your spirit lives on along with all of the other youth we've lost to the evils of the streets.

I manifest who I be on your chest just like a name chain

I'm the nicest, like almighty Isis
You want my flow? No, it's priceless
Got to set it, G, to let 'em know my pedigree
If your skills ain't rap, then perhaps you should let it be
-AG

still a bit stuffy w/ a slight cough. but i read an article over the weekend on diane patrick. very inspiring woman. she does her thing and reps for her set too. but anyways my crib got flooded this weekend. that fuqing sucked. still trying to get things back in order. and the midget has left the building. good timing, huh? a month of freedom ensues and dry sheets shall ensue.

so word, yo. riddle me this, batman. obviously something is wrong if there are over 500 guns that have been turned in to the city's gun buyback program. i think someone was quoted in an article in 2004 that we got our own damn terrorism on inner city streets to deal with. a damn shame. but tis true in many respects.

but i wonder what the hell happens to those guns. obviously, a lot of people's mistrust of police stems from past incidents involving crooked cops. do they destroy them or lock them away in "storage"?

as a matter of fact, what abotu all that illegal money that gets conficated? where does that factor into the city's budget? you'd think there'd be enough dough like that to cover the extra $1.2 million our city's kids are screaming for.

the city council is scheduled to vote on the budget on wednesday (tomorow). mad heads are supposed to bumrush the spot to give a visible presence of the the community's request that the line item for youth jobs be increased from where it is now at about $3.8 million to $5 million.

Menino bumped it up a notch by $300,000, but really though. the more i break it down, the less i am feeling his jekyl and hyde style. i recall last summer meeting him and then writing that i should have asked him about his retaliatory ways. now, i've come across two recent articles that refer to the menino effect and to the egotistical ways by which some things get ignored or dismissed. i'ma ll for the little shut down of construction crews on city streets he pulled last week, but if we really break it down. who was really clamoring for that action? he just happened to hit a bumpy block in dorchester. maybe he's really step it up if something got caught sleeping and some kid ran up on him and told him to run his shT. i gurantee it would be swift action to get these shorties employed like 2 snaps and a twist.

but speaking of mysteries, how in the hell are there so many social service agencies in this city, serving a large population os disenfranchised, disadvantaged, and largely Black and Latino population. but none of them got Black folks on their staff? had some eye-opening conversations last friday night with the OGs. They put me on to a whole new realm of breaking this shT down. Sure, all of these foundations like it when the darling on-profit has a Black man on their board. But can you employ some brothers for crying out loud!

still a bit stuffy w/ a slight cough. but i read an article over the weekend on diane patrick. very inspiring woman. she does her thing and reps for her set too. but anyways my crib got flooded this weekend. that fuqing sucked. still trying to get things back in order. and the midget has left the building. good timing, huh? a month of freedom ensues and dry sheets shall ensue.

I never let a statue tell me how nice I am

You can be a black man and lose all your soul
You can be white and blue but don't crap the roll

Somehow, I just noticed that I do not have the Award Tour mp3. This is very troubling. Not cool at all. My peoples from way back in the day and the song that has held me down all this time. And it's not in the rotation. What an oversight. This is madness! I remember venturing out dolo to a concert as a chubby 9th grader to this club for an all-ages show featuring Tribe and De La. What an experience. It was at the height of the intoxicating spell that was Midnight Marauders and Buhloone Mind State. Reciting lyrics word for word at the top of your lungs to people you really feeling like that. Wow. Ain't nothign like it. Breakadawn was my shT. The best of times and the worst times. But some good, classic memories nonetheless. Word.