Ish is real in these streets....

U know I wanted a blog because it was my place to spread love, joy and hopefully positivity. I wanted to write as an outlet, to free myself and provide a different idea in the world. It saddens me that my nieces and nephews are entering into a world of total chaos stemming from our government where the Republicans are hella bent on living solely for themselves and fucking everyone who isn't on their level financially. To youth who take everything so literal that they feel the need to shoot and kill each other for pure foolishness... It hurts me. It makes me pause and seriously consider whether or not I can or should bring a child into this. I'm living in it and there are moments I'd like to take that 6 month trip to Mars with a " I ain't never coming back to this bs" mentality. I can't I have to stay to stand, volunteer and if I can help one. Just one, than Ive done just a little bit to make it better... In Chicago this summer there were 152 killings between June and August. That's disgusting and alarming. Is this my world? My country? Sadly my people? And by people I mean the entire human race. Is this what we have come too, evolved from. If this was Neanderthal periods I understand. Yet we are able to travel to other planets, communicate with people halfway around the world in the matter of minutes, order whatever we want offline and have it delivered to our doorsteps. Yet the alarming rate of senseless killings are growing. One would think that with all killings in Colorado and around the country we would as a people stop! Stop! Are we not better than this... Who is to blame? I live in Brooklyn and trust me this summer was not any better with the amount of deaths here either. And if it were adults alone you could almost chalk it up too crazy adults or as blk people love to say " see that's some shit only white people would do" the only difference between white people and other ethnicities in this country are we kill the same amount of our own people but on a individual basis. In fact we kill each other more. In my city that I LOVE, 16 people were killed in five days. That's almost four people a day. WTF is going on? I mean is someone " disrespecting" you on twitter or Facebook really worth 1. Taking someones life 2. Going to jail for the rest of Ur own. All cause they didn't like Ur song or Ur sneakers? I mean really! Parents I challenge you to hug and tell your children everyday and say " I LOVE U" cause somewhere as a people LOVE and basic decency has been lost. What's worse is I'm not sure what generation dropped the ball. Yet, we need to be the generation to STOP it. I think it's was to blame hip hop or movies and any other excuse we can conjure up to pacify what's going on. It really starts in two places. 1. In the home, parents kids are your responsibility to show them that this isn't the way to go. There is a blatant disconnect with parents maybe wanting to be more of a friend and less of a disciplinarian. Set rules, boundaries and ENFORCE them when they are broken. 2. People have to want it on the inside too. You can have the best parents and greatest upbringing and still turn out a mess. So at somepoint we must hold the mirror up and ask " what do I want for myself? What do I deserve? And if you look around and your surroundings are not what you'd like them to be handwork an determination can change all that... Its like we all want riches and fame from nothing! We have this sense of entitlement ... Like with respect, that respect is your birthright. In the same breath we don't want to respect someone else! Puzzled.. That makes no sense... The killings have to stop! We have to stop glorifying stupidity and the fast track to fortune and fame. We are chasing the wrong dreams! I remember growing up just wanting to be successful and productive in my community. To be a father and raise my kids with that same goal. Now we all want to reality stars, gangbangers ( btw all that gangbang is going to get U "banged" alright in prison) Guns and knives don't make you tough or strong.. Strength is walking away from stupidity! Strong is saying I want more for myself and then persuing it. That's strength, that's what makes you tough. Tough is growing up on the wrong side of the tracks and making it out. That is tough... It rips me to hear a 16 year old say " I hope I make it to 24." that should never be a sentence uttered from the mouth of someone who has their whole life in front of them.. Yet many of our youths in our country feel this way. We all have to step up and make a difference.. Like my mom has always told me bullets don't have names on them. At this point none of us are safe. That is scary and real...