Streets

Thoughts from Darnell

I always thought being a black boy from the hood was nothing to be proud of. We struggle to live our lives, thriving to be as normal as possible but in America that's impossible. Never going into a store without people glancing to see if you gonna rob them, gonna steal something. Walking down the street with friends, police stopping you, looking at you with so much hate and anger. They line you up without any reason, suspecting you been doing some shit, knowing damn well you ain't done nothing but wake up that morning.
Chris was different, he loved to live, he loved to be around all kinds of people. He loved to laugh, he was good at making you laugh and for a minute you thought life was alright. Not everyone is blessed to be around someone like that, someone who always there for you. Always there to make sure you never feel bad about being who you are. Yet he was someone who was scared to be who he was. Just because he made the most out of his situation doesn't mean he was blind to the evil. 'Being born black is beautiful but we have been made to think it's ugly.' That's what he would always say.
There were many men before me that took care of the people of the south side, way before the city was built. They stood on these streets as soldiers to protect all who lived here, all I ever wanted to do was be just like that, protect and watch over everyone who lives down here because no one else was gonna do it. Even if that meant people would look at us and not understand. Even if that meant people would judge us for what we did and continue to do. Chris wanted to make a difference, use our power and name for good. Even if that meant doing something bad to make something good. He was the good in all the bad.