Outta da' Hood (Metaphorically Speaking)

Tonight on the walk home I listened to a bit of Tupac, which I usually save for my car speakers which have incredible bass. The problem with all that bass is that you tend to miss lyrics as your ear drums ring. My favorite song by him is called Changes, by the way. One part of the song, where he's complaining about society, he says "We have yet to see a black president" and let me just say (and I'm just being honest) that I smiled when I heard that. Not because I'm proud of Mr. Obama for suckering his way into the presidency, but now people aren't allowed to complain about it.

Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about politics. Nor did I come here to discuss rap necessarily, but while looking up these lyrics below I noticed just how many words good rappers say in one song. It's really incredible- like rap or not, it takes talent to squeeze all that in a song! Ok, back to my point...

On another song called I Ain't Mad At Ya he says this, "I guess change is good for any of us. Whatever it take for any of y'all niggaz to get up out the hood. Shit, I'm wit cha, I ain't mad at cha." And it got me thinking about some things. I have so many friends and family who are in a metaphorical ghetto. They're in a place where they think they can never escape, that some THING is keeping them down, they have good excuses why they're unemployed or unfocused. They're afraid of taking those steps to get out of the ghetto and stay where they are because it's comfortable. For any of those living in the States or are familiar with real ghettos, this is more often than not the case in reality.

I've talked to some people lately now about their jobs. I relayed to them something that my step dad said to my a while ago when I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. It offended me at first, but I believe it's true. He said, "Just PICK SOMETHING. It doesn't matter what it is, choose anything, get training, get good at it, and then you'll learn to like it." I don't care if people want to be an astronaut or a friggin' circus clown, just pick something and take practical steps to get there. Draw a timeline from where you are now, to where you want to be, map out the steps to get there, and do it! It doesn't matter if you're currently passionate about it or even good at it, those things come with years of experience. I personally have found that the more complicated the profession, the better, because you'll never get bored- you're always learning.

I'm not trying to be your mom or a motivational speaker here, but there comes a point in your life where you've got to make a decision and stick with it and you'll watch yourself flourish. Get out of your "ghetto" whether literally or metaphorically speaking and move on. I'm also not saying this because I'm the shining beacon of success- I've got the same amount in my bank account that I did like 7 or 8 years ago and I will be unemployed again in a few months with no place to live....BUT I can tell you from first hand experience that life is much clearer if you just choose something and go with it. You can at least live with a linear direction and know where you're going.

If the Negro in the ghetto must eternally be fed by the hand that pushes him into the ghetto, he will never become strong enough to get out of the ghetto.
Carter G. Woodson

I'm curious to know what your "hand" is...