This Isn't a 'We' Game, It's a 'Me' Game," as a result of his lack of team effort and commitment. He also was sent home because of "continuing problems with authority."
It's worth nothing that this is a repeatable process, and this case study is repeated on sports and school grounds across the nation. The good news is that there are steps that can be taken to rehabilitate and reintegrate these young men back into the "gang," which for some is just a form of temporary housing.
In the case of our friend "H," he found himself in and out of jails, prisons, the Army, homeless shelters, and rehab centers. In a prison in another state, I learned that there were three times as many self-identified Black gang members than White gang members. It was not until H decided to start working and going to school that he found a sense of stability and success.
Gang members are often the first group of people to get their hands on smart phones, computers, and iPads. They're some of the first to have access to computers and the Internet. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," they say. Because of this phenomenon, many gang members are exposed to pornography at an early age and exposed to violence in the music that they listen to. (It's an interesting fact that even with the introduction of computers and the Internet, there is still an uptick in gang violence.)
According to gang experts, 90 percent of gang members will never graduate from high school; 60 percent will be incarcerated at some point; 30 percent of all homicides are gang-related. Gang members comprise only a small portion of those in prison, but they are a significant number in the gang's structure. Their influence can be seen in gang killings from coast to coast.
It's obvious that a whole gang can't change overnight. I'm not talking about gangs such as Mobb Deep. Or "G" from New Jack City. But when young people with potential, who have talent, lose direction and get sidetracked, the possibilities are endless for gang members.
To be clear, this isn't about saying that all who are poor, hungry, and undereducated will inevitably be violent and become gangsters. I know people who are poor, hungry, and undereducated, and I also know people who are poor, hungry, and undereducated who weren't going down that path.
I'm talking about young people who do have the potential to go down a different path. If a person has a brain; a body; legs and arms; an iPhone, iPad, or Android phone; an Internet connection; an education; and the hope and motivation to better himself or herself, it is the responsibility of concerned adults to reach out and motivate them to use that potential positively.
In my work with kids of all ages, I make it a point to help kids see that there are many ways to succeed. I tell them that if they put their mind to it, they can do it. If they just apply themselves and get the support they need to keep going, they will be successful in school, athletics, academics, and their community. It takes them believing in themselves and getting past the fear that keeps them from being all that they can be.
And for the record, it's important to note that it is not easy to succeed in school or athletics. Those who have gone to high school, college, and/or professional teams know what it takes to persevere and get through. If it was easy, nobody would know who Michael Jordan is. It's a matter of choice and determination, and I don't think it should be taken lightly.
This book was written for those who were lucky enough to be born in a better place—a safe place—and for those who are forced to make do with what they have. This book is about the struggle and the journey that is life. The good news is that if you do a few things well, you can achieve your goals. We are just getting started.
The Black man has gone through a lot of changes in his eighty-five years since the first freedom fighter appeared on a slave ship from Africa to the American colonies. In America, he has endured slavery, Jim Crow, KKK terror, and racism in the military; Civil Rights Acts, sit-ins, and protests; the Vietnam War; and affirmative action. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was able to buy a house, get a job, and send his kids to school. It's important to understand that many of these laws and events changed the way he would be seen by society and by others.
With the new millennium came a whole new way of thinking. In recent years, there has been an influx of Black men that didn't know what to expect when they came to the United States from their homelands. All of these events and changes have caused the Black man to think about self-expression. He was made to want to express himself, to learn how to love the life he lives, and to live as the person he knows he can be.
He has been through a lot in the past and has lived through some of the most significant events in U.S. history. Since 1965, there have been twelve years of "Black Economic Excellence," with a surplus and record low unemployment. This has given a lot of hope to the Black man. He is not the same person he was forty years ago, forty years before that, or forty years before that.
And all this came about because of our president, Barack Obama. He has had a profound impact on the Black man. After all the criticism and hatred he endured from Republican and tea-party conservatives, after his policies were shot down by members of his own party, the Black man has risen up and chosen the president as the president of the Black man. He has selected him to lead his race out of darkness into the light of a new day.
It is up to the individual Black man to take charge of his own destiny. We are all responsible for ourselves, for our families, and for our community. Our success is in our hands, and we have to live up to our expectations as the leaders we are. We cannot be followers. We must be individuals with a commitment to education, family, and success. We must be accountable.
It's important to note that we don't talk about self-respect and respectability, we talk about respect. We're not talking about having the same level of power as white people. We're not talking about trying to blend in with the white man's world. I'm talking about walking your talk and being a man of your word.
We all have a responsibility to be the best parents we can be. We are accountable for our children's education, their character, and for their future. We must be positive examples for our children to emulate.
It's been said that "you can't make a horse drink from a muddy stream," meaning you can't get blood from a turnip. No matter how many benefits the modern-day "Horse" may receive, he cannot overcome the fact that his ancestors were slaves, that the "Horse" went through a bloody Civil War, and that the "Horse" was lynched. There is a long way to go before the "Horse" truly will understand what is going on.
But there are other aspects of the "Horse" that the White man cannot change.
The Black man and the other POCs have been beaten down, shot, beaten up, lynched, and raped for hundreds of years. And there is a sense of entitlement in the Black man that goes back hundreds of years. He has been under the impression that he is owed something and deserves a handout.
There is an idea that we are the "Talented Tenth," who were born into a society that had allowed us to succeed. Therefore, it is our duty to use our talents to better this society for the next generation. But too often we are not willing to do that in return for the things that have been given to us. The Black man is still fighting for his rightful place in America, the place where he was born and raised, and the place where he became a man and a father.
Many of the issues the Black man is faced with today are not his fault. They are the result of things that were done to him long before he was born. And as a result of these things, he has been given a lot of room to make his own mistakes and be able to rise out of poverty. The other unfortunate thing is that the things he cannot control, he will never understand.
In the 1990s, a popular comedian and actor of the day said, "For centuries, Blacks have been at the bottom of the food chain. We are the first creatures to rise out of the oceans to become kings of this planet, and we can now live life with dignity, respect, love, pride, family, and respect." That is something we should all strive to do.
No matter how the future plays out, I am always proud to be Black. I know some might say, " _Who do you think you are?_ " I don't answer to anybody. My Blackness is _my_ identity.
Sometimes I think we take everything for granted. I am a product of the 1960s—the movement and civil rights movement—and I have the luxury of taking that time for granted. If you didn't experience the 60s, you
