Admittedly as someone who came from a loving two parent home in the hood it’s not as black and white as y’all make it seems. I was always the type to care about school and even was on the honor roll. All that shyt goes out the window when you leave the house or school. The first time I got chased by 30 nikkas because I was wearing the wrong colors or nikkas shooting at you because you come from a different neighborhood.
I would beg and plead with my parents to change my school or move but what can you do when your parents are barely educated and the job they have is the only one they can keep. After a while I got tired of the shyt and decided to join up its only so much of it you can take especially when your friends become enemies since you aren’t with them.
At first joining the gang life was cool, I would have a squad of nikkas outside my school if niggss tried to front on me, bytches that never looked at me calling out my nickname when I walk to school, even getting respect from people who I would see on MySpace as hood stars. What I didn’t know is the heartbreak I would give my parents coming home late, coming home with a black eye due to fighting random nikkas, my gma searching my book bag for a gun whenever I seen her, and nikkas knowing what school I went to and waiting outside to shoot me.
Also a nikka had to eventually put in work that fun shyt didn’t come free. I remember when I came out of bookings on Mother’s Day weekend my father held me and cried that was the first time I ever seen him cry. Plus all the bs that I got my self into that till this day I have nightmares about. shyt I watched nikkas take they last breath on some lord knows pac shyt Ironically I got in more trouble than if I was neutral. I decided enough was enough and went off to college.
One day in college the white boys I was chilling with was like aren’t you from the Bronx look at the news. I looked and seen all the dudes I hanged with/beef with got indicted on counts of murders, drugs etc. if I stayed around it’s no doubt I would have got swept up. I go back home from college and nikkas I didn’t even think knew I was with the gang was telling me it’s a good thing I left out of it.
TLDR- Not everyone who joins up from a good family situation does it to be cool. It’s for survival, I couldn’t drive to school or anything like that. I would not recommend joining a gang to escape it but at that time I felt that was the only option I had. It was some good kidd madd City shyt