Sick With No Time To Be Tired

Last week, I sat on my stoop and watched three of the young men, who I have spent years teaching, learning from, inspiring, and watching go from eager boys to misdirected young men – get arrested in front of the building next door for smoking weed. Moments before, I was having a conversation with them about the state of the neighborhood, society & goals. And before they were arrested I was thinking about the fact that we all used to spend hours sitting and talking on my stoop, and that maybe I should go sit and talking with them instead of having a stoop to stoop conversation. For one, I’m glad i didn’t cause I seriously doubt our friendly neighborhood police would have believed I was just talking and not participating in their weed consumption; but thats a whole other tangent. After the arrest the older brothers of one of them passed me and causally exclaimed “they gonna learn some way, right”. What exactly is it that they’re gonna learn is my question.

Days later that same older brother, another young man I watched grow was shot (not killed) around the corner from my house. I’m sitting here thinking about a few things,

1)Their mother – how must it feel to have a son arrested and a son shot in less than a week, and how many mothers and families experience such a harsh reality?

2) The fact that the young around my way, find all of this to be normal, not overtly shocking.

3)The fact that this came as no surprise – which is what’s most alarming , that you can see it coming and do little to prevent it.

My Brothers and I have spent seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years teaching, providing examples for these young men, showing them the way, dedicating time to their well being. Society has spent much more time, reversing all our efforts, how can you tell a child school is important when once they make a mistake the school uses systems such as cut schedules* – which usually lead to truancy. How do you promote school when teachers openly express the fact that they will be paid regardless of their students participation? In these days of hyper materialism, how do you quell the young’s hunger for money and things and stifle their temptation to resort to illegal means of financial gain when there are no jobs. How do you convince any self respecting young person that guns are not the way to go when they feel the need to protect themselves and survival of the fittest is the code of their environment.

Sounds hopeless?, I would believe so if I and many of my associates weren’t living examples of the reality that these obstacles can be overcome.

We need to continue to teach and lead, it is a game of survival, those of us who learn, pay attention, adapt and create a way to push through must be active examples. Society will not change for us, we have to be the change. I am sick of what I see going on around me, but there’s no time to be tired, we must stay in the race, belive it or not there really isn’t a finish line, but we can definitely loose.

KEEP ON RUNNING -daoud

*cut schedules are when the school gives a student a schedule of in-consecutive periods throughout the day, sometimes with hours between classes, it makes it impossible for a child to gain all the credits needed in one school year.

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Tags: Daoud, Police, Youth

Live To Change Something, Teach The Babies, Word from The Creators | Daoud *Brooklyn Sheikh* August 19, 2009

14 Comments

By AHLOT, August 19, 2009 @ 3:41 PM

Mos def. The best way to teach is to simply be a positive and motivating force and spirit. At times, it seems as if children aren’t listening and we don’t see the immediate impact, but best believe that your words, work and visions will be manifested. I think the most important thing to do it understand time and how all things work out for the GREATER good and even this particular situation will be a learning experience and testimonial for these brothas to use on other children. Everything in life is an opportunity to be better. Everything. Stay focused.
By Deka, August 19, 2009 @ 3:53 PM

Coming forward as an example helps. We need more people who are actually from the same streets to build with the youth. Because sometime we forgot how we overcame obstacles to get this far. I used to feel like a hypocrite telling youth to chill out when I was wilding out in the streets, But being that I survived my era, I see that I have a lot to share in terms of the struggle it takes to break the circle of violence.
By Daoud *Brooklyn Sheikh*, August 19, 2009 @ 4:21 PM

@Deka yeah man.. agree 100% you have to have gone through it for them to hear you, they need to know you are qualified.. every time i walk past jefferson and throop i think about , how if i was on that particular corner in 93 i may not be here, i think about how real the threat of violence and possible solution was to me, then i think about the fact that in 2009, im still here and those individuals who i had beef with are not…. we have to teach them that the obstacles they face are temporal and that in time they will pass, and a whole new reality will be revealed
By Tex, August 19, 2009 @ 5:17 PM

there is a lot of ways to take this…
they shouldn’t have been smoking…
they shouldn’t have been smoking outside…
we could have love for whoever we have love for but at the end of the daywe have a government with laws and if you go against that you can go down. that simple…

what are you gonna say to them….don’t do that outside..

don’t do it…

then what?

there has to be something to fill that void..
why is there nothing strong enough to fill that void?

there is…
but no one is really going there if you ask me…

this all boils down to dis-ease, no?

disease is hand to mouth…

we are killing ourselves by letting ourselves be slaves to the cooked food industry making us do dumb shit like get locked up.

excuse me…but that’s how i feel…

We need more health reform. For instance, Government plans where people have more access to locally grown, wild-organic fresh whole ripe fruits and vegetables…

There aren’t many black teachers who are schooling us on the importance of healthful living and not enough of us educating the youth b’cause most of us are emotionally tied to things that aren’t for us so we continue to mess it up for those coming up.
not even me..
By Tex, August 19, 2009 @ 5:18 PM

When I say what I said about the gov plans…I mean, they aid us in what…similac….that’s poison…at the end of the day to keep it 100.
By Rasupreme, August 19, 2009 @ 5:28 PM

Wow this blog entry brought the homie textiles out of the woodwork. Peace Son.

Anyways, I agree with Daoud, this is a case of misguided individuals. What’s even more disheartening is I had a very in depth conversation with these cats about 2 weeks ago in regards to responsibility. I told them although they are still behaving like children, society and the authorities see them as adults, and they will be held accountable for their actions. I got a bunch of “true, trues” but honestly they needed more than that and haven’t had the original connection with the brothers for awhile. We’ve done what we could do (and obviously could do more – past & Present.) The bottom line is we as teachers can’t save or reach everyone. There are a few youths who still look up to us. The way I see it we can let them down. However the ones that got locked up, are now in the system and I fear for the possible perpetual habits that may spawn from this – rather than “lesson learned.”

Arrrgh Very Frustrating! So much to say about this subject…
By hari, August 19, 2009 @ 5:48 PM

There is a sense of hopelessness that is tied to being young. It is mostly passed down and then realized.Lacking foresight and the need for makes it easy for these things to happen.Sometimes acceptance is the first step to progress.Knowing when and how to teach is key.Being that there are so few unpaid teachers,the sincerity of one will definitely be questioned and tested. Take heart Daoud,I think they’re listening.Now just give them a chance to be heard:).
By Tex, August 19, 2009 @ 6:17 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXS4tWHtItY
By renae, August 20, 2009 @ 10:02 AM

Loving all of the feedback to this post! I think it’s important to point out that while many of the young men in our community need positive role models, the young girls do too.

I’ve been speaking with my mentee more lately and trying to support her as she makes the transition from high school to college. Although my lifestyle is something I may take for granted, she’s always amazed at the fact that my girlfriends are progressive, following our dreams, “cool” (in her words – LOL), independent, and educated. I participated in a panel at a high school last week and was truly humbled by how intrigued the girls were by my story…which inspires me to work even harder to be a positive role model.

While I may not consider my lifestyle to be a big deal, I have to remember that the images of women that are portrayed in the media are polar opposite of how many of us may actually live. The hypersexualization of women in entertainment and advertising sends so many confusing messages to the youth. The pressure to be “sexy” at a young age is exacerbated by the media and translated in the way young girls dress and behave around their peers.

Couple this with the messages translated on TV shows like “Real Housewives of Atlanta” and we’ve really got a generation of young girls attempting to define and validate themselves based on a very limited view of how real women operate from day to day.

So many shows our young girls watch are centered around “perceived” wealth (Tiny & Toya, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, anything featuring Paris Hilton, The Hills, etc.) but don’t really show how much hard work, commitment and sacrifice went into obtaining that type of lifestyle.

Moral of the story is this: our generation needs to be living examples for the young brothers AND sisters in our community. They need us now more than ever!
By Whitney Summer, August 20, 2009 @ 12:40 PM

What’s funny in this post is that the mother of these two boys was mentioned only once and are never blamed for the mental state or condition of her sons behavior, but society and the government are the main focus. Even more interesting is that their father was not mentioned at all.

I have met many kids who grew up in highly distressed areas, but who also finish school and graduate from college because their parents made sure they were never on the stoop smoking in the first place. And even if their parents were working two jobs to support the family, they STILL took the time to instill core values of right and wrong, the importance of education, the beauty of being an African-American, and pride for their community.

Yes, the media sucks. But, WE DO have the power to turn off our televisions, go to the library, and to have MORE HONEST and OPEN communication with our kids about the negative visuals that will CONTINUE to bombard our culture as long as parents CONTINUE to allow the streets and public schools to raise their children.
By Daoud *Brooklyn Sheikh*, August 21, 2009 @ 2:00 AM

wow great feedback
whitney i agree w/you 100%. it all starts with family, some of us were fortunate enough to have support as young people, these kids didn’t at least it was limited at home, many of their parents are struggling to get themselves together.. thats a whole other conversation… but yeah many families aren’t doing the job, which leaves them to society the streets, or if they are lucky there find mentors… until parents and schools get their act together we will have to continue to teach and teach the babies
By Whitney Summer, August 21, 2009 @ 11:10 AM

I will, and always will teach the kids. Keep up your good work though. Even if you don’t see instant results for your efforts, the community will grow because of it.
By BelleNoir, August 21, 2009 @ 1:15 PM

Alienation, nihilism, individualism vs. collectivism…

the fundamental units of a healthy society have been and are quickly eroding as we fall back and shake our asses to the latest noise, trip over ourselves as we scheme on the next gadget that will impress the next man who’s trying to impress you…rock our brightest/shiniest sh*t..plumage to attract others who are just as weary, tired, cynical, burdened down with regrets, fears and anxiety as you are …

we confuse sincerity for weakness, truth for naivete, debauchery as ‘cool’ and we wonder just how did it get this bad?… …

sadly, you can only see the sky when your back is on the ground.
By moni, August 24, 2009 @ 9:53 PM

thanks for that post Daoud.