I also must comment, that in the END whose fault ultimately was it to CHOOSE to try and “keep it real”. I think I answered that when I put the word “CHOOSE” in caps. MINE! Not that it isn’t hard to overcome influences, but could we as adults try to limit some of the “not so good” ones? There are no simple and necessarily all encompassing answers, but the fact remains that hard work, treating people as you would like to be treated, truly respecting others and learning how to get respect (EARN IT) etc. pretty much never fail. Learning how to act and dress in different situations applies as well. Anyone ever read Nannie Helen Burroughs’ “the 12 things the Negro must do for himself” which was written in the early 1900′s, look it up. Almost all of it applies today and it is scary and very enlightening and interesting. But pimpin’ and kickin’ it all the time only works for rockstars and the very rich, or people whose only goal is to participate in these activities. Who said it is easy or fair? Life inherently is not, and to try falsely to make it that way only screws us up in the long run and sets us up for disappointment.
