Give Back To The Hood

It is my strong beleif that each and everyone of us has a responsibility to hold those accountable who have come before us, and to also hold those up who will come behind us.
In my 27 years on earth I have done my fair share to help destroy the community where I come from. So in the past few years I have taken it apon myself to give back to my hood.
Today was a good day because i spent the latter part of my day volunteering with some young men in one of the area group homes for boys. This to me is important, because most of these boys have no positive male influence in their lives. I don't know why most of these boys were placed in this group home. I only know that these still were some of the brightest kids that I have met in a long time. Watching them open up was something amazing, these guys had so much to say and so much to talk about. The problem is that no one ever takes time to listen. For too long our black youth have been shut out, knocked down and hung out to dry. It's about time that we all start taking back the hood in our own hoods. We have to take ownership of not only our block, but the people who reside on those blocks. It's time to start doing some nation building so that we can heal our communities.