It’s time for you boys in the ‘hood to man up.  You need to grow a pair and join the community of real men all over the rest of the world.  Real men go to work every day, sometimes doing tough jobs they really don’t want to do, to make a living and take care of their families.  Real men don’t threaten or harm people – they roll up their sleeves and help when and where it is needed.  Real men don’t abuse women and abandon fatherless babies all over town.  Real men come in all races, sizes and places.

I don’t care what happened to your great-great-great-grandfather.  If somebody treats you wrong, you have every right to deal with it on the spot, without violence, and you should.  I’ll be right there with you.  But you have no right to whine about something that happened a hundred years before you were born.  You have no right to come across our border to sell drugs.  And you sure as hell have no right to violence or lawlessness against people who have done nothing to deserve it.

You think you’re bad?  Yeah, you might carry a gun.  A lot of real men do, too.  But our families and neighbors are safer because we do.  Are yours?

You think you’re tough?  Tough is hand-carrying a truckload of sheetrock to the third floor of a house under construction in the 95 degree heat.  Tough is pulling a breeched calf at 3 in the morning in the icy rain.  Tough is foot-patrolling a desert village, not knowing where or when the snipers or IEDs will hit.

You  probably can’t be embarrassed into becoming a real man. But just making it real – you don’t know what you are missing.  Your life could be so much better.

You might think smoking dope or swigging “Lean” makes you feel good.  That’s nothing.  Your heart will bust out of your chest when you rock your baby girl to sleep in your arms in the middle of the night.  You’ve never felt joy like seeing your boy hit his first little league home run.  And trust me, the women down at the club don’t begin to compare to the one you could have if you were a real man – one who can raise your kids, cook your dinner, go to work, and help you build a barbecue deck on your very own home.

You don’t need a fancy education to get a good job and make serious money.  In fact, you probably have a better chance of making good money sooner without a degree, if you are willing to get up every day and go do the work that is in demand because others are too proud or too puny to try.  If you have to do physical labor for a while, so what?  You are young and strong, the pay is good, and you can learn while you work so you can move up with your employer or even start your own business some day.  There are millions of good-paying jobs out there just waiting for real men who are dependable and ambitious.  It doesn’t take long to pull together some serious money if you are honest, smart, and you get after it.  And believe it or not, the satisfaction of a job well done really feels good.

I know none of the boys in the ‘hood are reading this.  But maybe you know one, or know somebody who knows one, or have some way to help get this message out.  Somehow the senseless violence and wasted potential in the ‘hood has to be turned around.  And another government program won’t make a bit of difference.  The boys in the hood have to want to change, and if they only knew what they were missing in life, they would.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Comin’ up in da hood where the streets are cold
Either you gon’ stretch or either you gon’ fold
Either you gon’ ride or get rolled on
Which one is it or they pay you a visit?

Hood – Jibbs