Originally Posted by I.G.

let's adress this by the numbers...

1..the key word in the first bolded statement is "adopted"... this means it was learned behavior... that's where education comes in... change ya way of thinking and you can change your way of living. i didn't adopt that mentality... i am my own person... if you are that easily influenced to let others control your way of thinking then you need to make sure that you are around positive people who will influence you to think more positively... even in the hood.

2... you can also PUT yaself in a position to be succesful... don't think for one minute that I think i have achieved success in my life... I'm still not done with my quest... but the "so-called man" won't be the one who stops me from getting what i want... a weak mind will... so i constantly feed myself with knowledge and positive outlooks, come up with a paln of action, and then execute

3... when did i ever say that?

4... they are still trying... that's my whole point... i was referring to those who don't do shyt and still complain... ya still getting my shyt twisted... this is what i mean about you not understanding me... read my last post again... i clearly stated that I understand that some people try and still fail... every plan ain't a good plan... that's why you gotta find the one that will work... focus on ya strengths and use themn to ya advantage... hell it's like when ya first start playing ball... you don't just automatically know how to do a cross-over... you gotta practice that shyt til you get it right

5... i never said i made it out.. but i did imply that i made it better... big difference... and i'm still tryna make it better... i'm still in the hood... i'm 770/404 all day everyday... but do i let the hood stop me from doing what i know is gonna be better for me and my fam?... hell nah... and i dare someone to try and take it from me or my family

6... i know a shitload of stuck people too... and it's mainly cuz they wanna do they same shyt they were doing AS kids... hang out... party all the time... sell drugs.... rob and steal... there comes a point where you gotta grow up... i know kats younger than me who are more succesful than I am and i basically watched them grow up... these are kats used to do the same shyt dudes my age are still doing... selling drugs... robbing people... but they grew up and found an alternative to that lifestyle... and again... i never said shyt was easy... let's get that straight...but shyt ain't necessarily as hard as everyone makes it out to be...

again .. the key is knowledge... did you know that you can be a homeowner without having any money whatsoever? the info is out there if ya look for it... what's so hard about going to a library and looking up info? it's all there... internet, magazines... millions of books... education is "the man's" worst enemy... the more we stay stupefied the more we gon stay exactly where we at

but yo... i feel what ya been saying... it may not be fair... but it is what it is... and our people have been through much worse... if you can't handle this then you need to go talk ya elders and give that old homeless dude we walk by everyday the utmost respect... cuz he's still here and he/she went through a lot of shyt to put us in a better position today

be easy man... and just think about it a lil more... i ain't tryna save the world or no shyt like that but we gotta make our people understand that the only way we gone come up as a people is with this simple philosophy... "Each one teach one"... this way all of us "individuals" can become one unified group with the same vision... a better life for all of us