My First Blog Post

We live by rules that strictly bound our lives everyday. Society develops guidelines and rules of etiquette that people religiously abide by in fear of breaking free from society's expectations. As seen in the novel 1984 by George Orwell, people easily conform to the pressures of society. Diverse societies and varying cultures experience different pressures and expectations. Many parts of my blog will incorporate research and analysis of unique cultures and societies that are colorful and interesting. Our class recently read "The Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid-a short poem that discussed a mother's rules for a daughter. I wrote a poem called "The Gang" in the same format as "The Girl"; my poem proposed rules for someone who is in a gang.

"The Gang"

Take the leopard suit out of your closet; top hat laying straight across your clean shaven head; two sprays of cologne on each forearm; Timberlands laced high up; doo rag tied tight around your forehead; strap yourself with your Colt 45; step with your left foot and lean with your right; open the front door to success; step out onto the streets of Inglewood; take a walk to the fish market and repeat like me “Good Morning Ladies”; Pops this ain’t going to be this easy right?; walk with a swagger or else you’ll look weak; have no weakness for lack of confidence exposes prey; eyes straight ahead; make eye contact with the wrong animal and you will get the beast; run the streets like you own them; meet Naheem at the corner of 4th and Main; right hand out, left shoulder leaning; snap your fingers and do a step because you can do it all by yourself; let me see you do it; Come on Pops, you know who I be, you don’t know anything until your out there running the streets; pick up a pound of yayo outside of Crystal’s strip club; load your Colt 45 and prepare to get noticed; Because for me it’s the life of the party a little bit of juice a little bit of the gin; eyes wide open for gang members run the streets from Crystal’s; Latin King’s-back left corner; Black Guerrillas- back right corner; girls riding all over your hips; keep them on a leash because when a man steals your lady- he steals your pride; make your presence felt when you walk through the club; two pounds of bud waiting for you with Naheem; give him the cash you owe him for the yayo; get out of Crystal’s because when the sun rises the true me who run the streets walk in; call Jahari to pick you up in the Escalade; cruisin’ down the street in my 6-4, jockin’ a ____ smackin’ a ___; no rest for the weary-keep running the streets all day-n-nite.