When I was growing up in a rough neighborhood in Peoria, Illinois, the one thing we learned is to never go around a beefing crowd. The murder of the youngster Derrion Albert is very unfortunate. The one thing about crowds is that they get very hyped unnecessarily. I watched the video on Huffington Post, which I’ve decided to not post here, and he got cold clocked by someone who was literally standing right next to him.
Derrion Albert Killers caught on film
In a crowd, you can’t tell your friends from your enemies. And sometimes you have frienemies around you in a hostile crowd. This is a sad state of affairs to see a young black child die in such a senseless manner. But my mother was right. Keep your kid away from the ‘hood if you want your kid to stay alive. The ‘hood is nothing but negativity and people wildin’ out. I pray for Derrion Alberts family in this difficult time but word to black youth: stay away from the crowd and when a fight breaks out, down run into the tornado; run away from it.
I know this is difficult especially when you see your friends caught up in the tornado but these crowds always get onlookers who you don’t know. In Oakland, I saw a huge riot one day near Castlemont High School. The crowd had built up a frenzy and you couldn’t tell which side which kids were on. I decided to NOT jump into the crowd and help because I couldn’t tell friend from foe. I encourage all black kids to stay out of the fray. When the crowd becomes an angry mob, head in the other direction even if you believe it’s braver to head into the storm.
The key to staying alive and protecting ya neck as a black kid is to know when to fight and know when to run. The key is knowing when to run and not letting pride and ego overcome you. Kids will never put down weapons in the ‘hood. It’s too dangerous and most people believe they need to protect themselves. So, I stayed alive by knowing how to stay away from the ‘hood and stay away from senseless mobs. Prayers to the Derrion Albert family and friends who have to deal with this.
