Give Them Hope

     When you grow up with nothing; hope is all you got.  You cling to anything that resembles hope.  They tell you that "you can be anything" in the early stages, and then all of a sudden, they start feeding you limitation.  The "Be all you can be" they tell you changes as you get older.  They start telling you;       "that's too hard for you to do or accomplish."   

     Hope is defined as "A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment." 

     It's tough for these kids growing up in poor America.  There are a lot of broken dreams in poor America, there's a lot of hopelessness in poor America.  Some kids grow up in conditions, most of you, couldn't imagine.  The fact is; every child in America doesn't wake up and go to sleep in a loving household.  Every child in America doesn't go home to electricity and a home cooked meal……

     Hope is defined as "A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment." 

     In poor America the children face harsh realities.  It's hard to concentrate on being all you can be when your parents are usually a day away from homelessness.  They see the dark side of society at a young age.  They learn in the early stages that there's a wealth gap in America.  It's sad, but segregation still exists in our schools.  The kind of segregation that separates the have's from the have not's.  Not only in our schools, but in our communities…Its rare to see the rich kids playing with the poor kids. 

     Hope is defined as "A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment."

     In poor America, you cling to anything that resembles hope.  Seems like the world is against you.  You're surrounded by the Poor American mindset that tells you, that having just enough, is an accomplishment.  You're surrounded by a mindset that gave up on hope, or feels like society didn't give them a fair chance at hope.  They came up in those same conditions and fight day to day just to make ends meet.  Everyday people, good people, that live there lives in bad conditions. 

     It's hard for these children to concentrate in class when they thinking about the bad conditions that wait for them at home.  The school meals might be the only thing they eat.  The teachers in their class might be the only adult that spends time with them.  These kids are the kids that pickup the phone when the bill collectors call; if there's a phone in the home.  These kids are the kids that watch the guy from the electric company pull up and shut down the power.  Some of these kids watch their parents leave home for days, strung out on heroine, crack, crystal meth, etc.  Some of these kids have to listen to the screams of mama getting beat by their fathers, or mama's boyfriend.  Some of these kids see things that, most of you, can't imagine.

     Hope is defined as "A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment."

     Biggie Smalls hit home when he said "Either you slanging crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot."

As sad as it is; that's what hope looks like for most of these kids.  Most parents in higher classes of society don't want their kids associating with these kids; especially not after school.  These kids feel like the world's against them.  These children want hope….

     They want somebody to care.  They want somebody to understand what they going through, and reach out.  That sad part about it is; ain't too many people reaching out.  They get tired of living in these conditions.  They get tired of feeling like nobody cares.  They acquire the "nothing to lose" attitude.  They start feeling like, anyway they make it out of these conditions is worth it.  They don't want to end up like the people barely surviving in their environment.  They want more; they want hope….

     Hope in the street is everywhere you look.  Anybody can become financially successful in the street.  That's how the game was designed; low investment/low overhead, high yield.  The stakes are high, but think about how these kids think….  "Anything is better than living in these conditions."

     We need to start reaching out to these kids.  We also need to start reaching out to these adults in poor America.  The tragedy of the American Dream is that, it often makes people forget the millions of Americans who live in these messed up conditions…

 I started selling my audio books out my trunk, with hope, that it would give hope to some of these kids who have no hope.  You would think that with my background, most of America would support a young brother like myself, doing something enlightening; making contriution.  The truth is, I find joy in inspiring people.  I truly believe that my purpose is more important than the number of books I sell.  I heard Jay-Z say "Every step you take, they remind you- you ghetto."  That statement is so true .  I've sold over 2700 books in a few months, and it feels like I face more scrutiny than I did when I was selling drugs.

   I'm happier now than I've ever been in my entire life.  My vision is to be a voice for those who feel like they have no voice.  My dream is to inspire everyone I come in contact with.  Doing these two things mean everything to me.

"The Only One That Can Stop Me Is Me" available at www.candalysepublishing.com

www.candalyse.wordpress.com

Be Blessed, and enjoy.

Much love, Much Respect

Jovan Roseboro