THUG LIFE
Gangs are spreading throughout all the US, becoming one of the biggest problems this country has faced. Gangs are in almost every community in the US now. These communities with gangs are constantly faced with theft, vandalism, assault, gun violence, illegal drug trade, and homicide. Gang members are usually 12–24 years. In 2014 there were reports of 33000 different gangs in the US, and the numbers have been growing ever since. Many gangs have begun and still exist in urban cities. National street gangs mostly originate in major cities such as New York City, Detroit, and Chicago. There are different types of gangs such as local street gangs, prison gangs, motorcycle clubs, and organized crime gangs. Gang members have tough lives. Most either end up dead or in prison. It is a terrible and painful way of living a life.
You may be wondering if it’s so horrible why would anybody want to be in a gang? People join gangs for various reasons. Some may become gang members to profit from organized crime because they need the money for resources such as food and water. Other reasons include seeking protection from other gangs or crime in general especially if you live in a city with lots of violence such as Chicago or Oakland. Most people don’t choose to be in a gang. They are in a gang because of the type of community they grew up in. If you live as a rich white person living in a very peaceful city then you probably won’t grow up to be in a gang. The people who are most likely to be in a gang will be those who grow up in communities flooded with drugs and weapons. These people don’t have much of a choice in the matter of choosing a gang. They’re accustomed to violence, drugs, and sometimes even murder.
Even though gangs, drugs, and violence still exist and are a huge problem for us there are some people who aim to help make it better. There have been many protests to help save gang members and make the community better. One particular and influential protester who practically devoted his life to helping out the community was the rapper named Tupac Shakur. Tupac Shakur, better known for his stage name 2Pac, was not only an American rapper but an actor as well. He was born in 1971 and died in 1996. He was shot and killed. Although Tupac lived a short life of 25 years he had accomplished a lot. He influenced and moved lots of minds. Most rappers today usually rap about their fame and money but not Tupac. He rapped about helping the community. In 1991, he had become a central figure in West Coast hip hop, introducing social issues at a time when gangsta rap was ascending. Tupac constantly gave speeches preaching about ending gangs and violence.
Tupac had a tattoo across his chest that said THUG LIFE. This stands for “the hate you give, little infants f*** everybody.” Over the years many people have tried to interpret what this means. My guess is that it’s saying the brutal, and inhuman lifestyle that infants and children have to grow up with turns them into gang members. When it says, little infants screw everybody, that means that if they grow up in places with lots of hate and cruelty then they will grow up to be cruel and hateful. When I said that sometimes people don’t have much of a choice whether or not they want to be in a gang this is also one of the reasons. A person can’t choose where they want to be born. So if they are born in an unpleasant community and become strongly influenced by it then they will no doubt become a gangster. The message that Tupac is trying to convey is that every child, every infant should grow up in a welcome, and safe community so that they can live their life not having to worry about essential items such as food or water. So that they don’t have to look over their shoulder every 5 minutes worrying if someone is going to shoot them.
For far too long we have done nothing while the number of gangs has been increasing. Gangs are like contagious diseases. They spread as more and more people become gangsters. This not only affects the gangs but affects the overall society as well. There are constant gang wars happening around the country where innocent people usually die. As I said before, most gang members are usually about 12–24 years old. They become gang members mostly because of the community they grew up in and because they have been influenced by their friends and others.
This might be happening to your child. However, there are ways that we can stop your child from joining a gang. Some way that we can help stop them is to train teachers and parents to manage undisciplined and wild kids. We can help poor communities strengthen their families and schools by donating and volunteering. Tupac had devoted his life to helping and inspiring others in the community. If we all follow his example and take some time to help some of the less fortunate communities then there will be fewer gang members and our community and lives would improve.
