THE HOOD SCHOLAR

For Andrea:

If you are unsure of what a Socratic dialogue is go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method.

A 'Hood' Socratic Dialogue

Description of Characters:

Stuart Phillips a.k.a. ‘Bloody Gusto’; Age: 38, Five Star* General of a Blood set called A.B.G.
Has been to jail more than 5 times for years at a time.
Has kids from the age of 12 to adults about 25 in the street under his command.
He commands about 65 people within’ a two block radius.
Don Duval Patterson a.k.a. ‘P.’; Age:19, Blood Gang Member with two stars*.
Has been arrested numerous times but never to jail.
The head of household and lineage and pays rent and utilities.

*The stars indicate the level of respect (status) of a member in the gang. The most any member could get is five.

Description of Surroundings:

Wikipedia says, “The Marcy Houses is a low income public housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in New York City. The project consists of 27 six-story buildings on 28.49 acres, with 1,705 apartments housing some 4,286 residents. Completed on January 19, 1949, it is bordered by Flushing, Marcy, Nostrand and Myrtle Avenues. The area is considered one of the rougher parts of New York City.”

Infoshare (a census reporting site) says the number of black persons in the zipcode of 11206 (Bedford Styvesant) with graduate degrees is 356. Of which, 263 with graduate degrees are female. The total black population is 24,203.

Setting:

Stuart Phillips a.k.a. Bloody Gusto must remain in control of his cadre at all costs, as he makes his living through the people that work for him. Everyone within these two blocks knows each other. Word got back to him that ‘P.” wasn’t around, which increased pressures of Gusto labeling Don P. as ‘renagade blood’, the worst label to have on you with your family around. Three weeks pass and he decided to make a phone call.

Don Duval Patterson aka. P has been avoiding fellow gang members in his neighborhood after experiencing a slight emotional breakdown due to the realization of being the eldest male in his family, burdened with the responsibility of reformation of his family structure. He started feeling disgusted with himself and his surroundings because of the nihilistic demeanor he demonstrated and learned from those in his environment.

Ring. Ring.


Gusto:
What’s buzzin (What’s Up), P? You’ve been missing in action since you’ve sold your last bundle (drugs) out of town. What’s really hood with you?

‘P.’:
Chillin, just been doin’ me.

Gusto:
What you mean, you, just been doin’ you (doing things that are within’ your rational self-interest)! You ain’t been pushin’ no weight (selling drugs). You ain’t been f*ck’n wit’ no broads (courting women). You’ve been in the house all day for the past three weeks. F*ck you been doin’?

P:
On some real shit, I been doing some think’n about the shit (stuff) I’ve been seeing around me. The things I’ve been doin’, and looking back on it all, I’m not feelin’ it.

Gusto:
Feel’n what P, getting money (illegally), lookin’ fly (buying fancy clothes), getting p*ssy (self-explanatory). Okay, f*ck the females, you know we M.O.B. (money over B*tches); but what about providing for your family and your brothers that have done the same for you. Ain’t that important to you?

P:
You know how much work (illegal activity) I put in for my family and my Bloods since I was a young buck for that ‘baby love’ (money). Shit, the first time I caught a jooks (robbery) was age twelve. I’m nineteen now. I’ve done things sober most people couldn’t do high. N’ now my Uncle Snuffy has been convicted and sentenced to life with no parole for doin’ the same shit I’m doin right now.

Gusto:
So are you saying that you’re scared of getting knocked (arrested/convicted)? It’s a risk of the way we have to live. The way the system has made things for us. You can’t be weak and being scared is a sign of weakness.

P:
I ain’t scared of sh*t. To be honest with you, I didn’t think I’d make it this long. You know what Jay-Z (hood philosopher) said about our hood.

Gusto and P:
::recites quote in unison:: “Life expectancy so low we makin’ out wills at 18.”

P:
I’m nineteen, Gusto. The head of household and family as my Uncle got knocked. The only members of my family with my last name currently free and alive are my nephew (Age 5), my cousin (Age 16), and myself. No, disrespect but do you think that doing the things I have been doing like making money on the backs of people is helping my family?

Gusto:
P, you know what is out there and what is not. There are no jobs out there, everyone around us is on welfare, and everyone is a high school dropout. If you get a GED, you can work at McDonalds, if you go to college you will be broke for four plus years; only to be able to be a manager at a McDonalds. There ain’t no other options for us.

P:
Again, I mean no disrespect, my G. I know the conditions of the ‘P’s (projects) and I know things look bad, but you didn’t answer my question (extremely disrespectful to say as you must always respect the word of your O.G.). I’ve seen family members overdose on the same sh*t we sell. Being around the conditions of our environment caused the addiction. You said I was supposed to provide for my family and my brothers right?

Gusto:
Yea, getting money for your family and holding down your people going through the struggle with you is ultimately important.

P:
You also said that you can’t be weak and being scared is a sign of weakness. Yet, in the words of Jay-Z, we make out our wills at age eighteen, right?

Gusto:
Yea, I did say that.

P:
Then is not being able to provide for your family because of your choice to do things illegally, which would result in your incarceration or murder, a sign of weakness in our culture?

Gusto:
Yes, it does show weakness in our culture, but in our culture where 50% of us don’t have jobs because ‘the white man’ keeps us down as a people; do you think we chose to live in hell (the projects)? Do you think we wanted to sell crack and heroin to our people? No. We don’t own boats to bring in cocaine and heroin here; do you know any black men with a boat? No. This is the hand we’ve been dealt. We have no choice but to play. Don’t you agree?

P:
I do agree that ‘the white man’ has kept us down in the past, but it’s now 2005, I don’t see men wearing white bed sheets riding around the projects at night. I don’t see picket lines in front of the schools keeping us from entering. I do feel that we chose to live in hell and that we chose to stay oppressed.

Gusto:
No, that’s where your wrong young blood. We have no choice but to be oppressed. We don’t own anything, because we have no jobs, we have no jobs because ‘the white man’ won’t hire us. He won’t hire us because we have inferior education. We have inferior education because our schools are sh*t.

P:
So are you saying that we have no choice but to be oppressed by this ‘white man? I saw a white man move in across the street, in the lofts, the other f*ck’n day. If we kill this white man, will we be free?

Gusto:
I wouldn’t say that that particular man, but there are a lot of people that don’t want us to succeed.

P:
Are these people succeeding at keeping us from succeeding?

Gusto:
You tell me?

P:
Well from I learned from you today, I’d say yes.

Gusto:
Then you would agree we have no choice?

P:
I didn’t say that.

Gusto:
Then what exactly are you saying, P.

P:
I am just saying what I am hearing you say to gain clarity about… :: Gusto Interrupts ::

Gusto:
What do you need me to clarify; the fact that you are renegade blood (you are a ‘double agent’, not to be trusted, and eliminated) or the fact that you have turned your back on your brethren by hiding in the house?

P:
Well for one thing, what makes me a renegade blood, turning my back on my brethren or doing things that appear weak like hiding in the house?

Gusto:
Both.

P:
Would you say being a slave is being weak?

Gusto:
Well, slaves would have to be strong in order to do the work they are told to do.

P:
Let me rephrase, would you say, a slave is weaker than his master, if his master got him to be and remain a slave?

Gusto:
Yea he’s weaker, otherwise he wouldn’t be a slave.

P:
Let me get this straight, just to make sure I am following you correctly. Your saying, to not be a renegade, I have to be my ‘brothers keeper’ by allowing my brother to risk his freedom for me, and put himself in harm’s way; because ‘the white man’ we don’t see, is oppressing us, we have to kill each other either through physical violence and drug trafficking, only to go to jail because we have no choice but to be oppresed, which you said made someone weaker. If we have no choice but to live as we do, which makes us as weak as slaves; if we put each other in harm’s way, if we don’t encourage each other to become stronger than the oppressor, we never see, clearly conflictin’ with being our ‘brother’s keeper’. Isn’t every Blood in New York renegade?

Gusto:
This is not the point, you can play little word tricks. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t change the fact that you have not checked in, you have disobeyed protocol by not asking permission to make a move like you did. You are acting like you are not down for us anymore.

P:
Gusto, Word to Everything I Love, I love everything you’ve done for me but … :: gusto angrily interrupts ::

Gusto:
But what, how you gonna say, “You ain’t down.” As if, I personally haven’t bust someone’s head wide open (severely injured) that was frontin’ on you (insult your ego). Let me ask you a question, what the fuck was you doin’ in the crib (house) for three weeks? You lookin’ kinda pale (haven’t received sunlight), blood.

P:
To keep it straight real with you, as you have always kept it with me; I was studyin’ to get my GED, I signed up for classes. I was going to ask you but I’ve been so stressed out about my family, I feel I had no choice.


Gusto:
::laughing:: Young blood, Young blood; I respect that ‘n all that, but you know these could be classified as renegad’ish actions. Do you think that it was worth it to take a risk like that knowing the consequences of your actions?

P:
I didn’t mean to be disrespectful but as you agreed that I need to provide for my family. By going to get my GED, I wanted to have a safety net for doing that. My incarcerated family members are unable to that. My dead family members are unable to do that. ::Gusto irately interrupts::

Gusto:
In GED school, you will be unable to do that. It’s 2005, young blood. You ain’t going nowhere with a GED. You didn’t even make it past the eighth grade and you have two felonies on your rap sheet. Where do you really think your going, taking a risk like that?

P:
:: insecurely mumbles:: College. ::silence::

Gusto:
::bursts out laughing:: You are fukkin’ crazy! I know that all the work (illegal activities) you put in was just work. Everyone else perceived it as crazy. I didn’t; but now, I know that you are fukkin’ crazy. N*gguh, can you even fukkin’ read? I’ve never even seen you read a magazine. You can’t even speak proper English, them white motha’ fukkers gonna rip you to shreds in any college you go to. If you can even get into a college with a GED, you won’t make it. You couldn’t make it through high school. You came to me during high school, talkin bout’ you would do whateva to get down ‘cause you didn’t have no money. We as your brothers fed you, taught you how to hustle, taught you how to fight and shoot. Now you want to turn around on us and leave us out to dry to chase a dream?

P:
::silence:: What is a dream, Gusto? Is wanting to be around, to take care of my family, longer than the average n*gguh from around here, a dream? Is wanting to be a father that actually sees his sons grow up, a dream? I’ve seen people die at the hands of people that I shake hands with on the regular. I’ve seen more walking deceased (drug addicts) than teenage girls watching a zombie movie. Shit, my father was addicted to heroin. He let himself die before I reached the age of eight. We are living a nightmare that … :: gusto interrupts::

Gusto:
That’s right, lil nigguh. We live a nightmare. We live in hell. Do you want to live in hell, endure the torment, while going to college? We don’t have much, but living the way we do, we eat a lot more than most people, because we stick together. That is what keeps our gang alive. No matter what laws are made, no matter who goes renegade on us. Why would you want to break that with no guarantee of success, with no proof of progress, no nothing?

P:
Respectfully my G, if I severely have violated your set by wanting an education and must die, I will do so with no problem. I really have nothing to lose. There are only a few members of my family left. If I don’t try something different, they will die off. The cycle of fatherlessness (we do make up words) will continue, leaving a slim chance of survival. As my brother, I’d hope you could understand.

Gusto:
::hangs up phone::

Only dial tone remains.

End.