Reproduction of the New Breed Leaders (excerpt)

....My generation often find themselves perplexed that their daughters want to date “Dopeboys” and their sons want to be thugs. We say it’s because of the media, the mall and “the man”. Maybe it’s none of these, maybe it’s because they are really good kids and have listened to their parents well.

I would be rich myself if I had a dollar for every time I heard an adult pronounce that it was “all about that dollar bill.” The “hip-hop generation” of today has grown up in an environment where materialism is the only value that has been passed down to them by their forebears. They have also learned by observing their elders that timidity, passivity and servility only gives birth to lack of respect. While they may lack a sense of community and purpose, they possess an awareness that they should be self determined and aren’t afraid to take on the “man” rather than beg for his wages.

It is easy for us to label these young men thugs because they have criminal records, no college degrees and no jobs. To the young ladies though, often raised by a single mother in a hungry household, the brother who goes to his “trap” everyday often has enough money for his babies, his “baby mama” and even her mama. This is something her Daddy was never able to achieve with a job - when he could find one....