Two seventeen-year old bystanders wind up injured during a shoot-out between two adults arguing over who makes the best Kool-Aid. Between the story itself and the over-the-top way the reporter tells it, this is one of the single most ridiculous news reports I’ve ever seen.
You keep mentioning that you are "poor". What on earth does that mean, and how do you quantify that?
Anonymouspoor
1. With little or no possessions or money.
When I use it, I am specifically referring to the fact that the bare necessities for life are difficult to afford regularly and that luxuries are almost impossible to afford. I grew up on WIC checks, bologna sandwich dinners, and two pairs of clothes. As an adult, I’ve lived in subsidized housing and on one of the most impoverished, infamously dangerous blocks in my city, where a quarter of the population lives in poverty. I live in a food desert and am currently houseless.
The current poverty threshold in the United States is $10,890 or less a year. On my disability checks, I make less than that.
So I am going off the definition of the word and the official standards of my country and its economy. Okay?
Intelligent Hoodlum: “Street Life”. This song is so good and tragically real. Thanks to ryanoverton for putting me onto him.
Ke$ha (ft. Andre 3000, Lil’ Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, and T.I.): “Sleazy Remix 2.0: Get Sleazier”. This song just got so much better with an awesome ‘hood touch to it. The video has average, everyday people lip-syncing the words, too, which is awesome.
“Ending a year and starting a year all wrong.”
Vegan Thanksgiving, non-celebratory Christmas, and the conclusion to all the drama that surrounded Chance in my shitty household.
Shad: “The Old Prince Still Lives At Home”. Not only is this just an awesome hip-hop track about being broke, they completely remade the Fresh Prince opening almost perfectly for the video. This is awesome.
One of the first films to utilize the handheld camera “found footage” trope, this follows the day in the life of a group of gang members in the ‘hood of Southern California, focusing mainly on the slow transition of one fourteen-year old from innocent boy to grown gangsta, like a coming-of-age from the darker realities of low-income neighborhoods. Starring a cast of real ex-gang members, it accurately portrays the deadly cycle that is perpetuated in this lifestyle, some of which is cultivated by necessity to survive and some of which by an urge to maintain power, money, and respect taught to them by a fatherless, dysfunctional upbringing. This definitely hits you hard from beginning to end, particularly because it just feels so real.
Gang Tapes.
This documentary, which covers an entire year in one of the most violent inner-city parts of Chicago, was incredibly moving and inspiring. It focuses on a grassroots organization there called CeaseFire, where members (called “Interrupters”) educate and mediate violent gang member youth, as well as directly intervene in conflicts that could potentially escalate into violence. Watching them at work, talking and breaking through the tough exteriors of these youths, was uplifting and emotional to witness. While they do make incredible progress, the violence continues, as does the cycle that perpetuates itself in low-income areas. The film also offered a rare inside look into the causes of gang violence, a topic normally glossed over with violent inner-city youth often being portrayed without identities. As someone who has spent their entire life in an area plagued with street violence and destitution, this really spoke to me, and I think everyone, poor and middle class alike, should see this.
The Interrupters.
