Stories

“I’ve done ten years and been out for two months. That’s all I had was time. I was always interested in chess but I didn’t have the patience. It was too many moves and all that. I had time to study and read. I did a lot of reading. Chess prepares yo…

“I’ve done ten years and been out for two months. That’s all I had was time. I was always interested in chess but I didn’t have the patience. It was too many moves and all that. I had time to study and read. I did a lot of reading. Chess prepares you for a lot of things in life. It prepares you for your next moves. You always gotta think ahead of time and think of your next moves and prepare yourself for life. 

It’s a beautiful thing because it will stop you from instant gratification. Me and Monte were out in the streets since we were kids. If we wanted the shoes or cars, we would’ve sold dope and would get it that day. Chess has prepared me for the patience. You won’t look for the instant gratification and you will constantly have your brain working. Today, we lose sight of that.

Black America needs to wake up and it starts with the kids. We gotta get them into things that they can relate to. You can’t keep teaching them about Christopher Columbus and all of these fictitious lies. It’s the truth. Tell them the real! They’re not even interested and they don’t even know what that stuff means. Get them into African Spirituality and tell them about everything we’ve done over there and here. Everything we’ve done was taken away from us and we were forced to take on another culture. It’s the truth.

We need community centers down here. You look at Portland and they still have their Boys & Girls Club and we don’t have anything on this side of Market. We need to get reading centers, too. Reading is essential to life. Our people will parish for the lack of knowledge. We’re failing in a major way. We have to teach our kids about who they are. We gotta know self. You have to know your identity and until you know that, you’re lost.” - Lucky (Right) pictured with Monte, Portland