Growing Up Young, Black, and in East New York Brooklyn

I'm From East New York Where the Motto is Shoot or Die

I originally wrote this for Let’s Not Be Trash, but after pouring out a bunch of words, I realized that I kind of got lost in my story, and forgot what the goal was. This was supposed to be a piece that used a traumatic moment in my life to drive home the need for men to break the cycle of violence. I didn’t accomplish the mission. Instead, I got this, …