Next July will mark the 20th anniversary of the release of that classic movie, “Boyz N The Hood.” If you’re old enough to remember the movie or those days, you’ll know that things were different back then.
South Central LA was nothing short of a war zone, with heavily armed gangs battling for control of each block. Add to the mix, one of the biggest, baddest, most rougish police forces the planet has ever seen and you’ve got a place where just about everyone – civilian and soldier alike – lived in the crosshairs.
I’m from the east coast and I’ve never been to Los Angeles, let alone South Central. All I know about LA comes from what Paul Pierce says and from movies like Boyz, Menace and Colors. Thinking about that movie left me wondering, “Is it still hard to survive in South Central? Do the strong even die in South Central? Just how much have things changed out there?”
Thankfully, when family-movie star Ice Cube was a gangster rapper, he laid out some rules for surviving in South Central. On the opening track of that soundtrack (which, believe it or not, may have been better than the movie itself)
- Rule #1 – Get yourself a gun. A 9 and your ass will be fine…
- Rule #2 – Don’t trust nobody. Especially a bitch with a hooker’s body.
- Rule #3 – Don’t get caught up, cause niggas are doing anything that’s thought up. Don’t take your life for granted, cause it’s the craziest place on the planet.
Tell me, readers. What’s going on in South Central these days? Are residents still distrusting of the police (I’ve got to think they are). Should you still beware of a women with a big bootie and that look in their eye? Do you need to be home before dark “you punk ass mark”?
Educate me on this one.
