Gangsta Rap for the Youth
The Things They May Not Tell You about Crime and Street Life
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
“Life is choices!” That is by far the most profound phrase that I have heard since entering the Michigan Penal System nearly 29 years ago. I was meeting with my Resident Unit Manager “RUM” (counselor) for the first time during a life sentence Parole Eligibility Report (PER) when those words were uttered to me by RUM Virginia Brown at the Western Wayne Correctional Facility. No one had ever told me that my life was the choices that I made. Ms. Brown spoke those words to me after reviewing my prison file and determining “what a waste of life” it contained. The lives of the victims, their families, my family and my life. My prison file revealed that I was a college student at Wayne State University and Wayne County Community College majoring in Criminal Justice. I had made “a choice” after spending several years as an Arc Welder at Ford Motor Company Dearborn Stamping Plant to return to college. I wanted to pursue a career in law, when the automotive industry started to decline in Detroit, Michigan. It hadn’t occurred to me, in the moment RUM Brown made that assertion, that many lives were actually wasted as a result of my actions and “the choices” I made early on in life. Up until that moment, life was all about me and what I thought the world should be. I had little or no serious thought of the effect on other people’s lives my selfish actions had taken.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
At one time in his life, author David K. Hudson was a college student who made the Dean’s List twice. But one January night, he made an errant decision that sent him to prison for life. In this inspirational memoir, Hudson takes youths on a journey to the other side of crime and the criminal justice system—a story which often goes untold in the grandeur of rap music. His story travels through the daily life of incarceration, visitation, and the true rewards of street hustling. He shows what prison life is really about and the heartaches and the sufferings that result when one chooses to sell drugs, to commit crimes, to sell their body, or to take any of the other shortcuts street life offers in the pursuit of fast riches. In Gangsta Rap for the Youth, Hudson discusses the power of choice and the ability to reject crime. He makes a strong argument for regaining personal power and accepting the responsibility to be a productive member of society. This guide to self-empowerment communicates that youth have the ability to take control of their future and make the right choices in life.
About the Author
David K. Hudson earned an associate’s degree in business administration. He is a certified paralegal who studied criminology through Adrian College and the University of Michigan. Hudson is a core member of Chance for Life Inc., tutors offenders, and has twenty-eight years of experience in the Michigan penal system.