A Father first, a Boxer Second
It was one thing for me — as an organizer, mentor, professor, father and fighter — to come of age in the South Bronx but I knew I couldn’t keep raising my son here. There were too many close calls. When Ernesto was nine years old I was training at St. Mary’s Park with Golden Gloves Champ Vennie or Little Venezuela. This is his nickname because his brother was Venezuela. (Many fighters are named after their country of origin.) Venezuela was undefeated and on track for a big career before he was stabbed to death over a misunderstanding over a girl on Wales Ave. and 151st St.
Vennie and I were doing sprints and pad work one fall afternoon. Ernesto was riding his bike around the park, trying to be a child. Some mean-spirited, 13-year-old knuckleheads came out of nowhere like a wolf pack and pushed my son off his bike and stole it. Ernesto ran to tell me what happened. The three of us pursued the local outlaws. Ernesto and I were too slow but Vennie was off to the races. We chased them through the Moore projects — base of the “Murda Moore Gangsters” — and across Jackson Ave where the kids hid in a 99 Cent store. The security came out and looked at us like we were the aggressors, immediately calling the police. All I wanted to do was catch up to the young rascals and talk to them face to face about bullying and teach them a little lesson. Now, with the police involved — with all of their hubris, bluster and brutality — I knew it was going to get ugly. We left the scene as quickly as possible.
A few months later I signed Ernesto up for Little League. The prototypical dream of every father in America is to see his son learning how to catch fly balls and swing a bat. The coaches set up the first week of practice, collected our money and then they dipped and disappeared. $200 later my son was deprived of the opportunity to play on a team and learn the game of baseball.
A few weeks later “Chichi” — Ernesto’s nickname when he was younger — was walking home from PS 161 on Tinton Ave. He was in 5th grade. An altercation led to a shoot-out in front of the same 99 Cent store. Ernesto had to take refuge in the bodega on the corner. This was too close for comfort. The oppression on these corners weighs too heavy on our children. It was time to get my son out of there.
Teach the Children the Truth
Society labels our children hyperactive, bipolar, ADD, autistic & depressed. They say they have split personalities & learning disabilities, alongside a host of other diagnosis. Every day they are disciplined, stripped of recess, discouraged, suspended and overmedicated.
Now that I am semi-retired, I use boxing training with the youth to open up deeper conversations. Our messaging to our young people should by crystal clear: there is nothing wrong with you. You are none of these labels. You are oppressed. You are born into a Kingdom of Oppression. You are robbed of fresh air, stuck with asthma, deprived of a backyard and space. A dysfunctional society breeds dysfunctional families. You are not the failure; society has failed you.
What do we expect from children robbed of a childhood? None of this is natural. Tell the children the truth. This is not living.
I moved away from 149th st. with my 12-year-old. He deserved better. He deserved a childhood. He deserved some nature in his life. When he was 7, I brought him to New Jersey. He saw a caterpillar for the first time. He thought it was the wildest thing he had ever seen. All of our children deserve so much more.
I have a condition called Boxing Wanderlust. I love rolling up in Detroit, Denver, Miami, Cartagena, San Juan, Belfast, Manilla and beyond to check out the boxing scene. It’s good to get away from NYC mid-January and train for a few weeks on the beaches of the Caribbean — the perfect contrast. As I grew spiritually and intellectually it was natural to drift away from the hurt business to the healing world. To excel in boxing, you have to master a certain amount of brutality.
No One is Free until We are all Free
I had just enough support and social mobility to get out of the hood: a mother who persevered to become a social worker, a decent enough sources of income and the privilege of being a white man in America. I had just enough in my corner to tuck my son under my wings and fly him out of this Kingdom of Oppression. How many parents are not so fortunate and are trapped?
2 years ago we packed it up and moved to South Yonkers. We’re still in a working-class community but it’s not 10455. There are trees. There are streets where you can ride a bike. My son plays Left Tackle for the Yonkers Knights football team. He got on base for the first time yesterday for the local baseball team. 2-years-ago this didn’t seem possible. Tears surface in my eyes just to see him coming of age with healthy role models and teammates. Why aren’t all of our children entitled to these opportunities? My lifestyle has not changed but I sleep in calmer quarters. I still box and teach boxing in the same gyms that will always have a place in my heart.
There is so much more to share from our world, the underbelly of New York City. Geographically, we are only a few miles away from 42nd St., Wall Street and the Empire State Building but truthfully we are worlds away. Unless an outsider was going to see the Yankees, why would s/he have any motive to adventure anywhere close to the rat’s nest?
I hope that my anecdotes about one of America’s great past times — the grittiest and most working class of sports — allows others to enter into a world they would otherwise never penetrate. Know that our children will continue to be consumed by these streets, Rikers Island and the local funeral homes until we uproot this beast from its roots. Corrections Corporation is one of the leading profiteers on the Stock Exchange and one of the fasting growing companies in America. The trading and warehousing of our children is the $37 billion prison industry. In the words of Eugene Debby, “my goal is not to rise from the working class but to rise with it.”
Who will interrupt this maddening genocide? We will. Anything less than the relentless defense and mobilization of our people, sells our children short. Every child deserves to come of age in a serene, healthy environment. The very existence of a Hunts Point, Mott Haven and Tremont Ave is a human rights violation unto itself. The intentional construction and maintenance of the ghetto and its attendant segregation, unemployment and poverty is the denial of peace to millions of people throughout this country. In the words of the immortal James Baldwin: “The only place for the ghetto is out of existence.” In the meantime we’ll be here training, breathing, jogging, healing, organizing, cleansing, puttin’ in work and gettin’ it! We don’t care who you are, if you’re down to put in work against this segregationist and white supremacist system and get a sweat in, come see us on 1 4 9!
Kids with bad intentions will never have respect to kids their age, Most parent love to see there kids do good but not all family have a chance to get out. Children is not all have a childhood, so it is good that movie out the hood. Crime is all around so we never know when we will be next to get hurt. Boxing is something that is accepted by some not everyone wants to have the best itris of changing the hood we have to live in. It a wish for everyone to be able to not be segregated, but the struggle is real so good luck with your boxing wandering. Keep it up cuz soon this world will nolong work in the favor of its people.
This article was very engaging and enjoyable to read. As far as boxing I didn’t really know much about it. Fortunately, after reading this article I have more insight on the south Bronx boxing scene. After reading this article, it confirmed to me that the south Bronx can be scary yet fascinating.
Living in the South Bronx I came across a few “Little Soto’s”. People who had so much potential to get far in life. But momentary situations and bad choices demolished the positive outcome of their future. Often winding up just like Gary, repeatedly getting released from prison and going back in soon after. “Oppressed people specialize in killing one another” it is sad, but true. We all need to lean on each and heal each other but yet we hurt one another and from the looks of it, it is only going to get worse.
In part two of the article when Professor Shaw spoke about “summer days” and not having air condition nor fan to keep cool, and “sweating profusely” but no one complained because regardless they all got it on. I feel like that is a statement that described everyday lives of people from the south Bronx. Although we struggle and we are tired of struggling we won’t ever give up.
Unfortunately growing up in the Bronx bullying was very common. I learned moving from Georgia to New York from a young age that going to these public schools I always had to be ready to defend myself. There were days in middle when I skipped school just to avoid bully’s. After a while I realized I couldn’t run from my bullies but I had to face them and fight them for my respect.
The South Bronx environment can be overwhelming not only for adults but for children. I do not blame Professor Shaw for moving his son out of this harsh environments. It isn’t fair for a child to go through bullying or being robbed. Living here I have seen dead bodies, heard gun shots and so much more. My daughter have to walk over feces, needles and more. I’m in college for her. One day I will be able to move her out these hazardous projects and into a safer environment.
In conclusion, reading this article gave me more insight of what and how it goes down in the South Bronx boxing world. There are a lot of people who are living dead end lives. It is sad but a reality for some. People in the South Bronx May struggle but never stop hustling and continuously to “get it in” regardless. Also, the south Bronx has not only taken a toll on adults but also children.
first of all i must congratulate you for that interesting article .that’s good that you have had the wings to protect you child ,it`s unfortunate that is not the case for many of parents. what you are referring to in this article is extremely true ,as of the majority of children are forced to live in a system of oppression and not living a real childhood.
Been a father in the ghettos is one of the most difficult thing a parent can ever handle. For this reason few of our kids makes it up the ladder, majority ends up in the system of capitalism. Where profit surpasses every other thing. America it is time to wake up.
All the articles were really interesting and didactic, it is totally true children now days are forced and in a certain way trapped in a system were bad intentions and violence solve all their problems not realizing that it just generates more and takes away their childhood. I am glad that you are working to improve your children and others lives, through boxing.
Great article! The children need to be free they need to know the truth and live they are entitled to be kids, play, engage & grow with eachother. Society labels everyone, you are labeled the minute you are brought into this world and its outrageous how life works. If you’re denied the opportunity you deserve go get it somewhere else because you can be whatever you want to be. This article reflects how the kids are labeled & told things that are not true. The children are entitled to the truth they need to live! Will society every change? Will the children outgrow society?
This article took me back when I was a little girl who used to play with my neighbors in the back yard of my grandmothers house. I remember we used to do cooking with leaves, flowers and rocks, while the boys used to play vitilla it was so wonderful to be a kid and play those games in a country that had a lot of oppression, but you as a children didn’t even know what was going on only the grown ups used to take care of those thing. I live her in the Bronx for now because is cheaper to go to school and get education through the federal aid, but I want to move back to Atlanta, Georgia and raise my daughter over there where she could appreciate the nature. Living in the Bronx you have to learned how to defend yourself from aggressor of you own age. its really sad that parents don’t correct their children when they do something bad. Also I could picture your son’s face showing you the caterpillar for the first time.I’m glad that you wanted your child to live his childhood to the fullest because those times doesn’t come back. Now that I’m a mother I understand your point of leaving what you love to do to get your son in a good environment to live in even though you still in the Bronx but as you said is not the 10455.
Venezuela was a story I remembered watching in the news. This was just another tragic ending in which violence took another innocence life. Parents always wish the best for their children. They want to see them grow up and enjoy life.
Loved how this ended. Very positive and truthful indeed. I hear people from right here in New York and outside of New York dissing the Bronx because of all of the negative stereotypes and poverty that goes on here but they forget that these very same things happen everywhere else too. I wish people weren’t so ignorant about the Bronx. The Bronx does have violence and poverty just like other places too but there’s positive things here too, just like boxing and Hip Hop. Both are examples of positive things that help keep people out of trouble and it’s an outlet for people to express themselves with their fists and with their creativity and words to fight against the oppressors. Great article!
I greatly appreciated this portion because it resonates with me and the repetitive words I say to 8th graders in which I work with. I feel that children, specifically those in NYC, should be given the same opportunities as those who live around nature. They should be given the freedom to be children instead of “young adults”. This inspired me to want to do more for the children that I work with and beyond because it breaks my heart that they did not have the same opportunities as I did growing up in South Carolina and Southern California.
Unfortunately, in life this is how it is, we are all “expose” to opportunities but it’s up to us to reach there. In America, we see this everywhere, it’s more like survive if you can. In addition, I’m glad u decided to show your soon other environment because this what parents do. And at some point I feel like many parents are not aware of this problems at school, the neighborhood etc…. And somethimes this type of environment force the child to become a ground up so fast, without enjoying a childhood. In NYC you must fit or stay shut, according to my high school experience. But I do believe that now
As adults that saw and were expose to this things our job it’s to protect or kids, nephews, nieces.
In this part of the reading, I wanted to say that boxing in the Bronx, pretty much characterizes the South Bronx people’s way of life. We need to be strong and be able to speak up for what is right for us and our community. It shows that there are many reasons why we do certain things which may not be right. It shows the struggles we go through to have, for the most part, a decent life. It shows we are deprived of our freedom, even if they say we are “free.”
This hits home for my desire to want to be free. Being able to live in nature is freedom. We are being programed to consume artificially to live in an artificial environment.The ghetto is a trap and a hell hole, especially in NYC. We must think about the things that will benefit our future, our kids, our family, and our lives.
It’s good to see how you dedicate time to trained this teenagers. For me that’s is something to admire, because that’s a good thing for this community in which I live.
This article definitely hit home for me. One summer night in loring place in the bronx, when i was 11 years old my cousins and i were playing ball inside of the the buildings courtyard. We were playing 1 on 1 and I lost the first round so my other 2 cousins started their game. I opened the main door that led to the sidewalk and I was just there looking at who was on the block and killing time while my cousins played. thats when i heard gunshots and I turned around and there were 2 guys being chased by a gunman. 1 of the guys that was being shot at saw I had the building door open and pushed me out of the way to get in the building. I froze in fear and just remembered the gun man aiming for his target and missing me by a foot or 2. His other target was on my opposite side still running down the hill so the gun man changed his aim and shot at him. Till this day the image is completely clear how the end of the barrel ignites as each bullet exits the gun. That day was the first chain of events that took me through hell but led me to the best thing that could of happened to me. My mom went back to school after that day and flash forward 4-5 years she’s successful and meets a good man who so happenes to be from Jersey. When me mom moved to Jersey I was exposed to a whole new world. It wasn’t until then that I realized life doesn’t have to be a constant struggle and that I could also have nice things. NYC completely ruined my ability to see I was in a rat race to go nowhere. I to deserve to see the world and to be exposed to the natural beauties on earth and not just dyckman park. I started hanging out with a different crowed that got ne into things like hiking and traveling and now when I go back to my old hood I can’t even explain to myself why there was a point in time I never wanted to move away. I was not only born into oppression but believed it was what life was about but not now. Now I know who I am and I refuse to be what the man wants me to be.
I can relate to this article (A Dollar and a Dream in the South Bronx: Coming up in the Boxing Mecca) because I was raised in the South Bronx and resided in the Alberto Goodman projects, located at 163rd street. I was bullied at public school and around my neighborhood. My mother was very strict and at times over-protective because she wanted to keep me safe from all the activities that surrounded our neighborhood such as shootings and drugs. What I have learned from living in my ghetto surroundings was how I consider myself a survivor because of the intense lifestyle I was exposed to and I believe it made me into the person I am today, unafraid and strong. I am a proud mother of two, still residing in the South Bronx and fortunate to put my sons through private school. Both are well aware there are many opportunities available to them through education and living in the South Bronx should not stop them from obtaining their goals.
I grew up in Corona, Queens. It’s not the safest neighborhood but crime rates are not as high as other areas. It is largely described as a Hispanic community with a mix of Asian culture. Growing up in a low-income community has allowed me to witness first hand the lack of resources in communities similar to mine. I went to Flushing High school where graduation rates were dropping lower and lower each year. I always said to myself, if it wasn’t for being exposed to the tremendous sacrifice that my parents made when coming to this country and constantly being told that the only way is through an education I wouldn’t be here, writing this paper and agreeing with this piece. Education is key they say, but not many understand the true meaning of how deliberating it is to open your mind to endless possibilities. It was my junior year of high school and while many other teenagers were out with their friends after school I was not. My mom had arranged for me to become her live in nanny, no problem mom. In many ways, I felt like having this responsibility when I was young deprived me of my “golden years’ and sometimes I grew feelings of selfishness. Tweet one years old, college student, employee and currently starting an internship I had to learn that taking on these responsibilities allowed me to mature and expose my self. I quickly realized I wouldn’t have been able to sustain these responsibilities if it wasn’t for what I experienced when I was younger. This might be a vague example but it helped build such a close relationship to my now 7 year old brother. Summer 2017 was such an exciting summer probably more to me than to him, he was attending his first summer camp and this made me the happiest sister ever. His future will be different than mine I said to myself. While this was the best experience he has probably had it cost over 3,000 dollars for a two month summer camp experience. Who has the money to drop like the that in communities like ours? Over the years I have been a product of the lack of resources in our communities, children are being deprived of actives that will not only benefit their growing experience but also their social and emotional stability. Many of our kids are bored, bored at the age of 7 because they have not been exposed to the outside world of discovery. Their imagination is being limited to an object called an iPad, swiping left and right. Luckily for my brother, he has me to push and challenge him when he gets lazy but many of our kids don’t, they have parents that are absent from their life and the only thing waiting after school is trouble and loneliness. How can we become mentors and resources for our kids in communities like this? I always believe that everyone has the potential to be their best, no matter where you come from everyone has the ability to challenge the stereotypes that society has placed on them, and that is my passion.
What a great testimony! Its such a pleasure having to hear such a great short tale of your life. As for we all have been through the struggle in some way, whether that was going through it our selfs or knowing someone like our parents go through it or even grandparents. Being of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, I have witnessed both sides be segregated against; seeing my Mexican grandparents be crop workers and being belittled of their wages, there work ethic and rights stripped as a human and for my Puerto Rican grandparents whom fled for a greater oppurtnuity and are looked at as if they were lesser than any totem at the bottom of the totem pole. Fortunantley for me, my mother, whom is 1st generation here (my grandmother is from MX) made sure it was her duty to not let me or my sisters experience any disrespect nor held from any limits of possibility; especially raising young Latina Women. For many latinos, the experience of segregation is at first hand; and we must not forget the journey our ancestors took, to provide us with the chances we have today. For as we know opportunities are not the same for everyone, but we must take the chances that will possibly get us close to certain opportunities. As for myself, I have journeyed from the west coast (Seattle, WA) to the east coast (Queens, NY) to expand my educational studies. I have personally experienced that the lifestyle is VERY different. I noticed that soon as I visited my first time in 2013 and experienced it when I moved in 2014 moving into my building/neighborhood. Witnessing the cultural shock that I personally thought I was aware of was huge. For it is very diverse in Seattle, but the diversity on the east coast is completely different. Frankly, I have enjoyed being able to experience both sides, as for there are times I feel worlds apart. The lifestyle is so fast pace compared to the relaxed state I feel once I touch down at the Seattle-Tacoma Int. Airport. But with no regret, my spiritual intellect will continue to grow as I continue to take in such different things surrounding me and I am not going to stop learning. TO LIVE IS TO EXPERIENCE!
So as you mentioned leaving the inner city hood and moving your child away to experience the normality of having a yard and seeing the nature of this world really hit home because growing up and having my own space and back yard was the norm, and moving to NYC none of that is available to children here. I mean Central park is the closest to a beautiful outdoor scenery, but its not the most scenic. That itself does take a lot away from children and their innocence, for it forces a rapid growth for some to take. The simplicity of nature and it surroundings can be so effective to a child and their childhood. So I am congratulating you on the prosperity of your son and yourself to move out and continue to strive for such greatness in this world!! Ernesto has a great leader to follow and Glad I was fortunate enough to read such growth and knowledge passed down. For the truth of the matter is, we experience things through others experiences and most importantly we learn from others mistakes.
It is surprising to me how many things professor Shaw have done and keep doing in his life. It is very inspiring to me. I would never imagine that professor Shaw being a boxing fighter. The daily news Golden Gloves fighter of that year (2005). The boxing world shouldn’t be just a place for unemployment, addiction and humiliation to cut people down instead, it should be a place to have support and where people should feel as a family. By reading all of this, people never know what other have been through that is way I think there shouldn’t be no judgment, as it happened to the guy Larceny, who saw his father dying when he was an infant, and got blame for that. That was an event that mark him for life. I never saw boxing this way I saw boxing as nice people that fight into a ring for money. It is important that the article shows the background of different people in the boxing world and not only that but the real life inside and outside (the streets). I thought that this is just happening now but it is no like that there were also really bad times, violence is and always have been a problem. Sometimes I am scare of going outside because I don’t feel safe. There is no love around, people kill, people are racist, bulling, thieve and it since to be normal because it happens every day and there is no way to stop it, as it happened yesterday at that concert in Las Vegas, 50 killed and 400 injured by now. And as you say it is not to bring everyone to jail but help them how to be a better person. Even the police they listen to the white and the wealthy people and be discriminating the black and the lower
class ones. But that is the reality if a person grew up in a low income community there are more than 50% that person will be lead to robbery and other crimes to find a way of leaving. I really like the way you give advices through these articles like “staying self-motivated no matter what is happening around you. Even though you have been through all those thing I can see that those thing never brought you down but a way to never give up and always looking for better ways to let thing behind and do what you think it is good for you and people around you, the way you laugh each and every day of class is a prove of what I just said. I am really proud of you, for showing us your backgrounds and still being that person who laugh and make jokes every time, and for not becoming one of those bad people but instead, feel and help those who are going through the same things you went through. I like the way you didn’t let no one to bring you down when you tried to be healthier and loose some weights because it is no what people think it is your life and you are the only one responsible for your life and what you think is good or not for you, and take care of ourselves because no one will do the same or more than us.
The 7 articles related to ” A Dollar and a Dream in the South Bronx” were definitely very interesting and allowed my mind to open up and understand with clarity the maltreatment that continues to take place in today’s society. Oppression and poverty is something that has been going on for decades. Its so sad that our children have to experience such a horrifying system that don’t care about peoples well being
I moved to the South Bronx from Ft. Lauderdale, FL 12 years ago and what I have visually seen in these 12 years keeps me with my mouth opened especially being a mother of two. I grew up in a city completely different from these brown buildings that cover natures beauty. I lived on trinity avenue for 8 years, the day my daughter asked me what those loud popping noises where that night which were gunshots between two idiots, I knew I had to take my kids out of that situation. I knew I needed to do better for my children’s future and since moving back to FL wasn’t in the plans for now we decided to move to Yonkers and I have to say Professor I totally agree with you 100%, Yonkers may not be far from the South Bronx but its far enough where my kids only have to hear the sound of the trees, birds and other kids at play. Our children are drawn into the streets and labeled not just by government standards but by even your neighbor we need to teach our kids that they are special and that they mean more to this world than what they are marked to be like you said “This Our messaging to our young people should by crystal clear: there is nothing wrong with you. You are none of these labels. You are oppressed. You are born into a Kingdom of Oppression. You are robbed of fresh air, stuck with asthma, deprived of a backyard and space. A dysfunctional society breeds dysfunctional families. You are not the failure; society has failed you.” Very deep message!
I loved this article, and I like the fact that you are a “white boy” but you went through the same things us minorities go through daily. I feel that moving out of NYC was the best thing you did for your son. I swear if I had it I would leave instantly because there is nothing out here for these kids in these bad neighborhoods. I remember growing up we use to have after school programs and day camps etc. Nowadays it is really hard to find those things. There is not much to do out here for the kids in the black community, so they get bored and find other things to do like bullying, smoking, having sex etc. My daughter worked this past summer for the summer youth program and they had nothing and nowhere for them to go, so they sat all the kids in a big auditorium everyday the whole summer until about 2 weeks before the program was over. They cut the program short because there was a big fight. So yes I believe that it is the system fault that the black community is so messed up, they are designing it this way and it’s sad.
I am so happy that you were able to move your son out of the hood. I also admire the fact that although you don’t approve of “the ghetto” you find your way back to try and alleviate some of the oppression for young minorities. Your blog series gave us a glimpse of why you choose to advocate against white supremacy and I now have even more respect for you as a person and a professor. I must admit that for a while I didnt believe that you were a “white boy” because you spoke Spanish so fluently “you might as well be spanish”. But the more I read the more I realize that we are all the same.
I completely agree with you when you say it is not the children’s fault. No one is born ignorant. You never know what the kid that was buried or sitting in prison could have been given the opportunities or better environment. The other day, this girl that I follow on instagram made a post saying that you have to find out how the people you get into relationships with have grown up, because it is quite possible that they don’t know how to love because they’ve never been loved themselves. People are products of their environment and their parents. You can’t judge someone even if you have been through something similar to them, because they went through it differently. They viewed it and felt differently about whatever it is that they went through. And there is no right or wrong way to react to something to that you went through.
I am not a Parent but my mother tells me all the time ” I am a mother before I am anything else, and the needs of my child come first”. It’s very comforting to know and see that as I’ve gotten older what a parent does for their child. The love and instinct of a parent for their child are like no other, and the willingness to make the world around your son better is much comforting than anything else.
[Part IV,V,VII,VIII] I admire your aspiration while growing up and how although you were surrounded by the world of drugs and addiction you decided to channel the pain in another way, which was beneficial to you as a being and for your family as well. Boxing sometimes has a negative connotation but after reading these posts, you have opened it up in another vision. To have experienced all you have while growing up, and even during your boxing era, and to now live in a different atmosphere is to say that just because you grew up experiencing life differently doesn’t mean that will be your future. A lot comes out of experiences, to have your son grow up around that, he will now be able to have a memory not many kids grow up with. The love you have for Ernesto is so deep, you chose to leave the life you grew up around just for the betterment of his upbringing, and to see that in a father is a breath of fresh air.
People around the world cope with their problems differently if is doing drugs, drinking or even beating the life out of someone. For Danny Shaw and some of his friends it was different they used the boxing ring to take away the pain they had in the inside. Some of them made it to be better in life, but others didn’t they either died or went back to jail. In these articles it shows the struggle of being in poverty as well as discrimination and brutality from New York finest.
In the Bronx some people will never change no matter what they been through. They go to Ryker’s for years and come out to go back in. The cycle never stops for people that don’t learn their lesson. Like part I of, “Dollar and a Dream,” Gary went to jail for heroin possession and went back in for the same charge. Same as Little Soto he was just happy he had money in his food stamps card and wanted to treat everybody in the boxing ring. Every changed when he killed the delivery for never coming back. All he wanted to do is an act of kindness to treat his friends for some snacks or food, but it became into a murder. The thoughts and struggles in people’s life make them do heinous crimes like these.
For Daniel Shaw it was a unique perspective he knew even though things like this were happening around his life he had to make a change. There was a bunch of robberies around the gym and Shaw was one of the victims of his car being stolen. Police found a perp around a robbery scene and instantly thought it was him. When Shaw saw what was going on he told the cops that they don’t need to be so rough that the perp needs help instead a jail cell. The only thing Shaw wanted was to make a change and that’s what he did. He knew that he couldn’t have his son living in the 3rd avenue area after a bunch of little kids pushed his son off the bike and stole it from him. Eventually, he had kids and teenagers in the boxing ring for them to take out their anger or even if they were being bullied.
This have been one of the most eye opening story of how the real deal plays it part in the real world. I am part of what they called “minority” and I have lived through most of what I just read in this article “A Dollar and a Dream in the South Bronx: Coming up in the Boxing Mecca”. it was a pleasure to read about how things used to be back in the early 2000s and now. Although not much have changed, at least a few things have changed. For example Ernesto having the opportunity to see and live the difference. I believe many other families have left the hood due to the same reason Author, Fighter of not just boxing but also life, and Professor Danny Shaw did years ago. The most important thing I identified while reading this article was the way Shaw took the situations he was facing and turn it into opportunities for good. Walking away from what seen to be the usual or common lifestyle of many of our people, Shaw sought for a passion and engaged into boxing and traveling the world, giving him the biggest opportunity of learning about different environment. I learn from this article that people have the power to change their fate if they have help from somewhere. In the case of Shaw, his help of the understanding the pain of what his family was going through. Other are taken away the opportunities to do the best thing they can and end up imprisoned or dead due to extreme decision making not everyone are force to make and also because of police brutality.
I really enjoyed reading all seven parts of the article. This last part is really touching because it has to do with the future of our children. Raising a child in the south Bronx community is a challenging thing to most patients. This is a place where anything that you could think of, happens at any point of time. Then again, most of the things happening in south Bronx has a lot to do with the media. I like your sub heading “Give the Children the truth “, this is what I have been talking about. Our children have been brain washed into believing that the only thing that they can become is a rapper, an entertainer, an athlete or a mafia or a gangster. The media and other outlets are making it impossible for our children to be of anything important in the future. Black and people of color are shown in the media as ghetto-criminal, drug dealers, athletes, rappers, entertainers and among others. All this is in an effort to prevent our children from a brighter future. Since this is what they see through the media of their community, they think that is how they should be like, so they begin to start smoking, drinking, stealing, having high desire for sex and so on. That was really a smart move from your end, by moving to south Yonkers. At least your son got to play for Yonkers Knights football team. My husband and I have been looking for a small house to buy for almost four months now. We are trying to relocate to Yonkers, Connecticut or New Jersey.
Well privilege kids will never understand the hustle of growing up from nothing and making the best that you can out of it. its all bout grinding and making enough to live off of. “A dollar and a dream in the south bronx-coming up i’m the boxing mecca I- VII ” demonstrates and puts into perspective just that struggle. It is tough out in the Bronx still decades later. You still see homeless people, drug attics, gang members, and mental danger signs in every corner . These entries with the local boxing members of the south community bronx shows that not everyone makes it out. Part IV ‘s ” The Rats Nest” is a true meaning of humbleness. The gym wasn’t anything compared to well developed training gyms with amazing equipment and clean sowers but for some it was home. Its always good to have a place you can call a home when you’re not a home. A sanctuary place where you can forget about your problems and let your frustration out. Still today with everything that is going out in the world there should be ore getaway places not only for the bronx but theres areas struggle all over the world. i enjoyed reading all seven parts because each part was sort of a motivation. A motivation that you never really know whats going to happen next in your life Live for the present , but also think about the future. When you’re surrounded and live through years of urban hoods you always think about making your life better. ints inspiring you came to the realization of wanting better for your family. Growing up in these tough neighborhoods really shapes the way an individual turns out to be. Danny shaw can be called a role model because even with his many professions he made time to still come back and mentor kids in something he once loved to do because he knows how it was like.
Boxing is Life
We don’t all have the same experiences growing up. Reading this series made me realize how much a simple thing such as sports can keep a man from drowning in society. There are all sorts of movies that were made surrounding this same idea. Young men and women passionate about some form of sports or art and trying to make it big and make it out the “hood” alive, many aren’t always as lucky. I think the stories shared in this series are both inspiring and interesting to learn about because they aren’t just stories being told, these are actual real-life events that have happened to people. Like Professor Shaw mentioned, not everyone has the same opportunities to make it out of the “hood” but seeing that some did it gives us hope and great examples to follow.
With reading these series of articles I realize that boxing is a great sport for young men and women who struggle with every day oppression like many of us. Boxing seems to be a very strict and demanding sport which can be a very good thing to have because it will not allow you to have any extra times on your hand to do any negative things. Although many of these times young men and women aren’t out looking for trouble somehow the trouble finds them. Many young talented men like mentioned in these articles lost their life for so little, for dumb misunderstandings. One of the smartest moves that Professor Shaw could’ve done is to move his son out of the “hood” and not because there is anything against it but he would fall to be another statistic taken by society way too young.
I believe it is truly inspiring that although Professor Shaw has moved away from these streets he doesn’t forget what they have done for him. He mentioned how he still trains in the same gyms and it seems like he has built lifelong relationships with the people he met through boxing. I grew up on the west side in Manhattan but I now live in the Bronx, so it is sometimes hard for me to relate to some of these stories about growing up in the “hood” but I like reading about it and hearing about it because I am raising my 6-year-old daughter in the Bronx. I think one of our biggest fears aside losing ourselves in these streets is losing our children. It is important that we do our part in helping these children stay away from danger.
I think it is important that Professor shares these stories and experiences with his struggles and others as well. It is important we are informed with examples to follow on how not to be swallowed by the streets but it just as important to be aware of the individuals who unfortunately became another statistic. I enjoyed reading about these stories, they were funny and allowed me to have an insight on what the life of boxing is. Showed me what true dedication can do and that slacking will not get us very far.
ESCAPING THE HOOD
This article is a real life example of how people try to make it through life while living in the hood. People may use stuff as boxing, marijuana and etc. as an escape from reality. They think of it as a way to release, to lose themselves in their own world. They focus on something else than their surroundings, anything is better than the reality. The article mentions many good boxers/ trainer who struggle with drug addiction others who can’t seem to let go of the hood but when they’re in the ring they could be one of the best boxers in there, but the hood is holding them back. People have a chance to escape and make it out but then they get caught up in the streets, or wrong place, wrong time type of thing. Smart kids start messing with the wrong type of people trying to fit in and end up losing their life. The smart kids get bullied for being smart and the others don’t notice the importance of an education. We live in a place where a crackhead will always be a crackhead because they aren’t getting the help they need, instead of medical attention they get thrown in jail, its easier for them to go around the corner and get “help” form their local drug dealer than seeking medical attention. People are force to believe that once you’re in the hood there is no way out. But some, do find their home away from home, their escape. Some people use sports, writing, art, music, pure education as their way to believe that there is more out there for us then just the streets we grew up on. Some people realize that they don’t want to give their kids what they had, they want to give more, so they try as much as they can to give them more, to give them a better life.
This is article gives others a slight taste of what it means to be in the hood. It shows and expresses, how some try to escape and how others will always be trapped. It also shows what something such as boxing can really mean to someone, but not only boxing, but anything that is used to avoid reality can have a whole different meaning to certain people.