Gangsta

This is a guest blog by Terrance Williams who is currently serving a life sentence of 147 years.  Terrence is the brother of Baby from Cash Money Records.

Another day trapped in my sorrow thinking about my children, family, and friends... 

What to do about tomorrow, how to make a bad day and situation better, 

how to make pain and fears clear to the ones I love in a letter! 

Knowing right from wrong while I was doing wrong from the start... 

Chasing and catching devalued dollars constantly in vain to make 

everything better for my family knowing it could and would tear us apart! 

The life of a baller-- the cars, girls, money, power 

that lasted for a couple of years and vanished in hours... 

A fool for wanting to attain and keep 

the eye candy of the world you can't have... 

When you see your folly, 

and realize it all in your suffering for the try, 

you want to cry but all you can do is laugh... 

Who's the Gangster now?

Heart of Man

Faith always being put to the test
The time when the weary soul can never rest
What's the purpose of obsecurity and mayhem
To win a battle amongst men?
Who said not to question God? We must seek Him for clarity.
Missions are fruitless without His direction
He is where I turn for affection.
Man in your corner is a temporary fix
Never rely on man for wounds needing affix
Never will I win this worldly battle without seeking He
He is in I and only He completes Me!

Mixed Emotions

There are a lot of things going on right now with the rapper that stole my identity.  It's been tough on me because part of me whats to jump on him and beat him in the ground for being so arrogant and disrespectful, and then there is another part that said judge another brother that the system has made a clown out of.  Build him up and now they are going to let him be turned down.  I know that Def Jam is probably going to abandon him now, just another puppet, and they start to look for another to replace him.  What people need to do is look at the root, because Def Jam is just as responsible as he is. Now you know they did a back ground check, but they don't care what they feed our kids as long as they get their dollars. When will we wake up America and learn that there are more important things than the all mighty dollar?  It took me going to prison to wake up.  Is it going to take us to lose our country? Because America is definitely falling.  Just about everybody I talk to tells me how hard it is in almost every industry. I don't know, maybe I am confused. CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME FIGURE THIS THING OUT!!! 

Peace. 

$RR$ 

Black in America

This is a guest blog by Nathan Dickey.

So Black World, how did you feel about the first part of Black in America on CNN? I was aware of a lot they spoke on but it still sent a chill through me. It was like having your dirty laundry out for everyone to see. Thinking for a minute I have to ask how far have we really come? I'm 30 years old and in my years to much ain't changed, let me know if I'm wrong! I don't know too much about the hate that my people felt in the late 1800s. You know it hurts me to find out that Black American kids rank last in education even in the undeveloped countries. I want to help to try to make a difference cause I'm a part of that statistic that has to change. WHat do you think would make school interesting, I'm hollering at the young crowd talk to me. I know if I can change a small community of 40,000 people with helping flood the streets in drugs, I know I can touch the same amount of lives helping people succeed in positive dreams. The dope game was my dream, I achieved it. Not to say I was right for my choices. They say if you know better you do better...I know better now. 

How did you feel about the Harvard Professor Fryer using his money to reward kids for succeeding in school by passing tests? I love the idea, it's what most kids are taught to work for anyway, right? I support Professor Fryer, I know it would have given me incentive to learn in school. LOL How can we achieve closing the gap?!?! 
Another thing that scared me was the AIDS rate with BLacks!!!! Like I said before I didn't know anyone who had AIDS before I got locked up in 02, now knowing a few people with it. I have less than a year left till I go home and it's no way I can go out there dealing with anyone. It won't kill me to go without till I know my partner is safe. It ain't a game I'm trying to live! Do you think I'm gonna just go run in something, not even after doing these 6 years and change. Get checked and protect yourself. 5% of D.C. is HIV positive, man that is 1 out of every 20 people! Blacks account for half of all AIDS cases in America. True Reality. We need the Churches also to Istart addressing the AIDS issue more often. WHat did you think about Whoopi's answer views on welfare? LAst but not least my heart goes out to all single family mothers whatever reason the father may not be there. I never really sat down and just really really thought how hard it is for a mother raising kids like my mother did me. Like my son Keywon is being raised as I speak going on 6 years without his dad. Never let this cold world hold you back, because if you know it or not the black woman is the mother of the earth. My heart goes out to everyone of you and every black community, nothing but love for ya.

Nathan Dickey 

Write me at: 

P.O. Box 7000

Texarkana,TX 77505 
I'm always looking for friends. 

TheSmokingGun.com Busts the Fake "Rick Ross"

TheSmokingGun.com (click here)
Despite denials, records show rap star worked as C.O.

JULY 21--Apparently desperate to distance himself from any affiliation with law enforcement, the rapper Rick Ross has recently denounced as fake photos purporting to show him in a former career as a Florida prison guard. But Department of Corrections (DoC) records show that Ross, whose raps detail the Miami gangster lifestyle and his supposed days trafficking cocaine, did, in fact, work as a correctional officer for 18 months. Ross (real name: William Leonard Roberts) was appointed a prison guard in December 1995 at a salary of $22,913.54, according to the below personnel record, which was provided to TSG by Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a DoC spokesperson. The rapper's social security number is identical to that of the jail guard. According to the official document, Ross was earning $25,794.34 when he resigned in June 1997. After graduating from the DoC training academy, Ross was assigned to the South Florida Reception Center in Dade County (the lockup is one of three statewide that serves as an intake facility for new prisoners). When a photo of a uniform-clad Ross surfaced last week on MediaTakeOut.com, the 32-year-old performer claimed to AllHipHop.com that unnamed "online hackers" put "my face when I was a teenager in high school on other peoples' body. If this shit was real don't you think they would have more specifics, like dates and everything?" He added, "Fake pictures are created by the fake, meant to entertain the fake." The photo,which you can find here, shows a 19-year-old Ross at a DoC ceremony (he was part of the department's 60th graduating class). He is pictured shaking hands with Marta Villacorta, who then headed the South Florida Reception Center. Villacorta, now the department's South Florida regional director, was identified by Rackleff, who examined the photo Ross claims was Photoshopped. In a recent videotaped interview, Ross replied, "No, that's not true" when asked if he had worked as a prison guard. He claimed that the phony story was being circulated by detractors upset by his success in the rap world, where, "I came out of nowhere and just took over the streets."

From Edge in Philadelphia

From Edge in Philadelphia: 

Good look on the reply. Smash that fraud a$$ ni$$a , and expose all these fake a$$ rap studio gangsters. They glamorizing a life to our youth that is detrimental. Fronting like they got rich pretending to get rich in the drug game. 

I hate em! Link up with this nigga AZ , no , not the fake one down with Nas , but the one who was down with Alpo & Rich Porter. He sued the fake AZ & Sony for identity theft ( Basically ) & got $500,000 settlement. 

Expose the goverment drug dealing in our hoods. 

I wish you the best upon your touchdown , prosperity & good luck. 
Nuff' Respect , that's why you on my friends list. I'm in Pa , so if you ever need to lay your head , hit me up , but shake your tail first, because we both know, you'll have a long one. 

Peace & I'll send you some bitches if I can. 

It's nothing to be proud of , but you are a true motherfuckin' G! 

Life

This is a guest blog by Lawrence Banks, who is also serving his sentence at Texarkana F.C.I.

Some of us real men sit back in prison seeing how the world is changing, also how black people are pointing fingers at black men and some black women looking for a question to which we already know the answer too. I'm just going to touch on a few thing briefly. Now on the possibility of having a black president. I'm all for it history wise but it's a proofing fact that if you are involve in any kind of political, government or law enforcement sooner or later you will have to play ball. Meaning that they do some good but also support a bunch of bullshit and if the shit stink to bad than they look the other way pretending that they didn't see it or pretend that they had no knowledge that it was happening. All you have to do is check history on everybody in your city and government that held position of power. Now the hip hop vs. the world it's good that people has a personal opinion about what they think the problem is some of them do but most of them dont. So now this is the scary part but true. One thing before I go into the truth I'm a firm believer if you never live it, come from it, or never experience it you could never relate too it. Example if your moms die how can a person say they know how you feel when theirs still living. How can you know the ghetto when you never been there or live there. Now the negative part of this first. We only know what we are expose to. A lot of us start out with good intention to do good and better but along the way we got side track for (in God we trust) the all mighty dollar. Pressure busts a pipe you have to know what you are willing to except and what not. When we quit value what people think of us the better we will be. Now how can we point the finger when we support all the shit that goes on. White business people and some black business people with the help of the media export us and we are to blind to see it. Fashion is a billion dollar industry that we support the shit out of and they haven't done shit to show love back. This ain't the only industry that does this. Rich black and white people run to another country to spend they money to help our when it's stuff over here to be done. Now the question is can't nobody do no more than you let them. It ain't right that you have to become somebody you really ain't to satictilic or to be excepted by the world. The problem is that people are getting tired of doing that so now you have the uppity Negro's saying that we need rules. We as a people are natural surviver of life we do what we got to do. 

Lawrence Banks 
#17291-076 
F.C.I. Texarkana 
P.O.Box 7000 
Texarkana, TX. 75505 

This came in my email today and I thought I would share it.

The road less traveled is less congested and although there's no instant gratification the natural progression feels good. It's an evolution...it's a grind...some days it's rewarding...some days less rewarding than others...some people get it...some people don't...some will build you up and some will try to tear you down...but keep moving forward... whatever your journey continue on... 

Crack vs. Meth

Toxic Peer Pressure

This is a guest blog by Nathan Dickey who is also serving his sentence at Texarkana F.C.I.

Peer pressure can play a negative or a positive role. If you hang around people who are always complaining about how bad everything is , you may start believing wjat they say. On the other hand if you surround yourself with people who are strong and positive, you're more likely to see a world full of opportunity and adventure. 

A negative belief system, if carried into adulthood. It can produce all sorts of unproductive habits including drug addictions, criminal activity and an inability to mold a steady career path. 

Though you may have a disadvantaged background, you can still exercise power over your life by making informed decisions to bring about the changes necessary for personal growth. It may only take one person to help you make the transition. An excellent coach, teacher, therapist, mentor or positive role model can dramatically impact your future. The only way is that you have to commit to change. When you are ready the right people will start showing up to you. 

I'm curious. Can you say no to Toxic people? Really can you? Because if you can't, it will be extra hard for you to even convince yourself you can succeed at your goals or in life. You know the type of people I am speaking about! No matter how great things are going, they always look for negative details to slow you down confidence wise. Plus it's an everydday routine. These people are poisonous to your health. You have had some friends for years on end that are toxic, and you ask me if I just want you to walk away. No I Wnat You To Run!!!LOL 

The POwer of FOcus here is it is your choice. You get to choose the kind of people you want in your life. Also you get to choose your new opportunities you create. Maybe you need a few good decisions to let go and move on. I went from hanging with hard heads and losers to rolling with positive brothers making success stories from prison! I would like to thank Wendy Day for recommending "The Power Of FOCus" it's a must have. 

From my own personal experience I see a major change by focusing on goals. Because people that have things to do like focusing on their work to accomplish their goals. Don't interest people looking for pie in the sky. It's true- you get out of life what you put into life. 

I didn't do anything but run the streets for my first 24 years on this earth, and I got nothing to show for it-not even the streets. But I'm Not A Failure!!! Cause I refuse to give up the fight. When I Give Up I'm The Loser!!! Guess what's crazy. Over these last 6 years, I've learned more in prison as far as book knowledge than my whole life in school. I never finished a book till I came to prison. I have been hard headed all my life, and everyday I struggleworking on perfecting my change. But you knnow that's a forever journey for me. 

P.S. Take care and never let this world hold you back. If anybody out there has any knowledge to share, please feel free to do so. 

By Nathan Dickey

Texarkana F.C.I. 

From the Desk of Kenneth Moore

People are not born with an internal ability to build wealth financial intellegence is not neccesssarily a God given gift that most of us were not blessed with. The reality is that you can learn how to create wealth the same way you can learn any other discipline. First you educate yourself and then you apply what you have learned gaining more and more experience as you go. "If a person reads 100 books and dedicates 1000 hours towards learning something, that person will be an expert at whatever it is." That was a quote by Bill Gates, a man who also told an auditorium full of college students not to be afraid to walk away from college and try to invent something or start a business. He told the students that college is a place that will let you leave without penalizing you. They have an open door policy allowing students to pick up where ever they left off. College is a safety net that will always be there so try to do something great and if it doesn't work out then go back to school. Most of us get caught up in the pattern of; get up, got to work pay bill, get up go to work PAY BILL. Form childhood we have been conditioned to think in this manner. Get a decent job, work until you are 65 and then retire and live off of your retirement plan. That is the life our traditional education prepares us for. But what if you want more than that? What if you want to be able to enjoy all of the wonderful things money can buy? The good news is that we live in an age where anybody can be or do anything. If you want to be rich then dedicate yourself to learning a specific kind of knowledge. Focus on learning how to build wealth and nothing else. Do what one of the richest men in this said to do. 

Kenneth Moore

Basketball: No Win Today

Today started off great and I felt wonderful, and to be honest, I didn't play bad. The first game I went down shooting. We were only going to 15 and I know I scored anywhere from 7 to 9 points and grabbed at least four rebounds. But it wasn't enough. Four men will out work one every time. I tried to get my other players involved but they just wasn't having it. One continued to argue with other players which really threw me off my game. But the bad news was we had the game tied at 14 and I had the ball. I missed the last shot. Man, how I wanted to win this game. And that was the closest I came to winning all day. The good part is I got a great sweat and torched the guy that they say is the best guard on the compound, "Peanut". So tomorrow we got a challenge, me and him, one on one. I am guarantee victory... even though I am twice his age. I will holla at you all tomorrow. 

$RR$ 

The Wealth Building Program (Part 1)

Guest blogged by Kenneth Moore.

If you seriously wanted to get out of the rat race, living from paycheck to paycheck, how would you go about changing your situation? If you seriously wanted to stop selling drugs to make your money how would you get out of the game? If you wanted to live a lifestyle of which there was always enough money to do anything you desired, how would you go about creating that lifestyle? These questions run through the minds of millions of people every single day. Many of us want our financial situation to change but very few of us know how to make those changes. The Wealth Building Program is about teaching people how to make those changes so they can create a better life for themselves and their families. If you have a deep desire to create wealth this program will help you. It all starts with knowledge. The more you learn about how to build wealth the bigger you bank account will grow. If you want to change your financial situation then you must increase your financial I.Q. So get to it. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.