The greatest challenge facing OGs today is the challenge to ourselves. For we only become a credible “model” and make persuasive demands on the younger generation when we demand more of ourselves. What we do in our daily life demonstrates who we are and what we are really about. It‘s not about our words and lofty pronouncements. It’s not about what we went through “back-in-the-day” or even how far we’ve come. It’s about how well OGs practice what we preach.
Without question, there are many young people in need of some serious guidance and discipline. Too many of our youth have become addicted to drugs, killed and relegated to prison. Perhaps, more importantly, too many children are without fathers. Regardless of the myriad reasons or causes, our incarceration and absence from the lives of our children becomes the model for them to emulate. It is the model and message of abandonment.
We must realize that no one is immune from the demands of moral responsibility or exempt from moral assessment. Every father has an obligation and responsibility to be an example for his children, his grandchildren, and every other generation to come. However, before we can be a positive and instructive example for young people, we must turn inward and assess the right and the wrong, recognize personal shortcomings and commit ourselves to correcting them.
But before we do that, we must figure out what knowledge, understanding, and wisdom have we gained from our experiences; and what needs to be modeled for our children and the next generation?
Looking back over my own life as a child, I realize that the first “OG” in my life was not a superhero, athlete, movie star. He wasn’t pimp or neighborhood drug dealer. The first OG I met lived with me. He was the man I fi rst looked up to; the man I accepted as my male-role-model and when I became a man, I followed his script. He was my father. He taught me about human respect and the sacrifices a man must sometime make to protect and provide for his family. He taught me never to turn a blind eye to injustice, a deaf ear to truth or an uncaring heart away from the suffering and pain around me. He taught me how to be a man. Although at the time of my youth I did not appreciate the many lessons my OG father taught me. I realize now that he was modeling and teaching me how to be accountable for my actions. I believe that a father is (or should be) the first OG in every young man’s life. Fathers are the first teachers and visible examples of manhood. He is the one who sets the tone for the family. His children model his attitude and his relationship towards womanhood.
This father-son dynamic also leads me to understand many of the unintended consequences of a young man growing up without a father in the home or in his life. Every young man will seek out and emulate the model presented to him by his first OG. I now understand why so many of our youth are so confused and angry. They have no historical memory or sense of purpose in their lives.
I have been in prison for many years. I have seen the best and the worst of times, and one of the hardest things for me to face was being out of my children’s lives during the most critical period of their development. The wisdom I have gained through these experiences is the same wisdom I will share with the younger generation. Although traditional family dynamics have changed a great deal over the years, the problem is essentially the same.
Young people look for models to look up to, someone who will guide, encourage, and validate them. Someone who will pass them the historical baton.
