My Town-North Philly

I'm from Philadelphia, PA , North Philly really, born and raised. I lived in the hood all my life so I've seen the bad, good, and ugly. In my hood it's dangerous to walk the streets alone at night. Drug dealers at the corner of a Chinese store selling their products, if you know what I mean. This is what the streets have taught them life should be; grind to get what you want.  Prostitutes selling their bodies to make the money they owe their pimps instead of using the money to get out of the streets. This money help the pimps survive the streets and feed the mouths of their families. The work done in the streets is their 9 to 5 expect they work the night shift; where all the action goes on. Day by day I see these actions thinking to myself "Is this the life I have to live one day?" "Is this what the streets are teaching me to do as right?" Instead I wake up every morning knowing I have a dream to chase; Going to school and furthering my education to become something better then what the streets are showing me. Walking in these streets not only taught me the bad and ugly but it pointed out that life does not have to be like this. At night when I go to sleep at times the sound of a gun shot puts me to sleep instead of the cars roaming around at night. The screams of  mother yelling for help because her son or daughter just got shot. Minutes later cops come to late, the life of an innocent child just disappeared. Almost everyday this is the stuff that occurs in my hood, North Philly, also known as the "BADLANDS" .