THE PUEBLOS

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY

THE PUEBLOS

I was born in Watts – and always kept a foot in that hood because my grandparents, uncles and aunt lived there – but I grew-up in the Pueblos.  5250 Long Beach Ave. I went to Holmes Ave. Elementary School, and as a teenager and young adult my hang was 55th and Long Beach. Everybody knew me because my mother was the head nurse at the 55th St. Medical Center and she took care of them when they were cut, shot, had no insurance, or had any kind of emergency when the clinic was closed, in which case they just came to the house. The Pueblos is where I learned about Bird, Miles and Trane; and learned how not to be a follower, how to think for myself, and I absorbed the most valuable lesson of all - that humanity was full of shit. So yes, everything I know came out of the Pueblos.

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I was taught that the pursuit of knowledge was essential to avoid being manipulated and there was no excuse for failing to attain it, because knowledge was free. So by the time I went to college I already had a working knowledge of both sides of the street. I understood the importance of absorbing knowledge, but I also understood the importance of connecting the dots for myself. I was taught as a teenager that there was a big difference between “education” and cognitive development. Efficient cognition was developing the ability to think, while education, more often than not, was being TOLD what to think – that’s why we have so many fools in congress, and even more fools following them.  

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The Pueblos also taught me that while trying be an intellectual was cool, I should never forget the hood rat that is my nature, because while being an intellectual did come in handy when dealing with pretentious fools, it was the hood rat that would keep me ahead of the game and my intellect in perspective. The hood rat in me helped me to recognize that while it was good to become well versed in Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, I should never forget the teachings of “Sweet Willie”, because Willie was about survival. Willie was wise, and he didn’t bullshit, so his teachings would serve to keep my ass intact.
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Thus, some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, and some of the weakest minds I’ve known paraded around university campuses giving credentials priority over knowledge. So I learned early in life to never confuse credentials with either knowledge or intellect. Educated fools are not a myth – the world is full of them.

THE HOOD RAT

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Baby,
I’m sure you know that I love you.
You’re everything I need.
You fit the bill of all my desires,
a perfect match for all of my dreams.
From the moment I first laid eyes on you,
You were everything I craved -
that luscious vision from across the tracks,
that delicate flower, beyond my blade.
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But what you ask is foreign to me.
You need something that I’m not.
You said, just tweak my nature a little bit,
and you’ll give everything you’ve got.
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But that "tweak" you need is who I am -
it’s my essence, can’t you see?
How can you speak of loving my soul, but
not the hood rat that is me?
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While "hood rat" may seem trite to you,
it’s the essence of my being.
So forget about what all the other’s say,
here’s what it means to me:
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I’ve been brutally dragged through the pits of hell,
yet, managed to survive,
well educated and fully functional,
when I came out the other side.
I scrounged the lessons taught at Harvard,
because knowledge, I found, was free.
But they’ll never obtain the lessons I’ve learned,
or the knowledge that makes me, me.
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While the "elite" may have heard a mournful Trane,
or Miles muted in the night,
not in the context of hunger and pain,
or hopelessness, hatred, and blight.
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So while I've lived the life of a hood rat,
I’ve reaped a knowledge that money can't buy;
a knowledge passed on to my son and daughter,
which has greatly enhanced their lives.
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Thus, I wouldn't change a single thing in my life -
I’ve faced Hell and passed the test.
I have a PhD in adversity,
that's made me much more,
rather than less.
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So unlike the people at Harvard and Yale, who
try to buy intellectual clout,
they only study the genius of Miles and Trane,
while I'm who they’re blowin' about.
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So when snobs try to slur me as "just a hood rat,"
I say, "thank you," and don’t take offense.
I take great pride in surviving the travails in my life,
That’s what gives me my confidence.
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The Ivy League degrees of those of means
are only paper compared to mine;
they have only a "receipt" for their knowledge,
while my knowledge is SCORCHED within my mind.
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I can teach philosophy to the Aristotle
with the adversity that I’ve endured,
so any snob who dares to match my wit
will come up short, and that’s for sure.
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Snobs walk about quoting Socrates and such,
through their "education" they’re prone;
but while they’re spewing the thoughts of various dead men,
I'm developing thoughts of my own.
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Never give the thoughts of ANY man, 
priority over the knowledge you're prone;

You must collect the facts, and think for yourself,

that’s where Harvard and Yale has gone wrong.

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Aristotle was a brilliant man,

of that we can all agree,

but when it comes right down to the bottom line,
he was only a man just like me.

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Preacher, politician, potentate,
whatever their point of view,
God didn't bless them with any knowledge
that he failed to bestow on you.
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So being seen as a hood rat has its advantages
against racists of limited wit;
I simply quietly wait for their condescension,
and then show ‘em that they ain’t shit.
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While God made birds to fly and fish to swim,
he gave man thought, and that's the key.
So any man who thinks he's half superior
will have to PROVE his wit to me.
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Thus, knowledge is the key to set us free,
no matter what the people say,
and there’s nothing more formidable than
a knowledgeable hood rat, and
that’s what you’re looking upon today.
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Yet, these are the things you want me to purge,
and spurn the life I’ve led,
but I’m sorry, my love,
as much as I love you,
the soul of a hood rat is my edge.

Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com

BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND INDEPENDENT THINKERS
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Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.