If you’ve never lived a charmed life and have always been poor,

Where you’re dad’s MIA and your mom’s a whore.

A life that gives you tough choices to make,

Like sell drugs, join a gang, or do illegal stuff for family’s sake.

Living in a world where money is low and your options are few,

Shaking your head because your future has already been dictated to you.

Living a life of a stereotypical black male;

Destined to die a violent death, or end up dying in jail.

If this life is yours, there is good news today.

I’ve met lost ones like you who have found their way.

They ignored the hateful stereotypes and have come out on top.

They have risen from the bottom and are now the cream of the crop.

They turned a deaf ear to discouraging words of the enemy and forgot what the world said,

They have tapped into their true potential and shouldered their way ahead.

These ones have proven that your circumstances don’t have to hold you back.

Faith, hope and determination are often the tools of success that you lack.

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Shakera Reid was born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Miramar, Florida. Her passion in life is counseling and educating youth. Hobbies include reading, writing and watching movies. Her hope is to encourage others through her writing and to help them in their Christian walk.