STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON: BOBBY JONES

So let me start off by getting these routine speculations out of the way before I go any further. Usually at some point, somebody has ask me these questions once I told them I’m from Compton. I do not know Dr. Dre (met him once though), The Game, DJ Quik or Snoop Dogg (went to the same high school my senior year but not at the same time obviously). I have never took part in a drive-by, never shot a person, never been shot and never shot a gun either. I have been in areas on various occasions where shootings has taken place (I got my ass out of there; you know I’m tall which means bigger target).

That's Bobby Jones, former NBA baller, now playing in Italy, talking about his hometown hood, Compton, Ca.

You know Compton, California, the hood in L.A. County that's not known for many things outside of ghetto, gangs, violence, and rappers like  Dr. Dre, Ice-Cube, and NWA.  Hell, they even have an Eazy-E Day every March 26th, honoring a man that had 7 children to 6 different women.

We don't often hear about other successful individuals that have made it out of America's 17th most dangerous city (2008) to make a name for themselves in the area of sports.   Successful athletes like Detroit Pistons Forward Tayshaun Prince and Charlotte Bobcats forward/center Tyson Chandler (although I'm not sure if playing for the Bobcats can be called a success) both hail from the 10.2 square mile section of Los Angeles county.

Bobby Jones is currently playing professionally for Banca Tercas Teramo in Italy, and in in his latest blog post, he tells us what it was like growing up as a boy in the "hood", and what it's like dealing with Comptons rep.

Now when it comes to the media, music, movies, and other major outlets describing “Compton”, lets just say it isn’t always balance and fair. The music we hear (most people believe everything they hear in music now a days), the movies we see (Boyz N Tha Hood, Menace to Society) all played into the mystique of “Compton” or even L.A. (Gangs) for that matter. This “perception” goes out especially to the people who never been, seen or lived there

Of course, he's correct -- without experiencing something all we can do is rely on what we read, hear, and see.  If we don't take time to actively learn more about a subject, instead of what is being spoon fed to us by whatever media outlet happens to have our attention, we are destined to believe in whatever is presented to us.  For instance, I bet most people didn't know that Compton was recently named Entrepreneurial Hot Spot by Cognetics, Inc., an economic research firm. (Wow!  When did I get all preachy?)

Bobby continues his entry with stories of how rare it was to be one of the only kids with two parents, who he looked up to, what drove him to be better, and how numerous deaths affected his life and mind set.  Some people that escape such an atmosphere may be bitter or never look back.  Not Bobby though.

Believe it or not, I wouldn’t trade growing up in that city “Compton”. It takes a special person as well as special family members and friends to help catapult a person out of there and help them make something out of their life. Easily I could have made one mistake growing up that could of drastically affected the rest of my life, I was lucky. I know people and friends back home still living in Compton (or close to the area) that want to leave but they can’t for whatever reason. I hear them tell me all the time don’t take it for granted, which most definitely I don’t by a long shot. I just wish more people had made it out to see some of the better things in life have to offer.

It's a great blog entry with way too many quotable lines to put in here.  I highly recommend hopping over to Bobby's World and reading the whole thing.

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