“I grew up in Baltimore which is a one of the biggest drug cities. I've seen a lot of drugs... so it was always around me, but I never really indulged in those type of activities. I never used drugs in my life and I was blessed enough with the wisdom and the strength to move forward.” EnoughMovingUsedCitiesGrewTypeDrugActivityGrew UpBlessedMoving ForwardBaltimore Author:Mario
“My dancing came about as a way to be cool, actually. I knew early on that I was not a street kid. I didn't have the moxie, what it took to run the streets with the dudes that I grew up wanting to emulate. But I had a huge need to be accepted, so I found that I could be the party king. I did drugs really well, and I partied really well.” WayNeedsWellsRunningKidsFoundPartyStreetsHugeGrewKingsDrugGrew UpDancingAcceptedBeing CoolEmulateMoxie Author:Michael K. Williams
“A lot of rappers want somebody to always sing on their records. If you can hold a note, they're gonna' ask you to come and be apart of their creativity. At that time, they were eager and on the streets selling drugs or in the studio making music. That was a big part of our lives were I grew up.” IfsWantBigsAsksCreativityRecordsOur LivesStreetsGrewDrugGrew UpNotesStudiosSellingRapperSelling Drugs Author:Nicki Minaj
“Anyone who grew up in the psychedelic '60s probably experienced their share of hypnagogic fireworks. Just as sex got me hooked on anatomy, so drugs were probably what first got me interested in entoptic phenomena, phosphenes, and hypnagogic imagery.” FirstsSexShareGrewDrugGrew UpImageryPsychedelicHookedAnatomyFireworks Author:Peter Blegvad
“The neighborhoods I grew up in were poor and full of drug users. I don't think you have to look that hard to find those kinds of lives. But I also don't think you have to have experienced it really close to be able to empathize.” ThinkingLooksKindHardAblePoorGrewDrugGrew UpNeighborhoodUsers Author:Jess Walter
“I grew up in a pretty tough neighborhood. I grew up around drugs, alcohol, prostitution, I grew up around everything, and I think part of seeing that from really young has made me really steer very far away from it in all of its forms.” ThinkingMadeFormYoungSeeingGrewDrugGrew UpToughAlcoholNeighborhoodFar AwayProstitutionSteers Author:Alicia Keys
“I was into punk, but I didn't go whole-hog. A lot of kids who grew up in small towns that were into punk music went the "safe" way - not doing drugs, being straight edge.” WayWholeKidsGrewDrugSafeGrew UpTownsEdgesPunkSmall TownHogStraight EdgePunk Music Author:Daughn Gibson
“You got to miss class to do it. Like, many periods of school. And then they took us to an elementary or middle school, and we told kids that they could be cool when they grew up even if they didn't do drugs.” IfsKidsSchoolClassMiddleMissingGrewPeriodsDrugGrew UpBeing CoolMiddle School Author:Ilana Glazer
“I grew up in a really bad situation; my father left when I was young - you know, an abusive situation. So the minute I put my fingers on a guitar and closed my eyes and just played, it literally was like a drug. It took me into a totally different world, and I just pulled from emotions and experiences that I was going through.” KnowsWorldDifferentEyeYoungFatherLeftEmotionSituationMinutesGrewDrugGrew UpFingersGuitarDifferent WorldsAbusiveBad Situations Author:DJ Ashba
“I grew up in the projects with four older brothers. And there were tough, macho gangsters, drug dealers, killers, and thugs all in my neighborhood. And they were afraid of my mother. So, yeah, I know some strong women.” KnowsMotherStrongFourBrotherGrewDrugProjectsGrew UpToughYeahNeighborhoodKillersStrong WomenDealerGangstersThugMachoOlder BrotherDrug Dealers Author:Michael Che
“Anyone who grew up in the crack era - you know, I grew up in that era - knew that there were also people out - and there are still guys to this day that are out there, you know, obviously drug dealing - but those were the guys who had access and had money. And some of those guys felt responsible to create opportunity for other people and were also aware of the dangers of their work and often aren't really the ones that are encouraging kids to get into drug dealing.” PeopleKnowsStillsKidsGuyOpportunityFeltDangerGrewDrugGrew UpResponsibleAccessErasThis DayCracks Author:Mahershala Ali
“I grew in a community where I saw the process of how one becomes a drug dealer or a gang banger or a stick-up kid. There's a series of events that happen. People don't just wake up and decide they wanna be that.” PeopleHappensKidsProcessCommunitySawsEventsGrewDrugWake UpSticksSeriesGangDealerDrug Dealers Author:Michael K. Williams
“I grew up in San Francisco. My parents were not hippies; they were writers. They were very active politically, but on the intellectual side, not on the "taking drugs in a field and listening to the Grateful Dead" side.” ParentSidesFieldsListeningGrewDrugGrew UpIntellectualGratefulActiveSan FranciscoHippie Author:Winona Ryder
“Prison was a blessing. Going to prison was the greatest thing that happened to me. It showed me that I wasn't infallible. It showed me that I was just human. It showed me that I can be back with my ghetto brothers I grew up with and have a good time. It taught me to cool out. It taught me patience. It taught me that I didn't ever want to lose my freedom. It taught me that drugs bring on the devil. It taught me to grow up.” WantHumansI CanGrowsLosesGrowing UpHappenedTaughtBrotherGrewBlessingDrugGrew UpDevilPrisonGood TimesHaving A Good TimeGhettoInfallible Author:Rick James
“Food during my early years was a very difficult issue for me. I grew up in an addictive family. My mother had serious problems with alcohol and prescription drugs. I was an overweight kid. I can remember back in those days there weren't the strategies that there are today to deal with those issues.” YearsI CanProblemKidsTodayRememberMotherDifficultDealsIssuesSeriousGrewDrugGrew UpStrategyAlcoholPrescriptionsOverweightPrescription Drugs Author:Tom Vilsack
“I grew up in traditional black patriarchal culture and there is no doubt that I’m going to take a great many unconscious, but present, patriarchal complicities to the grave because it so deeply ensconced in how I look at the world. Therefore, very much like alcoholism, drug addiction, or racism patriarchy is a disease and we are in perennial recovery and relapse. So you have to get up every morning and struggle against it.” WorldLooksCultureBlackMorningStruggleDoubtGrewDrugDiseaseGrew UpRacismAddictionGravesTraditionalRecoveryGet UpNo DoubtUnconsciousEvery MorningPatriarchyAlcoholismDrug AddictionComplicityRelapse Book:Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life Source: Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life