Former Drug Kingpin Ricky Ross Talks about Hip Hop’s War on Young Black Men
Many of us saw “Freeway” Ricky Ross on American Gangster. Ross was one of the most notorious drug kingpins in history, earning tens of millions of dollars selling crack cocaine in South Central Los Angeles. After serving a great deal of time in prison and reconsidering his choices, Ross has a lot to say to the black community.
In a recent interview Ross did with TheLoop21, the former drug dealer talks about black men, media images and self-hate that fuel some of the problems in the black community. He is also joined by his business partner, Antonio Moore.
Loop 21: Why do you think the media portrays black men negatively? How do they benefit?
Moore: I think the media is being irresponsible, and are purely motivated by profit. It’s taking the simplest line to make a profit. Right now, America has accepted that black men are America’s criminal. And as a result, the more that you reflect that image, the more that people tune in. But when you start showing images of people like myself on television, it doesn’t have the same caché.
Ross: In the media, good news is not something that’s celebrated. When I go out and speak, people have the nerve to ask me, why should we listen to you? Why should our kids listen to what you have to tell them about drugs, when you did all of this? So what winds up happening is that they only look at the bad side of us, and never the good.
I believe that the system is working just the way it was planed to work. I don’t believe that they ever had plans on the young black man living up to his true potential. It benefits them to have a rapper go out and portray this image so that thousands of other young black men will try to follow in his footsteps. Everybody has their own choices on what they want to do with their lives, but sometimes when you brainwash somebody so much, you’re really taking their choice away from them.
Moore: One of the questions we’ve gotten in a number of arenas is what’s the difference between this rapper talking about Rick’s life, and Rick putting out his biopic about his life. What people who say that mean is they haven’t read the screenplay, and they don’t understand that the depths of a drug dealer’s experiences aren’t necessarily in the highs, but in the lows, and the losses. And right now, the rapper, unlike other rappers who came before him, doesn’t rap about the lows. He raps about fanciful highs that go higher than probably the normal drug dealer even experiences. He doesn’t rap about losing friends and things like that too much. So all you get is that fanciful life.
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It’s to late for all the one’s who were killed,beat and still locked up because of crack.It’s interesting when it was first happening,many rappers were telling the story and many Pro-Black types like Steve Cokely was warning the community.Back then,like now you had black gatekeepers who wanted to keep things quiet so they too could make money off the misery and genocide of black people.
The situtation now is clearly a eugenics type scenario going down now. Slave master will let him talk knowing that him and many other black’s are ether scared or even really organized to do or say anything about it.
“IF” what is called “Black” youth (First, define BLACK) grew up or is raised with the role model of a true man and father that is connected with his inner “Spiritual Being” and secure within himself. That child would not be able to recognize the “Only” means to earning an alternative “Medium of Exchange” termed “Money”, by solely portraying a “Drug Dealer”, “Hustla”, or “Go Getta”.
Learn how to conduct business matters in Commerce, Law, Contract Law, How to Start a Successful Business and become that Successful Entrepreneur and Role Model for the future youth in todays world of chaos….
Let’s stop talking about what “Could” be done and start doing. Molding a mind begins by showing and participating in positive ventures.
May God Bless you all.
Freeway Ricky Ross has a msg. that needs paying attention to. The rabbit hole is deeper than just him being the face of the “Illegal” drug world.
When the smoke clears…
This boo-hoo, whoe-is-me story will never change the process you set in motion. I pray there is a God that abhors those who are destroyers of souls and you will pay for the numerous souls that you destroyed in the process, men, women and children. You’re no genius and you do not have the answers that will make right/correct all that has happened since your mindless, myopic money-grab to make you feel better. A SWAT team should have taken you and your minions out by blowing you and them to smithereens decades ago…that’s the best example you could have made for the sake of our race…anything less is a travesty of human justice. Anyone who lets you get away with this trifling “conversation/conversion” is more foolish because they who follow the fool who started it all. You helped the media destroy black men and you can’t escape that fact. Trash is trash…no ifs, ands or buts about it and you are and will remain bottom scum…as you said, you can dress it up, but trash still stinks and will bring you death if you consume it. Just die and be done with it.
i love what rick ross the reformed drug dealer is doing. and everything he says the media and the rap industry is doin is oh so true. they got black males hating each other equally or worser than white power organizations do, and if one looks at the big pic, its set up that way. the less black males there are in america, the better for the white powers that be . oh i can go on a long time with this conversation but i gotta go back to work . so right on to the real rick ross for makin a change and tryin to help even tho society rather see u still doing wrong so they can say: i knew it , ha ha “
Though Ricky Ross has done all this evil, I hope that now his intentions are to reach out and help the younger generations that are and have fallen into this trap of selling, using drugs and rap music. The music is totally evil and aimed for destruction of our youth. IF no one can see that this was the aim all along for white society to destroy the black society, than you are truly blind and there is no hope for you. Our black men have become so ashamed of who they are and even what they look like, that they have taken up with the white man’s trashy wh*res and think that this will make them better in the white man’s eyes! How stupid can one truly be?!! They will never accept us, no matter how your half-breed kids look or what you have on your arm and no matter how large your bank account gets. To them, your still a ni**er to them! Wake the h*ll up my brothers!!!
I live in Atlanta and I see the effects of this Hip Hop criminal/thug mentality has taken upon young black males here and it is repeated on a nationwide scale. Everyday I see the hatred and animosity that young and old black men display towards each other. It is as if they are conditioned to believe that they are each other adversary. And from my view point it continues to reinforce the belief that we as a race are criminal by nature and we should all be in prison. We can collectively destroy this media generated agenda by 1.Setting aside egos 2. Joining together as a unified people to boycott and stop continuing to support the insanity 3.Hold the radio stations and especially B.E.T. for perpetuating this agenda of programmmed genocide. Until we do these thing we will continue to be bombarded by the images and our young black men will continue to live up to the images that they are being fed.
Why do people always got to lay the blame at someone else’s feet? There’s no conspiracy to have black males killing each other in far greater numbers than any other way of dying. Whitey doesn’t pull the triggers, come on now.
Now I will wholeheartedly agree that the whole crack vs powdered coke thing was a racial bias and people dealing rocks were more severely punished and that the US would be much, much better off to legalize narcotics. We can’t control it, we can’t keep people from doing it, yes, you can slow it down but when the demand is there for something, ANYTHING, someone’s gonna supply it because the reward is far greater than the risk. We are so smart yet we forget the first law of economics we learn in school: Law of supply and demand!
The WAR ON DRUGS is the biggest scam since Whitewater and big pharma (aka legalized drugs, lol). As for Mr. Ross, more power to him, just because he was one of the culprits doesn’t need he can’t be a vessel to show youngsters to stay on the straight and narrow. More power to anyone who contributes to that, inc many moms and dads out there, they are the real heroes!!!
to mims
Our black men have become so ashamed of who they are and even what they look like, that they have taken up with the white man’s trashy wh*res and think that this will make them better in the white man’s eyes!
what does this have do with the subject lol folks ging to date and have babies with the folks they are attracted to that sounds like kkk mess.we have bigger fish to fry than that mess
The CIA recruited him Contra Scam was all about Coke and Guns. Former president Reagan and Vice pres Bush sr.Was the ring leaders who owed the contras allot of money.Rick Ross the only one went to prison. Oliver North took the weight for the president.The war of black families began with the bay of pigs. Black men who fought in Nam some came home with a horse addiction. Their addiction didn’t break up black families. Women held the family down. The government thought the black families be dismantled They were wrong The nucleus of a black family was the mother. The government chemist was searching for drugs that would turn mothers and daughters against each other an or turn them into prostitutes for the drug that we know is crack.Rick Ross couldn’t do specific things without an ok. Now there is a Rapper who lied that he was the Rick Ross.He was a Probation officer.I appreciate this brother The real Rick Ross want to help teens not to make mistakes he made