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The Weeknd - Tears In The Rain

Date: 5-18-018 Place: Physical Hell, Mental Heaven Title: My Hard Truth By: Sankofa the King without a Kingdom (go support your brother: amazon.com altariq gumbs; the turtle who got bullied and how to keep your kids away from gangs) quotes: 1."What we think we become, All that we are, arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world"    by: The Budda 2.'Explore, Dream, Discover' 3.'Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass...its about learning how to dance in the rain" By: Vivian Greene 4.'We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so to have the life that is waiting for us. Told skin must be shed    before the new one can come" By:Joseph Campbell 5.'To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult     act of heroism you can perform. By: Theodore H. White (these are a few qoutes that was given to me a few years ago by my best friend Natalie Goode who has sinced been called to God but I never really got to look at most of them the way i do now so i now share them with you. thank you)

Peace my people, what's up? I'm sitting here on this computer and just typing away because i haven't been on here in a minute and wrote something. you know i was told that people really not trying to read all of the things that i write because they be to long but my answer will always remain well they say if you want to hide something from someone then put it in a book. people will sit and read all about a star and who is getting married and what is the latest fashion and stuff that really don't matter but when you try and write something that may help save them from the same insanity that is plaguing the world your doing to much and should sit your ass down. its funny to me. but i will not let that stop me because even at a young age i always loved to read and write. i got it from my grandmother and mother. both who used to sit and read those long ass love novels. and i picked it up because from what i could see they enjoyed them. so i wanted to find what i enjoyed reading. anyway, you know i have been dealing with a lot lately for some reason and i guess its all apart of my story that I'm telling. you know i watched a movie today(5-17) and in it Will Smith told his son 'that fear is something that we create. it is non-exsistant. we give it life by acknowledging it. we fear the unknown. we fear something that may not even come to pass.' and that struck me like lighting. and i said here i sit afraid of what life has to offer me because i fear what is going to be come of me. instead of just walking my path and doing what i need to do in order to survive no matter what the situation is. i wasn't afraid on them streets when i used to run them like a drug addict chasing his next fix. i wasn't afraid of getting life behind these walls because of my actions. it amazed me how my eyes opened so fast that i couldn't help but smile. i remember another quote Will said on Oprah one day. he said 'A person needs to reach that brink. i mean like right on the corner of the mountain before you either jump or step back. you need to reach that brink because that's where you will find your true self. and i think i may have reached that brink. I'm standing right at the edge of that mountain top and i can jump off or i can stand tall and let the wind take me where I'm destined to go. i control my life. i control my dreams,. i control my love, i control who i surround myself around, i control my emotions, i control my destiny. this is my life and i have a right to live it in peace and do right by the people i come across. i have the right to ask for forgiveness and even if i don't get it at least i asked for it. i have the right not to be perfect but conduct myself in the manner of a perfect human. i remember when i was a young boy and my birthday had come and at this time i never had a birthday party for me and one of my mother's male friend said 'its your birthday? 'i nodded and he gave me some cookies. i went out side and put on a pair of roller skates and in the rain i skated my lil heart out with the tears coming down my face because i told myself this will be the last time i cry for anything or any one. because life tends to be so hurtful that even at the age of innocence a kid can feel the hurt of the reality of his or her situation and no matter what they do they can't change it. everyone would like to call me a monster but how can you call me a monster when I'm the product of drugs, of hate, of anger, or starvation, of war, of racism, of manipulation, and out right lies. what is a child to do with his eyes seeing all of this while his heart hurts to the point he can't breathe? so someone explain to me while i remember being that lil boy skating in the rain with my Tears in the Rain! peace to you and this is my hard truth that, i can't stand being fake and being around fake people. i can't stand a man who hurts women and children, i can't stand a man acting like a woman, i cant stand a mother who don't love their kids above all else, i can't stand to be in here, i can't stand to see cops doing the exact thing they pledge not to do, i can't stand that gang members choose to be the exact same thing their history tells them to hate, i can't stand when a person tries to be something they aren't. this is my hard truth accept it for what it is because i'll respect yours just as well. peace king sankofa

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The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar - Pray For Me (Audio)

time: To be released from the belly of the beast song: Pray For Me by: the Weekend fet. Kendrick Lamar

title: Pray For Me by: Al-Tariq Sankofa Gumbs (Go get my books on Amazon.com @ altariq gumbs:the turtle who got bullied and how to keep your kids away from gangs)

Peace to you and your loved ones and I'm hoping that this post finds all of you in the best of health mentally, physically and spiritually. as for myself, I'm continuing to fight this up hill battle and dealing with the human demons around me. so i ask that you sit and read this and pray for me because we all need a little extra prayer!

Pray for me because at times i want to snap and lose it, pray for me because i hate seeing grown men act like women, pray for me because even though i grew to love the gang members, i have grown to hate the destruction it does to its members and communities, pray for me because i hate to see my son think he has to walk down this path that i already walked, pray for me because i fear that i may never get to be truly happy, pray for me because even though God loves me, man wants to kill me, pray for me because i can't seem to do anything right for the women in my life, pray for me because i wish that all people who hurt kids and women should be shot on the spot, pray for me because my pain is my love, pray for me because i have hate in my heart for one of my family members, pray for me that i don't end up being killed like my two brothers, pray for me because the same brothers i loved more than life wants to take my life, pray for me because I'm so tired of being blamed for the actions of grown men, pray for me because my anger is rearing its ugly head again, pray for me because life has a funny way of pissing down your back and telling you its rain, pray for me because all i want to be is loved by the people who i love, pray for me because i sit around these so-called men who have hurt women and kids and its killing me not to hurt one of them, pray for me that i make it home in one piece, pray for me because i hate the fact that the white race still hates us like we asked to be enslaved by them and now that we want our rights we are wrong, pray for me because even though everyone needs a cop why is it my people are the only ones afraid of being killed by the ones who suppose to protect them, pray for me because i need help with this fight against all the anger and hate of the world, pray for me because with out that help i may go insane, pray for me because my mother is getting older and i still got a few years left in this hell hole, pray for me because i fear my sanity is on the line because of my change, pray for me because God gave me this strength and man wants to break me of this strength, pray for me because I'm only one person but people tend to pull you to pieces, pray for me because my life is full of fake love and hard lies, pray for me because even though i live for peace i may die because of war, pray for me because God loves me so much that it scares the hell out of me, pray for me because i need help from this hell, pray for me because i smile every day but the weight of my un-dropped tears are getting heavy, pray for me please, pray for me because every good, strong, humble and respectful person is considered weak, selfish, mean, egotistical, and disrespectful, pray for me because i truly need you to ask GOD to take this pain away from me!! PRAY FOR ME BECAUSE I'M PRAYING FOR YOU!!! words by King Sankofa inside the belly of the angry lion! p.s. everything you reading right now just came off the cap. not pre-written!

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NF - Remember This (Music Video)

title: the come up (chapter from urban book) by: al-tariq gumbs place: riding that shooting star

what's up my family, friends and foes? i'm hoping and praying that all is well with you and your loved ones. as for my self im ok. just keeping my head above water and watching out for the people who want to keep me down. i stay smiling and trying to treat people the way i want to be treated. now i was going to write something but i want you to go and listen to that song up there by NF. i feel the way he feels. so, while your listening to it, i want to write you something from my first book that i put out back in 011. i wrote it back in 2003. it was my first novel and it will available real soon. so this is just a taste of it. hope you enjoy with more to come. and go support your brother on the books that are already out. the turtle who got bullied and how to keep your kids away from gangs by al-tariq gumbs and check out my fan page letting me know what you think of the books all comments are welcome. isn't those titles the samething you are wishing to help your kids with? so, go get them. peace and hope that all is well. King Kofa

book: The Come Up   author: Al-Tariq Gumbs#05674-748 place; P.O.BOX 33 USP-TERRE HAUTE TERRE HAUTE, IN 47808

ENJOY:

PROLOGUE "Why didn't you come home Ra-Ra? LS asked. 'Listen ma. Like I told you. I can't come home right now. I gotta take care of this and wait for Sean to come and help me, okay?" Ra-Ra said gripping the phone tightly.

it was bad enough, his man Sean hasn'r got his ass there yet. Now, he had to listen to his shorty, LS telling him that she missed him and wanted him to come home.

"Ma, as soon as I finish with this and Sean gets his ass here, I'm going to come home, o.k.?"Ra-Ra said. 'Shit, you haven't been home all night because of that nigga, baby. Sean don't do sit. Why the fuck he can't do it this time? I don't like his ass. Damn, I haven't seen you all day, Daddy, Shit!"LS was on the verge of begging. 'Aight, ma. I'll be home as soon as I finish this, okay?Bye."Ra-Ra hung up the phone. 'Where the fuck is Sean's ass?"He said out loud and called Sean phone again. When no one answered , he hung up and looked at his watch. It's been a half hour now. Ra-Ra was madded that a motherfucker and not just because of Sean's bullshit, but the fact that he had to sit up in a dirty ass house with the water, shower, and kitchen all fucked up. Ra-Ra couldn't even lay down on the bed because the shit was dirty as hell. Plus, it was always hot as shit in the motherfucker. Two bedrooms and a bathroom, which was the only thing that really worked in the whole spot. Sean and Ra-Ra tried to get it fixed up a little but it didn't help at all. The only thing that helped Ra-Ra stay focused doing his thing was the radio that he had brought two months ago. On top of everything, he didn't even like bagging shit up. That's why he and Sean said they would meet there and do the shit together. This was Sean's second time missing the bag-up day. He called Sean's phone again and still recieved no answer,. He slammed the phone down and turned the radio back up. I will get Sean ass by taking some of the shit for myself. Fuck that! As soon as he started bagging up, he heard someone knocking on the door. Ra-Ra turned down the radio and that's when he heard that famous knock. Meanwhile, across town on 12th Avenue in a three-story apartment building, Sean laid up on a bed getting his dick sucked by a hood rat named Re-Re. She was really going to work on his shit too. Sean had busted two nuts already and was ready to leave when Re-Re started sucking his dick again. He knew he was suppose to be handling his business, but this little bitch had some good as pussy and her brain was the truth. So, when he bust off for the third time, he was too tired to move. And that was Re-Re's whole plan. She was feeling Sean, but all he wanted to do was fuck, so she had to find ways to keep him with her as long as possible. 

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NF - Let You Down

date: 4-6-18 place: the unsane ward title: I'm sorry I let you down (dedicated to the Brim brothers and sisters) by: al-tariq sankofa gumbs author of: how to keep your kids away from gangs, the turtle who got bullied now on Amazon kindle! they are about helping our kids.

I'm hoping that this post reaches each and everyone of you that is reading this and it helps you get a proper understanding of how life is about being able to learn from your mistakes and grow up and be something better than even you thought you could be. this letter is to my Brim brothers and sisters. i want to write to them and share it with the world because i want everyone to see that life is truly something amazing and should be lived for happiness and helping people. so here goes the words of a man who has finally grabbed his shooting star and is riding it to the moon!!!! P.S. This will be a long one so have a seat and ride with me for a second it won't kill you! peace!

dear my brothers and sisters, as i sit here in this chair and writing these words i have sat back and done a lot of thinking over my life and the things that i have been through and i would like to share some of them with you so you can see that all the stuff you heard about me may just be people adding on to it, that really don't know what happened to me. first i want to say that i love each and every one of you because you have chosen to be with something that i choose to give my all too and make it something that you could be proud of. now, when i first joined the set, i was 21 years old and i was so angry over my past and the things i have been through that i wanted to be apart of something that i got to choose who i rode for because at the end of the day we have chosen a gang life style and have to accept everything that came with it. so you would meet someone you know really don't love it the way you do but if he or she is apart of it you have to put your life on the line for them and that always bothered me. people think that the move i did was about power and that's so far from the truth and shows that they don't really know me. i wanted to be able to choose who i rode for and put my life on the line for. now, as i started to go through changes because i was becoming someone under the Bloods that even i didn't see. i was just trying to show the brothers from every set that we are all one and shouldn't be killing each other. when i was coming through the ranks yes i did things to make the hood look stronger than the rest of them because i knew in that lifestyle weakness is preyed upon and will be crushed. so i went hard. i was placed in the gang unit in Northern State Prison for being a leader and riot starter.[FOR THE REST GO TO:ALTARIQ SANKOFA SPEAKS GUMBS.TMBLR.COM] so, they separated me from everyone again. wouldn't allow me to have a cellie until i was moved over there and they put me with the other brother who was considered a leader. they would pull me out and try and jump me but when they saw i wasn't scared they would take me back to my cell. all because i wasn't afraid to say i was a Blood member. anyway, my time in the gang unit (the first time) was eye opening and i got to see how if this thing i love didn't get fixed, me and a lot of other good men and women was either going to be killed or spend the rest of our lives in jail. so, when i was finally released from prison in 01, i was 24 years old and had just done 44 months on a 4 year sentence. and i truly wanted to find a sense of peace but as i walked around my neighborhood i got to see that the Bloods and Crips had destroyed the one thing that is for us. our community. so a month later i found a home for the family and tried to make saling drugs a last priority. i tried to have more love around there than anything. i tried to show as much love to everyone who stepped out there, so they would know that this isn't truly us. we are just angry at our conditions. i spoke to community leaders and everything. but the streets got a hold of me again and i was taken away from them for something i truly tried to stop but anyway, i was back in jail again facing life in prison. so while in the county i tried to help put a truce together with the Crip homies because we are in there fighting for our lives and we still trying to beef with each other over something that truly can be fixed. because why do we hate each other? what's the reason? a lot of my brothers who was somebody under what we stood for was upset but when i sat them down and explained it to them like I'm doing to you they got it. (And in 04 when the then Councilman Ras Baraka  reached out to me through one of the young brothers and asked to be apart of the truce on the streets i told him I'm with it long as it's not political because once it becomes political, the message is lost to all the media and cops getting involved and it's not about them. its about those kids who look up to the street guys, it's about stop killing each other. its about loving yourself enough not to hate someone else. and if we have to make a show of it so it can be every where and look good on someone resume then I'm not going to tell my lil brothers and sisters to support it. period. because we won't be used. and then soon as something go wrong your first answer is to lock us down and bury the key. that's not right.) i was placed back into the gang unit once again after i pled guilty to my crime. after being in there for the second time, i truly felt the change in me coming. i felt myself becoming more of a man than a gang member or gang leader. i wasn't trying to become a better gang leader. i was trying to become a better man and then i can be a better leader. i know my position in the Bloods and how I'm looked at. it took me years to really see what every one else saw because to be honest, i was in denial for a long time about who i was in the eyes of the cops, community, and my brothers and sisters. But, i can't run or hide from it anymore because then it seems like I'm lying about my words. So i accept it as what it is but i have chosen to use that position to help now. i was kicked out of N.J. for not being someone who will let them treat us less than human in Northern State Prison because they don't like gang members or understand them. and all the while my own kind was going against me because even back then i had a pet peeze of dealing with fake nonsense, if your being real on who you are i will go to my grave fighting for your right to be who you are. if you want to get a job and still come through and get love its my job as your brother to make sure your not caught up in the nonsense of those of us who is still with the nonsense, i always told the brothers to treat the brothers who want out of the nonsense with love and respect because one day that will be you.it's the way you leave that should be the problem not the fact that your done saling drugs, gangbanging, robbing people and all the nonsense we think we have to do in order to get the love and respect of our peers. and a lot of guys will try and condemn a brother or sister for wanting to live a life of some peace and say they went soft or don't love the hood any more and that's not it at all. everyone gets to a point in their lives where they realize that life is meant to be lived. the problem be the ones who is faking and think this is some type of movie or something and play with their lives as if they have more than one of them and that's who i fought for back then. the real ones who knew who they were and wasn't hiding it behind some pride to impress people. don't get in the car if you don't want to. the situation in Boys in the Hood where Tre said let him out of the car. that was real. even though Doe was hurt he understood and let him out that takes real strength it never meant he didn't love his best friend. Anyway, so the same ones i put my life on the line for was trying to hurt me. it made me so angry, i snapped. and i was shipped to AZ. where i was forced to be around guys who was suppose to be my enemy but now i have to put my life on the line for them because out there its about your race. not your gang colors. So i got to meet good Crips who love what they are but understand that it's real ones under everything and they want change too. So it opened my eyes and i was allowed to see change in my heart. So when i got back to Jersey, i told my brothers and sisters I'm done gang banging. because with gangbanging you have to deal with the politics that come with it. you have to deal with the hate that comes with it. you have to watch even your own who suppose to be with you and if your not doing something they like they find ways to try and cross you out whether with the cops or bullets. so, i didn't want to be apart of that hate any more. it was my entire reason for fighting for the little brothers and sisters back then because i didn't want guys with money or big egos thinking they can just tell the young ones what to do in order to forward these guys own ego of being somebody and that's why the beef started, it had nothing to do with what everyone was talking about. and i don't sit here and say i was perfect and didn't do my share of nonsense, what I'm saying is when it came to this that i love, i chose to always try and do right by it because i knew about the meaning of the first two letters, B.L. and i knew i didn't want to be apart of the last two, O.D. however,  like the US attorney said i was still speaking for the same thing i said was done with. So i couldn't explain to her that if I'm going to be accused of being a leader then why not let me use this position to lead them the right way because if i say I'm all the way done and now u have a vacuum and people who only want power and is willing to hurt their own kind in order to get it is going to destroy the community. but i kept my thoughts to myself and took my time like a man even though my own people told on me again. and then i get to the feds and i see all this nonsense going on here where everyone wants to be the man of something. Everywhere i went i tried to get the brothers to see there is a better way to be who you are and still love the thing that you say you love but they been watching Gang land so long they think it's the thing to be. they crash over some of the dumbest shit, and they cross some of the good brothers out over nonsense. i was told on in two spots and then i was stabbed for trying to honor what we love and suppose to stand on as men and my own kind that was suppose to help me stood there and watched and then went to the police on me???. that was it for me. and as i said in my last post i told my brother Tef, I'm there in a different way. i can't and will not put my life on the line while my brothers and sisters sit there and watch me die. To my lil brothers and sisters I'm truly so sorry i let you down because i should have seen this before and been a better leader. I made mistakes because i was very young and didn't understand a lot of the hurdles that was put in my way and even though things didn't turn out the way i hoped i still love y'all to death but back then i did what i could for the family and when the time came i did it for my community but when will i get to rest? it will be 20 years for me in these hell holes and i can barely get a brother to pick up the phone to ask him to go check on my mother or my nephew or son after all i have given it has come to this and yes i'm one of the ones who has never complained or b****** or went to the other side and i gave y'all a big brother y'all could be proud to say is your big brother. i never told, never ran, never broke any of our rules in here or out there and this is the thanks a brother like me gets. so what do you think will happen to you once your down and out? and i know a lot of people wish i had life but that isn't in Gods plan. but as i sit here i feel so sorry for the young brothers and sisters who haven't made that change in their mind to want something better out of life. it don't mean you don't love what  you was it means your choosing to put your life first,. the life of your kids and family first because you have given what you can to it. and if they love you the way they say they do they will respect it because one day it will be them and they will want the same love when they came through and not treated as if they left a brother to die. my pain is now being released into my writings and I'm going to take this shooting star to the moon, the question is who is going to ride it with me? I'm truly sorry to those who feel i let them down but I'm only human and ask that I don't be judged on who i was but who I am now! love you and didn't know it was going to turn out this long but s*** what's wrong with reading? its fundamental..lol love you words from king sankofa the retired General!!!! P.S. If your looking for the old me CHECK THE MORGUE!!!!!

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NF - NO NAME

place: buried alive title: attitude by:charles swindoll copied by: al-tariq sankofa gumbs: author of: how to keep your kids away from gangs, the turtle who got bullied now on Amazon kindle. (more to come)

song: No Name by: NF

I was given this from someone too a few years back. and i want to share it with you because it kind of speaks volumes on how we should look at things. hope you get out of it what i did. hope and pray that god is continuing to bless you and your loved ones. i have to write this early because tru-links will be getting low soon. so minds well do it while i have some. i wish the best and hope that all is well. peace king sankofa

                                                                        ATTITUDE                                                                          BY: CHARLES SWINDOLL

'The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearances, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the past. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how i react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our ATTITUDES!!!!!

This is so true because even in here i try and keep a cool head around the things that i am around. i never envisioned that i will be where i am at right now. at first i sat in the hole on the way here and let me pride get in the way of my true feelings of being done with the gang lifestyle because i know that i have been living most of my life in that life style and i never want to be considered like I'm soft or left my lil brothers and sisters out there to fend for themselves. But, once i got over the pride part i had to fix my Attitude because my anger was trying to kick in and i thought like damn how am i going to be able to show them how to really live your life and be the person your destined to be? it is now 2018 and if a person can't get their destiny in their hands and run with it then they have no place being around me. i must choose to be the man that I'm destined to be and my first act of that is to change my Attitude. I love my set and my hood but I can't continue to preach change and i haven't changed. i was asked by my brother Tef,' was i still with my brothers and sisters' and 'i said no not in the way i was'. i am now being the leader God had planned for me. I'm there when you need someone to call upon when your mother needs someone to take her to the doctor. I'm there when you need someone to go and make sure your daughter is getting treated like the princess she is. I'm there when your son wants to know why his father choose to live in the streets instead of there to teach him how to be a man. I'm there to show the youth that those streets don't have a heart. I'm there when the cops is trying to treat us all like we don't matter because we have made mistakes. i am there when your queen needs reassurance about the love you have for her. this is what a brother does for his family. back in the day a lot of my brothers and sisters used to tell me they would die for me. and my answer always was, what good are you to me and your family if your dead? the object is to live as long as possible. and if I'm truly your big brother then my job is to make sure that happens. i will not let my pride and ego and attitude get us into things that will take you away from your family." that was always my answer. so now I'm truly living those words. my attitude towards life has changed. i want to live like i told them back then. so, to my brothers and sisters and the ones who love me and look up to me, use me as an example of a man who has finally got control of his attitude. and now my actions will reflect that and this kind of spot i am at is an example of that change in me even though i hate it I'm using it to help me better myself and my attitude towards my future. love you all and hope you got out of this the same thing i did. your attitude wit predict your actions and your actions will predict your future and how far you will go! love you: King Sankofa!

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Attitude - By: Charles Swindoll

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NF - All I Have

peace to you and yours. i am hoping this finds you in the best of health. as for myself, I'm o.k. just keeping to myself and working on my dreams and praying that all of my love ones are good and the world wakes up and realize that we are all apart of the same family. no matter color, power, poor or rich because we are human. but they will never get it so i must just try to reach those who want to treat everyone the same with respect and humbleness. the rest will fall into place. now, i was given these words I'm about to post from someone a few years ago. i can't remember who i got it from but i kept it because i love good words that mean something. so I'm hoping this helps you figure something out in your life. peace to you! King Sankofa!

title: unknown author: unknown but copied by; al-tariq sankofa gumbs

"not everything is healthy enough to have a front row seat in our life. there are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance. its amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of, or at least minimize your time with, draining, negative, incompatible, not going anywhere relationship/friend(s). observe the relationship around you, pay attention to which ones lift and which ones lean...which ones encourage and which ones discourage...which ones are on a uphill path of growth and which ones are going down hill. when you leave certain people, do you feel better or worse? which ones have drama or don't really understand, know, or appreciate you? the more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love, and truth around you; the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life. if you can not change the people around you, change the people you are around. remember that the people we hang with will have an impact on both our lives and income. and, so we must be careful to choose the people we hang out with, as well as the information with which we feed our minds. we should not share our dreams with negative people, nor feed our dreams with negative thoughts. it is your choice and your life... it is up to you who and what you let in....

i hope you get something out of this because at times it is the people around us who may cause us the must harm because they don't truly want us to succeed or they just may love being angry and down. so like this said if you can't change their thoughts and actions then change being around them because anyone your around should always encourage you to do better. i grew up around friends where we always found ways to talk each other into doing bad things. it was just our mindset. and then i didn't know i can control who i surround myself around. i have chosen to surround myself around people who are trying to go somewhere with themselves and want to see me and them make our dreams a reality. thank you and if you have any quotes feel free to share them on this page. peace to you and yours. go get your brother's books on Amazon and check out my fan page. gots to plug:)))

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

NF - Outcast

song: outcas place: inside the mind of a genius! title: A letter to God: prayer 2 written by: al-tariq sankofa gumbs the author of: the turtle who got bullied and how to keep your kids away from gangs. (available on kindle) more to come...p.s.if you have a problem with getting the books i have a fan page on Amazon.com/author/altariqgumbs. thank you for your support. May God Bless You

peace to you and yours and I'm hoping that this message finds you and yours in the best of health. as for myself, I'm ok. first i want to apologize for taking a little minute on posting something but my peoples were going through some things and with patience comes understanding. so know i wasn't giving up on trying to help with my words and trying to walk the words that i write and talk. this is titled: A letter to God:prayer 2, because i was told i need to start talking to him more than i do and its crazy because me and him have an excellent relationship its me who is running away from who i am suppose to be. i can only chalk it up to fear because there is no other reason why I'm not being the man i need to be but i can honestly say i have come along way from where i was. if anyone knew me then and know me now will say damn reek you have changed your entire thought path but it is still a work in progress. and i thank those of you have put up with me for years and still manage to stay in my life one way or the other because i have come to learn family doesn't always have to be the blood in your veins that connect you to each other. so i asked God the other day what is next for me? and it made me smile because i got the answer and again me and my tough a@@ tried to think of something else but the thought and vision continued to come back like 'No your not going any where'.lol so, we shall see. I'm going to fulfill my destiny no matter what or i will die a very unhappy man. so this is My letter to God and i ask only for understanding nothing more! thank you for listening.....

Dear God, this is your son Al-Tariq Sankofa Gumbs and i want you to know that i love you and i ask for your forgiveness for any of my past sins and any of the sins i may cause in the future but i want you to know i will not to hurt anyone and i will treat everyone with kindness and respect. Now, God i would like to ask that you also look out for my family members and make sure they are safe and healthy. i ask that you look out for my friends, who are going through a lot and think they are alone in their fight. i ask that you watch out for the young brothers and sisters who look up to me and think the old me is something that they should aspire to be. i ask that you take my love ones that came to you to early or even later on in life, take them into your arms and hold them close because they are good people. God, your son sits here afraid to become what you have destined for him. i know you have given all of us choices on how we will choose to live our lives but God sometimes man gets in the way of your plans and tries to dictate a person's life. In my life i grew up inside a family who loved each other but couldn't figure out how to stay true to that love and let that love override the harsh and sometimes down right inhumane conditions dictate their actions. they allowed the drugs to make them into animals. So i want you to let them know that i forgive them and hold no ill will to them. God, i ask that you let my little brothers and sisters under the Brims set know that i only did what i thought was right for us and i didn't want to be a leader of anything but i had to stand up and not let people who have egos take our lives in their hands and treat our lives as if they didn't matter. i ask that you let them know I'm truly sorry for being a poor leader because violence and anger isn't something a true leads by. i ask that you open the hearts of my old enemies and let them know i have no ill will towards them because we were all living in a world filled with so much pain and anger and instead of finding ways to come together we found a way to hate each other. God, i ask that you use me to show the youth that your life is yours to make what you will. i ask that you use me to show that you truly exist and that any and all religions are one because the core beliefs are the same. there is only one God. no matter what you call him, it is only one. Man has made it to the point where if your not saying your like me then your against me. your children don't understand that life is meant to be lived to help instead of hurt. we are destined to die. but how we live is the question and i now get that God. i now understand that you are the soul controller of your life. God, i want to thank you for watching over me and keeping me alive to grow into the man you want me to be. and even though i have failed at most of the tests you have put in front of me, you haven't given up on me, so for that i love you so much because man will leave you for dead if your not something they can use or treat like its beneath you. thank you for giving me a talent of writing my thoughts down. i want you to know if you decide to allow these dreams of mines to become a reality i will not let you down. i will reach back and help those who need it. i ask that those who don't believe you can control your stars to look at me and see how far i have come from being nothing but a knuckle head and not knowing any better and thinking my life is meant to die at the hands of violence but now i have changed my thoughts into something that sometimes if i wasn't so tough would bring tears to my eyes. i ask that you please take care of my son and show him that life is something to cherish because you only have one. i ask that you watch over my kids who love me to death even though my blood don't run through their veins. thank you God for not giving up on me. thank you so much! your son Al-Tariq Sankofa Gumbs, the man who isn't allowing these walls to block him in. with your strength i continue to fight for my future. thank you god and i will not let you down! Amen!

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

Plies 2nd Chance.

my truth is my freedom

place: inside the belly of a hungry and angry lion

address; p.o.box plantation x

I first want to say that i send my love to you and your loved ones and this find you in the best of health and that you know that god loves you no matter what long as you sit back and let him know that your still his child and believe in him. now, i haven't written one of these in a minute because i want to give time to allow my actions to change and my thoughts to change on a lot of things. so this is called: My Truth is my Freedom and its not meant to be harmful or disrespectful to anyone. this is just my truth respect mines like i respect yours. now, when i think back to my childhood i think about being alone in rooms by myself and thinking that life isn't nothing with out my family. that why should a person live and your mother is getting high off drugs? why should a person live when they can't find their father? why should a person live if he can't make sure his brothers and sisters are safe and good? how can a person live with themselves if you leave your family down and out? my anger became so strong that every time i got into something i tried to hurt the person because i felt that if i didn't do anything to you then why are you trying to hurt me? i sit in here and think about how i joined a gang when i was a loner by nature because no one understood me. i didn't truly start talking until i was 16 or 17 years old. if you wasn't my family i felt there is no reason for me to talk to you. i have seen so many things in my life that my heart is so heavy. i sit and think about being a gang leader and wonder why would someone want to listen to a man who doesn't even know what to do with his own life? how can i be a leader when i can't lead myself? i sit and listen to my brothers who suppose to be leaving the nonsense alone get caught up in it and then face the very thing they were fighting against. i sit and watch TV and see the cops killing blacks and see that everybody is upset but how come we can't get this mad for black on black crime? is it ok to kill a black if your black? why no riots for that? i sit and watch as the gays fight for equality but then at the same time become bullies because if you don't agree to their life style then you shouldn't be able to speak and that's not right. because i have the right to live the way i choose to live with out fearing that if i don't like something it means i don't believe that they should be treated equally. i sit and listen to these guys in here argue over women but then go and lay down in the cell with a man. i sit and watch TV and see our president lie and touch women and do things that would have gotten me time but since he is white and has money then he isn't held to the same standard but I'm convicted of being a gang leader because i choose to be a lion instead of a deer. i get blamed for things i never did and can't get one person to come to my aid that isn't family but if you have money then your o.k. to lie. its crazy. i sit and watch my heart breaks as my son want to follow in my foot steps that tripped me up instead of following in my steps that got me walking right and standing up like a real man suppose to. i watch and see the women fighting for their rights to be who they are with out a man coming at them. i hated seeing my big brother killed by my cousin over some drug street shit. i hated seeing my little homies killed for something that i started. i hated being the reason why people say they hate the bloods. i hate being the reason why i can't seem to catch a break. all my life i have asked god for a peace of mind and to allow me the chance to live before i am killed or pass away. i want to live my life in some sense of peace. i hate to see those kids die because they didn't understand that them bulling that young man caused his anger to come out in violence. i fight to teach these guys about being men. and how to stand on what's right. how to want to go home to their families and these TV's or tables or stamps aren't worth your kids finding out your were killed or killed someone for this nonsense. i sit and pray that my life is going to the stars and i have done things that can help. my truth is my freedom and with that truth comes a lot of pain. i want to say I'm truly sorry for any pain i may have caused any one. i want to say that my old lifestyle of being angry and thinking violence was the answer is over. my old anger over my mother doing the things she done is over. my anger at my father for not being as strong as i thought he should be is over. my anger at my young brothers who can't get it together out there is over. i told someone the other day to accept no with the same energy that he accepts yes. so, I'm telling you to tell your kids to learn how to say no! learn how to choose their lives over someone else's. teach them how to live and want more out of life because they are our future and its about them and the changes they make because hate is taught. its not born. you feeling better than someone is your own feeling not the color of your skin. money don't make you better than the next. treat people right and this all will be a lot easier but y'all not going to listen because you're sitting there thinking I'm trying to get over. its sad and i just want to go some where and live in the fucking ground. my truth is my freedom so why the hell don't i feel free???? thank you for listening. peace to you and yours. King Sankofa the king with out a Kingdom. note: just dropped the kids book against bullying. THE TURTLE WHO GOT BULLIED. ON KINDLE AMAZON. THANK YOU AND HOPE IT HELPS. MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS.

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

the turtle who got bullied

by al-tariq gumbs site; amazon kindle

whats up family and friends? i'm hoping and praying that all is well with you and your loved ones. listen, really running out links. so you have to bare with me and the short message because i want to get straight to the point. I finally was able to have my peoples Ms.Love help me put the book up on kindle on amazon. you can now buy the book. its a kids book that you can read to your kids from the ages 5 to 11. go check it out and let me know what you think. the other books god willing will be up there real soon. i have a book called: how to keep your kids away from gangs. and the urban novel: the come up. once they are ready i will send another message letting you know about it. and remember nobody likes a bully and this book is trying to help your kids deal with one when they run into one. thank you for your support. it will be available for print probably at the end of this month. right now its only on kindle. ok. thank you and may god bless you. this is just the beginning.

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

time: for freedom title: A letter to God by: al-tariq sankofa gumbs place: inside the belly of a hungry and angry lion!

what's up my people? I'm truly hoping and praying that all is well with you and your loved ones. as for myself I'm o.k. and making sure i keep focused and this is how i do it by reaching and speaking to my family friends and even sometimes enemies. now, I'm going to write one of these once a month because i don't think that i talk to him enough, so this is my penance. so bare with me and if you can't forgive me i just ask for your understanding of the things i been through. peace to you and yours. let's go!

Dear God, hello, this is your son Al-Tariq and i want you to know that i truly love you and revere you. i believe in you and your strength and even though everybody want to put a name on you i just call you what you are. My Father. you gave me life so for that my loyalty is for you above all else. now, i would like to talk to you about a few things that have been on my mind lately and i have been trying to come to terms with it. so i ask for your forgiveness for any of my past deeds and any sins i may commit in the future. god, as your son i am sitting here thinking about my life and what i have been through and all the pain and suffering i been through and have caused. i ask that you forgive me for being the reason why my little homies are willing to die for something that i started that was meant for them to live. i ask that you forgive me for my anger towards my family because of their lack of not being here. i ask that you forgive my anger for those who have hurt me. i ask that you forgive my thoughts on hurting them the way they hurt me. i ask that you forgive me for any anger that i have towards my little sista shaunda who i love so much. i ask that you watch over my mother and keep her healthy and help her get over the fact that people will always let you down. family and all. i ask that you forgive her for her past and let her find peace in her kids even though they seem to want to not speak to her more than they want to blame her for things that happened when we were kids. either allow them to forgive her or move on. i ask that you protect my little sista verlinda and my big sista camisha. i ask that you help us find my little brother ibn. they took him out of my hands and i want to hug my little brother. i ask that you bless my daughter Armani and let her know i feel her pain all the way over here and even though we haven't spoken in years i still love her so much. i ask that you watch over her and keep her safe, i ask that you watch over darcel and let her know even if things get heavy she is built to last. i ask that you let the female friends in my life know that i mean no harm in trying to make them smile and see that life is meant to be lived to the fullest and regardless of having your other half you still have to live and i just want to play a part in that happiness because i know how hard it gets being alone. i ask that you watch over Blondie and let her know even though its rough right now she will be ok because she has been through so much and she will make it. i ask that you watch over Ms.Love and let her know that I'm sending my prayers up to you over her g-pops and my blessing are with her and her family. i ask that you bless my daughter baby girl to find the happiness she seeks. i ask that you watch over queen t and make sure she understands that she can't control everything and that you have a plan for her. and her strength is to fierce for the world.(go to my blog to read the rest: (Al-Tariq Sankofa Speaks Gumbs.tmblr.) i ask that you watch over yunique and let her know i feel her pain and I'm truly so sorry for letting her down. i ask that you protect Free and keep her healthy and make sure she knows she isn't alone in the fight. i ask that you watch over my sista tanisha and keep her safe and the new baby she is bringing into this world.i ask that you watch over my sista Jeni because she is going through a lot and her hurt is so fierce. i ask that you watch over my brother Durby and G. keep them safe and help their dreams become a reality ask that you watch over Poe and K and keep them safe. i ask that you watch over my brother k-dawg and let him know he has a brother for life. and my brothers roc, moe, kels, earl, willie abe, burgundy, hakaveli, mid, fatboy, breeze, kool breeze,ray nas, Teflon, u.n, shariff amenhotep and any of my brothers that are going through this struggle. I'm with all of y'all and i love you and I'm asking god to protect you and let you know its more to life.i ask that you watch over all the new people that have come into my life and have been there to be real and except me for being real. i will not take your loyalty and treat it like dirt. thank you god for sending the ones for a reason and the ones for a season i enjoyed them and I'm praying they got the chance to smile more than cry in our short time together. i ask that you watch out for ms.jones and let her know that its rough right now but it will get greater later. god i ask that you forgive all my little brothers and sistas out there just trying to make a way for them to survive. a lot of them doesn't know any better. a lot of us know we are your kids but we get lost with this man made thinking. so i ask for you to forgive for them. i ask that the streets of Newark, N.J. forgive me all of the pain i may have caused to them. i ask that you open their hearts and show them that i was just a product of my surroundings and i didn't have the strength to use my talents to help and i instead used my anger to hurt like i was hurting so i ask for your forgiveness. to the people i have truly hurt i ask for your forgiveness. i ask that if i ever lied or if have taken your loyalty and love for granted I'm truly so sorry. god i ask that you forgive me for being selfish and not seeing that the true gift in life is the ability to help people instead of thinking of yourself. and god please i ask that you watch over my son. i ask that you watch over him for me because my biggest fear is that something will happen to him and i won't be able to come back from that because i have left him alone his entire life. god i ask that you show him that life is something to live for. please god. do that for me. show him there is something more to live for. i ask that you free all of my brothers and sisters behind these cold walls and i ask that you bless their families who have held them down the best of their ability. i ask that you look out for lucky-red. she is truly a good person. i ask that everyone reads this and ask god to forgive them for doing anything that may have hurt someone and they take the goodness of what you teach us and pass it on. i ask for the blessings of all the lost kids in every ghetto across this globe. i ask that you watch over those young souls who were sent to you before their time over there in Florida. thank you god and i truly ask that you know that no matter what your son over here loves you to death and even though i don't walk in churches, or pray five times a day i am your son and like you sent your other son Jesus to the prisons and jails i ask that you forgive us because some of us didn't know we had a choice. thank you for listening god and i love you Amen, Salaam, and God Bless the living and the dead! Do right by people and it will be returned. And last but not least God i ask that you Save me from Myself! The words of King Sankofa!!!!

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

Fabolous & Jadakiss - Stand Up (Remix) Feat. Future, Yo Gotti & Jeezy (F...

what's good my peoples, I'm hoping and praying that all is well with you and your loved ones. and i just wanted to write something that came to me while i was walking around here trying to get and keep my head in order. this is off the cap because i just wrote a few things in my head.so bare with me.....

title: stand up by: sankofa date;3-5-2018 place: belly of a hungry and angry lion!

stand up if you held your word down to the fullest, stand up if they tried to kill you wit bullets but used the police to get you, stand up if you are a trill blood, stand up if your a true crip, stand up if you believe in what you are but want change, stand up if you are apart of the metoo movement, stand up if you have lost a loved one and miss them to death, stand up if your tired of the cops killing our kids, stand up if your a white person who isn't a racist and want to be equal, stand up if your glad trump is the Klan member without the mask, stand up if your mayor ras Baraka and your trying so hard to fix the community you love, stand up if your shariff amenhotep and u.n and you love your people to the death of you, stand up if you left this prison and kept your word to your people when you got out, stand up if your a female who wants a real man to lay next to them but has chosen to love a man behind these cold walls, stand up if your a cop who just want to do your job and protect your community, stand up if your true to your self and others around you, stand up if you stand on truth, stand up if you believe that even with a mistake it don't make you, stand up if your facing time and decide to not let it break you down, stand up if your last name is gumbs, stand up if your so tired of being lied to by the ones who said they love you, stand up if you believe blood isn't just the thing that run through your veins, stand up if your love and loyalty over rides your pride to leave your family behind, stand up if you love what you do, stand up if you are willing to give your life for your kids, stand up if you're a kid and respect you're parents, stand up if you want more out of life, stand up if everyday you try and make your today's better than your yesterdays, stand up if you kept it real when the feds snatched you, stand up if you know how to mind your damn business, stand up if the love of your gang isn't going to be the reason why you die, stand up if you can respect a man for what he is and not what you want him to be, stand up if your not a hater and want people to respect you for it, stand up if you used to be killa reek but now your king sankofa,stand up if you'll rather leave the person because they are bringing you to your knees, stand up if your real to yourself and the people who you surround yourself with, stand you if you'll rather die then live on your knees, stand up, stand up, stand up because its so much better than living on your knees!! word by king sankofa

hope you enjoy and you can add on if you have something to add to it! peace and the red string theory is real! Stand up!

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

 A letter to a gang member

 al-tariq sankofa gumbs#05674-748

address: p.o.box 33 

usp-terre haute terre haute, in 47808 residence: the belly of a hungry lion

peace and god bless you and your loved ones. i have a few tru- links so i felt i need to get this off because i was advised by Ms.Love to use my links wisely so I'm taking her advice. now, i know a lot of people be tripping off what is going on out there and to be at a point even at 2018 and guys is still gang banging and acting out of themselves is crazy to people, so since i just got a letter from my son which made me write the last post i had to address this issue again because i didn't like the last letter to the bloods and crips because i think or feel i rushed it and the fact that my son wants to be the next Killa Reek bothers me like no other. So, now I'm taking my time and wanting to speak to all who decides that being in a gang is more important than your family or your life. So, I'm going to write a letter to a gang member. don't matter what gang. ok. love you and hope that god blesses you and your loved ones.

what's poppin, what's cracking, what's up Joe? what's up folk? what's up lord? peace almighty! i want to salute all of you souljas with your universal greetings and to show that respect for what you believe in because at the end of the day it all starts with respect. I'm not writing this to seem better than you and what you stand for or to think that since I'm older now to sit and try and preach to you and change how you feel about what you believe in. na, that's not my job or my point. my job and point is to reach out as an older man who has been where your at and is trying to still find himself and what the real cause of what he has been doing with his energy. so i ask that you give me a few minutes of your time before you light up that blunt or go outside and do something that may take you away from your family in one way or the other. now, i know you have read up on me because if your reading this then you are aware of me and my past so I'm not going to beat you in the head with what i did then because that was then and this now. but i would like you to see me as a man who was caught up and thought that what he was doing was right. i have one of the biggest names in new jersey but here i sit with nothing to show for it. when i sit and think about all the sacrifices i took back then and to see all of that go in vain it breaks my heart. i sit and look at the o.g.'s before me. they killed Tookie. they got Larry Hoover locked down in ADX, Jeff fort aka chief malik, mutulu shakur, mumia Abu Jamal, sandiata acoli, jamil al-min, they got the brothers buried. and when i went to the saviors day with the brother Kadafi, i learned that we can come together and do what's right for our communities. the brothers from different religions came together and said since we all agree that God is one then it doesn't matter how you believe in him. and us being in here puts us in the same situation because all of us have been taken from our family whether by our own actions or the actions of people who are in control. i sat there and listened to the brothers and it made me think that if the brothers in gangs could see this vision and see that we are all apart of the same struggle then maybe we won't hate each other to the point where we can't see pass the bullshit. i think that if we put the true meanings of what we believe in before the things that have been passed down by misleaders, we can really be what we are destined to be. now, do you really believe that it makes some sense that you would kill me for coming to your neighborhood wearing a red flag and you're a crip but when a cop shoots a un-armed black person or come through and tell you to leave this neighborhood you leave. we don't own them blocks or them corners. we own our lives and what we do with them. when we die those blocks and corners will still be there. I'm not saying don't believe in what you are but I'm saying why you have to hate the next person because of his or her beliefs? everything starts with respect. if you respect the fact that i used to be a blood why can't i respect the fact that your a crip? we have found a way to hate each other to appease the people who profit off our destruction. you say you don't like to be played out but that's what's happening. your being played for the fool. you have to find a way to love your self enough to love your community. love your family. we will hate each other to the point where we can't seem to think straight and all your doing is feeding the same thing that they think about us. so my friend think about this. its a lot of guys out there who still love what they love but has chosen to put their family first. has chosen to put their kids first. have chosen to put their lives first. there is nothing wrong with being a blood, crip, g.d., v.lord, Latin king, neta except the way you conduct yourself. because if a person is in the army and he or she is in the army acting up does that make the entire army bad? its only bad if the things it promotes and stands for are bad. if it doesn't have morals and values and live by those traits then how could anyone respect them as good people? its not the organization. its the people who are representing it. its not bad to be a blood, crip, gd, vl or lk. its the actions behind it that makes people look at it like its bad. when i went home in 2001 i saw that my community was scared of the bloods. because the bloods tore the streets up and made people think they are the problem and not the solution. so i tried my best to help my people in every situation. i earned respect from the cops because i knew they had a job to do and that was to catch me doing something i wasn't suppose to do but other than that it was a respect level there. i never disrespected their badge and i didn't tolerate them disrespecting of my flag. so once that line was formed things went a lot smoothly. its what I'm trying to tell you. i can't preach to you but i can teach you how to be a better member of what you believe in because that's what I'm always trying to strive to be a better person. you think that if you kill someone in the name of your set or organization is going to make your family stronger? so, this letter is to try and reach out to you to give you a better way to look at things. don't hate him or her because of what they believe in. just think about it. every homie isn't your homie. in the feds you see guys crossing each other out every day on every yard. you see them listening more to the cops about their brother than they would their brother. it always comes from your homies. so just imagine being cool with a real crip or a crip being cool with a real blood? we are only the rabs and lobs because of the way we act. so, my young brothers who think that their hood, set or organization is better than the next I'm here to tell you just like all the religions its the same. period. so with that I'm going to let you sit down and think and make your own choice because whether you believe it or not they have a place for you whether its a cell or a grave. its a place for you. love you and my hood is your hood and your hood is my hood and i got you brother and sista! king kofa out! and remember we are all a prisoner of our decisions! love you!

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

what's good my peoples? I'm hoping and praying that all is well wit u and the family. i don't have many tru links so i decided to send you something that i read from my guy in here who has changed his life too and he supports all positive movements. he is from Chicago and is a former gang member also. here is what he wrote on his page and i hope u enjoy it. he gave me two things but i only have enough links to send one. I'm praying all is well wit you and your loved ones. I'm going to send something tom. its been on my mind lately so i figured ill write it now because of the savior's day get together i just left from earlier in the chapel and it sparked something in my head. but for now here is something from a good brother named Jay.

in order to be a standout, one must be unique, upright and consistent. he/she must achieve their goals, think differently and inspire others as they do so. his success draws others to mimic his actions and thoughts. he understand his powers and tries to motivate results from his admirers. virtue which is a particularly efficacious, good, beneficial quaintly is always at the forefront of the standout's mind and heart. he wants to achieve bigger and better things then he/she has ever have. and pull his family and friends with him if they are ready. a standout is just a winner in all ways spiritually, and whatever his/her minds sets after. he's a visionary that want's all to learn to see their own visions through foresight and moral faith. on the other side a standout can be a bad man or woman that goes out of their way to destroy. they thrive off the destruction of their enemies and also their friends if their in the way. they are negative in their thoughts and actions and believe all is the blame for suffering and therefore all should share in their suffering. they cant really see their shortcomings because they love to out your short comings revenge and chaos is at the forefront of their hearts and minds. jealously, evil and lack of confidence is the fuel in their vessel of hate. doubt, fear and not believing in their dreams makes them resent your dreams. they don't have any true beliefs or philosophies, so they mock yours. they always thinks of complaints and are allergic to solutions.

(he gave this to me about two weeks ago and since money was a little funny i had to wait. but i told him i wanted to post it because if you have someone in your life who isn't willing to grow with u and make you better than what u were then you should leave they person at the waste side because the energy is going to drain you. so i wish you and yours the best and tomorrow god willing ill be able to drop something for. and also with the blessings of god ill have at least two of my books for y'all to get. this week. ok. love you and praying that your struggle stops and your smile begins. word! king sankofa in the belly of a hungry lion!)

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

A Letter to my 20 Year Old Son

before i write this i want everyone who is reading this to know this is a letter for all sons. i want you to be able to talk to your son. i received a letter from my son the other day and it through me for a loop. I'm going to write him personally but i felt now what all parents feel when they are worried about their kids out in the them streets and don't see their future pass a four corner block or friends who won't help him grow into something that is meant to live not die. so, i write this with a heavy heart and a smirk on how life has a very weird sense of humor but if you can find the humor in it then all is well. so, let me talk to my son and with the blessings that it may help you talk to yours. truly yours Sankofa from the belly of a hungry lion.......i just wish i had one day to bring the ones back who want to help and tell their stories.........

Dear Son,

what's up young man? how are you? I'm hoping and praying that you're good over there in your own form of hell. you know i miss you and its crazy how we have come this far but yet have stood still. now, as for myself I'm ok and just taking it one day at a time and letting God do what he does. you know I'm not to religious but i know he exists. anyway, your letter was met with love and happiness to finally hear from you. its been a minute but your my blood so we will make it back to each other. now, the part about your letter where you still have feelings of wanting to be what landed you, me, your uncles, cousins and grandmothers and grandaunts into a small piece of hell. so, let me try and tell you a story because i remember you asking me why do guys who lived in those streets for so long and then when they get older they try and say they are done with living in those streets and i tried to explain to you as best i could because you seem to think if I'm talking to you its preaching and i never looked at it like that when i was your age. i looked it like it was teachings because its about something that i don't know. let me give you a little history on your father that you may not know. now, remember i told you that i was down Jamesburg 20 years before you got there. and let me tell you that when i was down there i was trying to chill because i had 3 1/2 years to do and guys down there only had like a year. anyway, one day a dude from Newark got into it for stealing a Atlantic City's guy's walkman and (you know in prison stealing is a no-no but we were all young and didn't look at it like that). so, anyway, the guy who got his walkman stolen didn't want to fight. so, two other guys from A.C. and Newark ended up getting into it. and i had to hold down the guy who started something and didn't have anything to do with it because stealing amongst men is a no no because your doing something and hiding your hand. anyway. with that riot i was sent to epison. from epison i get shipped out before i even hit the yard because of my age and the guys from the Newark having beef with the c/o's. i was shipped to Yardville corr. facility. where your at now. i was 17 years old.(Go to Blog to read rest. Altariq sankofa speaks gumbs.tumblr.com) I had no idea what my life would be once i got back on the streets because i didn't use my time wisely. i was fighting and taking my stress out on everyone instead of trying to get my head together. i ended up doing 2 1/2 years on a 3 1/2 year sentence and it all started from trying to back a thief. i got home and family was still crazy. took back to the streets. you was born a year later and i was in prison when you was born. i made it home on bail three weeks after you was born. i got to hold you in my arms for month and then i went back to the streets because i refused to be begging anyone for anything. four months later i was back in jail facing life in prison for crimes i didn't even do. i was told by a prosecutor investigator that since i refused to co-operate that i was going to spend my life in jail and MY SON WOULD GROW UP AND BE LIKE SPIT AND PEOPLE WILL WALK RIGHT OVER HIM. i never forgot her words that day in the room. i still stood on my principles but it bothered me that if i didn't find my way back from this darkness that her words will manifest itself into reality. so after being blessed by god i was sent home in 01. where now I'm not only a man who has made it back on the streets, i have no knowledge of what to do because i spent all my time fighting the cases or gang banging and trying to teach people about gangs. i came home and i swear to you i wanted to leave the streets alone. but not knowing anything and the pressure of being Killa Reek the man with a new hood i went back to the streets. i got to spend probably two months with you. i was locked back up three and half months later for trying to be loyal to my friends and the code and raising A GANG BEFORE RAISING YOU. i still ended up taking 10 years and having to go and do the time. i became so angry i couldn't see straight. i have been bounced all over this country for trying to be loyal to a code and people who don't care about me. you think those streets care about you? through all those time i couldn't pay someone to come to my aid and bail me out. friends stood tall at the beginning and then they fell off. I ended up catching another sentence while doing that time and had to find out 2 minutes before i was to walk out of the door to hold you in my arms. you was there you remember the pain you had when i didn't walk out of that door? it was all because of my actions but my so-called friends left me and told on me. and now i have now been locked up for 16 and half years and i can count on one hand how many people i can depend on. i have to endure dealing with the women who come in my life thinking that I'm lying because those before me have lied too them about what they are going to do when they get home. Picture trying to convince someone that your telling them the truth and they taking your word on blind faith but everything you say has that second guess. a man should never have his word questioned. because he stands on what he says out of his mouth. But how could you when your actions keep taking you away from them for so long? how do you judge them for wanting to live their lives which means you go on the back burner. its pain like no other. i have to endure that i don't know my old friends and barely know the new ones. i have to watch every one with a keen eye and make sure their hearts are pure. you want to live like this? i haven't seen your grandmother in over five years. i haven't seen my sisters in over five years. i have lost three brothers, two grandmothers and cuzzins and wasn't able to go to any of the funerals. and you think that even at the age of 20 you can tell me that you know what's ahead if you decide to continue to walk down this road? because at the age of 20 i didn't know nor did i care. and look what that mind set has gotten me? you think me being soft because i would rather choose peace over looking over my shoulder because i beat a guy up in the county twenty years ago? you think i want to not trust my old friends and afraid of my new ones? you think i don't want to lay up next to a woman and make love to her and be her protector? you think that i want to live in these cold cells where every warden takes even the smallest things you have and the c/o's treat you like your their child when you have over ten years over them in age? they don't want you having a lot of photos of your family! they don't want you to kiss your chick unless they look in her mouth first, you think that's cool? you think that the men who have been killed for their hood or for a person who soon as the dirt was on their casket they are forgotten about because life goes on. you think a man is soft because he wants to raise his kids and be something more than a number? you want to look up and see that the only stamps on your passport is because you flew from one state to the next in handcuffs? you want to know how it feels to want to love a woman but think that she will be gone in six months because doing time hurts all that are involved? my son, i will always love you and want the best for you even if you don't want it. all my life have been about being loyal and holding my love ones down to the best of my ability and they still cross me. family members are far and between. i don't have not one blood relative family member on my email. so is this something that you are inspiring to be? you want to live your life like this because you think its cool? they want to say i have changed and some may say soft because I'm choosing to put my life first and not the things that are taking my life. its what a man does. and any man will tell you this. we are dying out there and before i was apart of that destruction but i swear to you if i knew better i would have done better because my heart was never meant to be cold. you have listened to all the stories that are meant to make it sound cool. and for that I'm sorry because i was suppose to be there and raise my boy. it breaks my heart to hear that you are still locked up. a man job is to raise his son into the man that he should be. its not to force his life onto him. my job is to let you know what those traps are and make sure you stay firm on that road and never fold. and i have failed in that and I'm sorry as your father. not as a ex-gang leader. it has come home to roost and there is nothing i can do unless you choose to want to live. choose to want to be more than those streets. choose to listen to not the preaching but to the lessons. because that is what life is: LESSONS. every day you suppose to want to be better than yesterday. i want you to know i love you lil man. and i take the blame for the beginning of my lack of being a man. for not being there when you needed me. I'm so sorry for letting you down when your birthdays came i wasn't there. when you wanted to know about woman. when you wanted to know about friends. when you wanted to know how to deal with a bully. when you wanted a hug because you knew your pops was there. I'm truly so sorry for any of my part in the hurt that you felt and is feeling now. and i don't want you in here. i don't want to bury my son. i don't want to worry about what happens to you because you have taken a risk factor up from 50% to 75% because you have put yourself in situations that will bring you harm. What young men your age don't realize that everyday that you spend in here is the equivalent of two months on the streets. your life is on hold. and if your dead then that's entirely different story. its a form a of hell that ya'll don't see because you only see your age and that you can do five years three times and still be young! my boy i love you and i know your a young man and is still trying to figure out what is it you want to do with your life but trust this shouldn't be one of the options. use me as a example of what NOT to do. i haven't been with a woman for 16 and half years. i haven't gotten to walk to the store. i haven't been able to play video games. i haven't been able to eat what i want. i haven't been able to hug my mother without being told to let her go after a minute. i haven't been able to have more kids because i made choices i must pay for. so anyone out there let your kids read this if they think doing things that are illegal. if they think being in prison or coming to prison let them read this long message/lesson. to my son i love you and a gang member isn't something i wanted for you or for anyone kids. its why i wrote that book and i fight for the youth. that is the stories you should have been told about how i made sure ibn on the land made sure all the young brothers and sistas under 18 go to school and class. you should have been told about me protecting the kids in the neighborhood. you should have been told about me respecting everyone who i came across. and tried my best not to be violent at every turn. i want to see you live and trust me this is nothing but another form of death. its just a slower death. so my son take this as a lesson and not as me preaching. don't be like the old me be like the me who always came and got you when you was little. the one who didn't disrespect or hit your mother. be the writer i know you want to be. i love you so much my young son. who is now wanting to be called a gangsta by his father.:( thank all of you for reading this and I'm hoping this helps for you to pass to your kids and show them what can happen if they want to be like Killa Reek. peace to you and yours:) there is nothing with wanting to live to see your family grow old and become more than what it was. its apart of life. this isn't what life should be like. thank you King Sankofa... A letter to my Prince Sankofa with tears in my eyes!!!!

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

song: Patience by: Damien Marley & Nas

Title: It took a Knife to.... By: Al-Tariq Sankofa Place: Inside the belly of a hungry lion!!!! being held: P.O.Box. box 33, USP-Terre Haute, Terre haute, in 47808 (my new plantation)

what's up family, friends and foes. i want to thank you for taking out the time to read what i have to say because it is greatly appreciated and i won't take advantage of it. now i named this one "It took a knife" because i don't if any of you know i was stabbed last year. I'm ok but as I'm going to explain in this written word that is coming off the top of my head because that's how i write so bare with me. it took me a minute to figure out what i wanted to write. the song: Patience is one of my favorite songs and every time i listen to it it makes me think about a few things in life concerning a lot of things. anyway, here is what is on my mind.

it took a knife for me to realize that homies isn't your homies. it took a knife for me to realize my life is worth something more than a gang death. it took a knife for me to realize that i don't ever want another person to go through this life style. it took a knife for me to watch my so-called homies show me their true intentions. it took a knife for me to realize that i was making a mistake that could cost me my life. it took a knife for me to put my son and family first. it took a knife for me to wake up and see the reality of my life and where it was headed if i stayed sleep. it took a knife for me to sit my a** down. it took a knife for me to be like ok this life is over for me. it took a knife for me to realize that being real isn't what fake people want. it took a knife for me to realize that its about my son and making sure he has a father he can be proud of. it took a knife for me to see my life flash before my eyes. it took a knife for GOD's voice to finally get through.(The rest will be on my blog:Altariq Sankofa Speaks Gumbs.tumblr.com) it took a knife for me to realize i have changed. it took a knife for me to want to fight for my life above any and all things. it took a knife for me to love life. it took a knife for me to realize this world needs more real ones and i want to live because I'm one of them. it took a knife for me to want to make love to a woman again. it took a knife for me to wish to see my kids again. it took a knife for me to realize that people who say they love you will show it and the ones who don't will show it also. it took a knife for me to realize that everybody has something to live for. it took a knife for me to want to write these words to you being honest. it took a knife for me to beg all the kids to leave the streets alone. it took a knife for me to reach across the line and ask the Bloods and Crips to want to live for their families and be something that the flag can be proud of. it took a knife for me to realize that things aren't the same. it took a knife for me to realize you can't trust people. it took a knife for me to realize that life is worth living. it took a knife for me to fight for what's right and leave the wrong behind. it took a knife for me to really pursue my passion of writing and push the nonsense to the side. it took a knife for me to pray to God and tell him thank you for loving me enough to give me another chance to do what he has planned for me. it took a knife for me to say I'm done 1000% with gang banging and representing a life style that is destined to get me killed. it took a knife for me to love the meaning of a true Blood. it took a knife for me to understand why a true Crip is my brother and not my enemy. it took a knife for me to choose life over death. it took a knife to make me give a f***! With that i choose life over death. peace over war. love over hate. these are the words of a man who has changed from a gangster to a gentleman. i am humbled in my retirement from that life style. i did what i can to make sure all things stayed real. when i was fighting the guy with out a knife and my so-called brothers stood there and watched with out doing anything it woke me up. yeah i fought him with out a knife and didn't run but the point is it woke me up. i got stabbed once. i won the fight but lost the battle. because i got hit once and with that one hit it was two inches from my juggler. it could have killed me. i have been in all types of things and it was at a time i was with the nonsense but i was always ready. this time i wasn't and the guys around me was and didn't do anything to help me. so that was it for me. I'm hoping the kids reading this understand that just because a person sits and eats with you everyday and your suppose to be his homie, brother, cuzin whatever. don't mean he has good intentions for you. if it can happen to me what do you think will happen to you? so it was a wake up call for me. and I'm using it to help. so thank you and i pray this story opens some eyes to the reality that things have changed and to die for a person who truly don't care about your life is something your family can never get back. if her or she care about your life they wouldn't do something to put it in jeopardy. period. words from King Sankofa. Peace to all of you!

[sankofaspeaks-blog]

MY TRUTH IS MY FREEDOM

PLACE: A cage with the walls closing in.

SONG: Soulja’s Story- 2Pac (RIP)

TIME: Is running out!

Peace my family, friends and foes. I hope this finds you in the best of health mentally, physically and spiritually. May your haters be angered at your good health, good fortune and the smile on your face.

I truly feel LIVE FROM LOCKDOWN right now. I want to catch y’all up on what’s been going on with your brother, comrade, general, friend, big homie, big brother, and, to the few, your enemy. I’m currently writing this post by hand on notebook paper because I’m locked down. I spent my 39th birthday in here. But for every curse there’s a blessing to come. I can truly say my blessing came three fold. 1) I finally got control of the pain that was in my head and heart over all the hurt I’ve dealt with over the past 18 months. 2) I’m being removed from this plantation and will have the chance to start over. 3) I finally put God in control of my life. Since I can remember God has watched over me. I still don’t put myself in a box by labeling my beliefs.

These last 18 months I’ve been so angry to the point I was blinded and could not see the blessing that was right in my face. See, since I been in this hole I couldn’t pinpoint what I was going to write about. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks: Write about my truth and that will always be my freedom. My anger over the lack of respect, loyalty and love from my homies, family members, and supposed friends pushed me beyond the limits of my endurance. My behavior may have caused me to lose someone who has shown me that love can over-ride pain.

I have to keep reminding myself that I am human. The expectation to be great is overwhelming. The expectation to be bigger than my past is overwhelming. The expectation to live up to the hype is overwhelming. They tell me how can you do this when you’re that? How can you love this person when you’re that person? How can you note be a Christian but you have a Muslim name?

I’m accused of things by liars and weak people, and do not fight back because that would be to stoop to their level. It’s madness how a liar or snake can call you a liar and a snake! I never profess to be perfect but I do stand on anything I do or say. I hate snakes and detest a liar. I watch the cobra and black mamba snakes running for president and wonder, how can I be judged?

This world treats everything it encounters with the indifference of trying to hug a homeless person.

I have made my peace with God and let man figure out their own peace.

As a man, I can now admit my fears.

I fear not being able to hug my mother as a free man.

I fear not seeing my son become great.

I fear being killed by those who are supposed to love me.

I fear not truly receiving the loyalty and love my family has in its soul. But because of past conditions the love and loyalty is watered down.

I fear my success and the hate it will bring from friends and foes alike.

I fear my good heart is going to be the death of me.

I fear that knowing I can’t please everybody, I’ll drive myself crazy trying.

I fear the one thing that is out of my control- death!

I fear losing my respect.

I fear with every two steps forward I’ll be knocked back three.

I fear if I speak out on the injustice that is happening with my people, I’ll be assassinated or ostracized by the same people I’m fighting to help free.

I fear my past will always hinder my future.

I fear losing the blessings of true love.

With these, and probably a few more, I look in the mirror and face my fears head on. Put the shit on my shoulders, roll my sleeves up, put my black gloves on, lace up my steel-toe boots, and press the damn gas!

Life is problem, however living life is the solution.

I will smile at every hurdle. I will laugh at every opportunity. I will celebrate life at every death. I will fight every battle and do my best to win every war. I will honor my loved ones and respect my foes. I will love every hater. I will wipe every tear. I will do my Dougie at every dance and brush every piece of dirt off my shoulder. I will put my ten toes firmly in the dirt and stick that famous finger in the air.  I will teach the youth and pray for the ignorant. I will give my life for love, honor and respect and pray to God for the ones who don’t or won’t. I will mourn those before me and live til I join them.

My people, demand and fight for your freedom. If it’s not worth dying for, don’t cry when it is taken from you.

Your vote counts, but you’re not making it count. I would give my vote to Hillary because she is the snake I have a cure for.

I send my blessings your way and please send some my way.

Time is running out, so push pass the fears and live your life.

A day of happiness kills five days of sadness.

This is my truth which gives my freedom!

Your brother in the struggle,

Al-Tariq “Sankofa” Gumbs

P.S. – Will post new address upon arrival at next plantation

RIP Herman D. Gumbs (10/15/80-9/11/05) Love you lil bro!