Roger Porter
April 11, 2011
At this very moment that I am writing this blog I am 29 years old. Not that there is anything wrong with that. In fact I am truly blessed to have made it this far when so many people have been lost along the way. In addition to that I've accomplished quite a few things in my life that make me very proud. For the most part, however, I'm still trying to figure everything out. I'm trying to determine how I can impact the world in the most positive way and feed my family at the same time. And on the most basic level I'm still trying to figure out me.
That's why I find it to be so astonishing that someone as great as Fred Hampton was killed at the age of 20. It's hard to believe that he could do so much for his people and rise through the ranks of the Black Panther Party all before he was able to legally have a drink. In a similar vein Assata Shakur was only 25 when she was involved in that infamous shootout with police on the New Jersey turnpike. In only 25 years she managed to become one of Black America's most important revolutionaries. Assata fought everyday for what she believed in and is still struggling for equal rights in Cuba to this very day.
My admiration for these two prophets, as well as countless others, is ineffable. To be so young and to have so much clarity is really rare. At 20 years old I was so lost and at 25 I was just coming out of my youthful stupor. It is only now at the age of 29 that I genuinely feel as though I'm headed in the right direction. Therefore on this day I salute Sista Assata Shakur and Chairman Fred Hampton for being so strong and so wise so early on in their lives, and I thank them because I know they did it for me.