This fact had us thinking about a time when we settled our disputes by putting up our “dukes” and having a good, old- fashioned, fistfight?  We by no means condone violence, but sometimes- especially in urban neighborhoods- you just gotta fight.

Before the “Boyz in the Hood”/ “Menace II Society” era, it was all about fighting. A few words were exchanged and a crowd formed, but no one really wanted to fight. We would go through our typical act of toughness by saying, “Say it again. You say it again,” “Step over this line,” “Don’t put your hand in my face,” and really front like we wanted to fight when someone attempted to break up the argument.

This act of street bravado would go on forever if not for the Hood’s version of Don King, the instigator. This dude took matters into his own hands and personally ensured that the crowd would see a fight. Two of his favorite tricks were repeating an insult that may or may have not been said (“He said something about yo mama. What you gone do?”), and pushing someone into the other to get things started. From there, a few punches were thrown, girls tore off each others clothes and pulled out handfuls of hair, everyone got tangled in headlocks, and then it was over in no more than a few minutes. Afterwards, everyone went back to playing basketball, jumping rope, or whatever they were doing.

We can even make a compelling argument that a little tussle here and there was good for building character and thickening the skin. Regardless, back in the day, we would leave a fight with a few bumps and bruises, and an injured ego, but we lived to laugh about our senseless fights.

Please put down the guns people.

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