Prized Posessions: My Public Enemy LPs

I've decided to list my Public Enemy LPs on ebay. These are two very collectible albums that are in perfect condition. I used to carry these over to my friend Jon's house over on 37th and Lisbon and we'd rock that sht back in the day. The day was 1987/1988. I was the only person I knew who owned a copy of the 12 inch single called "You're Gonna Get Yours", which predated the uber platinum "It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back".

Back then, it was about having a good time and block parties....rap was just starting to get traction and was pre-mainstream. Who could rap best, who could dance best, who had some really funky moves...what high school you went to, and who had the Lincoln. It was fun times in the Black community. It wasn't about thuggery, black grandmas would pat my hands when I came by to visit my friends, it was ok for me to be at block parties with my records and my sista body, as I was told. Not everyone was ok with me but that's the way it was. I was just happy to be there and see living and expression as I had never seen it. I was in it, living it, part of it as much as I could be.

I miss those days sometimes, a lot. Gangs weren't a big thing, shootings were rare and tragic, and you weren't allowed to "act a fool", and mob beatings were unheard of and unthought of. Fire hydrants would be open some days... everyone would just kind of be together. It was good. The kids today are missing out on that goodness.

That's what these two records have evoked from me over the past day - my formative teen years spent with the black community. My high school years. I lucked out. I got to take part in something that no longer exists. It was not easy for me and I wasn't always ok, but I leaned into it and I think it made me a better person in a very unique way.