No, no, no, no.

Boy, you're not going to school in no sneakers.

Believe it or not, there was a time where you couldn't wear sneakers everywhere.

Why? Everybody else wears sneakers.

Because you look raggity.

Plus, you have an assembly today.

Boy, you're gonna lost your mind.

My mother hated raggity.

She always said it's better to be poor and neat than rich and raggity.

I think she said that because we were poor.

Here.

Wear Drew's good shoes.

I hate these shoes.

And everybody will make fun of me at school.

You've only been going there for a week.

You don't know everybody.

I was the only black kid at the school.

They know me.

This is so embarassing.

How come he's wearing my shoes?

Because you only have one pair of feet.

but, Chris, don't fool around after school.

I need you to be here to let Drew and Tonya in, okay?

You won't be here?

No, I gotta work today.

But you know the drill.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.

Daddy's gonna be asleep and don't wake him up 'til 5 o'clock.

That's right.

Chris!

You got your bus pass?

Yeah, um...

- Somewhere around here... - Hmm-hm.

You keep on. You lose this bus pass and your behind is gonna be walking to school.

Oh.

- Here's 2 dollars for lunch. - Thanks.

All right, now be good.

- Bye, mom. - Bye, mommy.

Bye, baby.

Hold your sister's hand.

Now go in the street.

Keisha was the girl next door.

At 13, I didn't know a lot about sex.

But I knew she had something to do with it.

Hey, Drew!

Drew?

What's up, Keisha?

You know her?

Yeah.

Drew was so cool he got girls at 10 that I couldn't get until I was 30.

Listen, when y'all get to the house,

don't ring the bell or knock on the door.

Just wait, okay?

Whatever.

What if I have to go to the bathroom?

Go at school.

That bathroom is so nasty.

Listen...

You wake up daddy, he's gonna punch me square in the face,

and if he does that, I'm gonna punch you in the face

and then he's gonna kill me and wound up in jail.

Now do you want daddy to go to jail?

No.

No?

Alright then.

Even when my mother got mad, she still made my dad's dinner.

...on my mind.

Vegetables, patatoes and its favorite:

a big piece of chicken.

I had to take two buses to school everyday.

Was the junior high school across the street really that bad?

Like rock 'n roll, school shootings were also invented by blacks

and stolen by the white man.

My first bus was the 26.

I read the newspaper every single day.

I learnt more in the way to school than I learnt at school.

My next bus was the 44.

I was the only black person on the bus.

And nobody was sitting next to me.

I mean nobody.

If you think she's mad now, wait 'til her daughter brings home O.J.

My mother thought going to a white school meant I would get a better education

and I would be safer.

Wrong!

That's Joey Caruso.

A little thug with a big chip on his shoulder.

You know I manage to avoid him before I wore these shoes.

Nice shoes, Bojangles.

Bojangles?

That's not what your mother call me when I was tap dancing with her draws last night.

I know you think I'm crazy.

But if I let him get away with that, he'd be doing it all year.

Now I couldn't beat him,

but I thought maybe I could outblack him.

- What? - Did I stutter?

You know who I am?

You step on my shoe again and I'm gonna tell you who I am.

I don't play that.

I'm from Bedstyle, boy.

I bring half a marcy up in here.

I will beat your butt so bad. You're gonna need crutches in your sleep.

Hey, this might work.

You know what else I'm gonna do?

What's your name?

Chris.

I'm Dr. Raymond your new principle.

Now get off my feet.

That's funny?

That's not funny.

What's your name, son?

Caruso.

Fix yourself up next time you come to my school.

See those shoes?

They say something.

They say I'm a student,

I want to learn.

I want more of that.

And less of this.

Don't bump into me again.

Even though Caruso was messing with me,

getting embarrassed made him even madder.

So you know what's coming next...

This isn't over, nigger!

He got away with calling me nigger that day.

The later in life he said it at a DMX concert

and almost got stomped to death.