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1098 | 0en
| After 20th Avenue, you hit the Yookské River. And on the far side of that, across the Roosevelt Street Bridge was East Bank. The newest, nicest part of the hood. East Bank was where the government had gone in, cleared out the squatters and their shacks and started to build actual homes. It was still low-income housing, but decent two-bedroom houses with tiny yards. The families who lived there had a bit of money and usually sent their kids out of the hood to better school. | After twenty th Avenue, you hit the Yookské River. And on the far side of that, across the Roosevelt Street Bridge was East Bank. The newest, nicest part of the hood. East Bank was where the government had gone in, cleared out the squatters and their shacks and started to build actual homes. It was still low income housing, but decent two bedroom houses with tiny yards. The families who lived there had a bit of money and usually sent their kids out of the hood to better school. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1099 | 0en
| I graduated from high school when I was 17 and by that point life at home had become toxic because of my stepfather. I didn't want to be there anymore and my mom agreed that I should move out. She helped me move to a cheap, roach-infested flat in a building down the road. My plan, insofar as I had one, was to go to university to be a computer programmer. But we couldn't afford the tuition. I needed to make money. The only way I knew how to make money was selling pirated CDs. | I graduated from high school when I was seventeen and by that point life at home had become toxic because of my stepfather. I didn't want to be there anymore and my mom agreed that I should move out. She helped me move to a cheap, roach infested flat in a building down the road. My plan, insofar as I had one, was to go to university to be a computer programmer. But we couldn't afford the tuition. I needed to make money. The only way I knew how to make money was selling pirated CDs. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
11 | 0en
| Perhaps the starkest of those divisions was between South Africa's two dominant tribes, the Zulu and the Tosa. | Perhaps the starkest of those divisions was between South Africa's two dominant tribes, the Zulu and the Tosa. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
110 | 0en
| In America, you had the forced removal of the native onto reservations, coupled with slavery, followed by segregation. | In America, you had the forced removal of the native onto reservations, coupled with slavery, followed by segregation. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1101 | 0en
| For us, the ultimate upgrade was to throw on a slice of cheese. Cheese was always the thing because it was so expensive. Forget the gold standard. The hood operated on the cheese standard. Cheese on anything was money. If you got a burger, that was cool. But if you got a cheeseburger, that meant you had more money than a guy who just got a hamburger. Cheese on a sandwich. Cheese in your fridge. That meant you were living | For us, the ultimate upgrade was to throw on a slice of cheese. Cheese was always the thing because it was so expensive. Forget the gold standard. The hood operated on the cheese standard. Cheese on anything was money. If you got a burger, that was cool. But if you got a cheeseburger, that meant you had more money than a guy who just got a hamburger. Cheese on a sandwich. Cheese in your fridge. That meant you were living. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1102 | 0en
| In any township in South Africa, if you had a bit of money, people would say, oh, you're a cheese boy. In essence, you're not really hood because your family has enough money to buy cheese. | In any township in South Africa, if you had a bit of money, people would say, oh, you're a cheese boy. In essence, you're not really hood because your family has enough money to buy cheese. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1103 | 0en
| In Alex, because Bongani and his crew lived in East Bank, they were considered cheese boys. Ironically, because they lived on the first street just over the river, they were looked down on as the scruff of East Bank, and the kids in the nicer houses higher up in East Bank were the cheesier cheese boys. Bongani and his crew would never admit to being cheese boys. They would insist, we're not cheese, we're hood. But then the real hood guys would say, hey, you're not hood. | In Alex, because Bongani and his crew lived in East Bank, they were considered cheese boys. Ironically, because they lived on the first street just over the river, they were looked down on as the scruff of East Bank, and the kids in the nicer houses higher up in East Bank were the cheesier cheese boys. Bongani and his crew would never admit to being cheese boys. They would insist, we're not cheese, we're hood. But then the real hood guys would say, hey, you're not hood. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1104 | 0en
| Cheese boys were in a uniquely fucked situation when apartheid ended. It is one thing to be born in the hood and know that you will never leave the hood. But the cheese boy has been shown the world outside. His family has done okay. They have a house. They've sent him to a decent school. Maybe he's even matriculated. He has been given more potential, but he has not been given more opportunity. He has been given an awareness of the world that is out there, but he has not been given the means | Cheese boys were in a uniquely fucked situation when apartheid ended. It is one thing to be born in the hood and know that you will never leave the hood. But the cheese boy has been shown the world outside. His family has done okay. They have a house. They've sent him to a decent school. Maybe he's even matriculated. He has been given more potential, but he has not been given more opportunity. He has been given an awareness of the world that is out there, but he has not been given the means. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1106 | 0en
| The unemployment rate for young black men post-apartheid shot up, sometimes as high as 50%. What happens to a lot of guys is they finish high school and they can't afford university. And even little retail jobs can be hard to come by when you're from the hood and you look and talk a certain way. So, for many young men in South African townships, freedom looks like this. Every morning they wake up. Maybe their parents go to work or maybe not. | The unemployment rate for young black men post apartheid shot up, sometimes as high as fifty percent . What happens to a lot of guys is they finish high school and they can't afford university. And even little retail jobs can be hard to come by when you're from the hood and you look and talk a certain way. So, for many young men in South African townships, freedom looks like this. Every morning they wake up. Maybe their parents go to work or maybe not. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1107 | 0en
| One of the first things I learned in the hood is that there's a very fine line between civilian and criminal. We like to believe we live in a world of good guys and bad guys. And in the suburbs it's easy to believe that, because getting to know a career criminal in the suburbs is a difficult thing. But then you go to the hood and you see there are so many shades in between. | One of the first things I learned in the hood is that there's a very fine line between civilian and criminal. We like to believe we live in a world of good guys and bad guys. And in the suburbs it's easy to believe that, because getting to know a career criminal in the suburbs is a difficult thing. But then you go to the hood and you see there are so many shades in between. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1108 | 0en
| In the hood, gangsters were your friends and neighbours. You knew them. You talked to them on the corner, saw them at parties. They were a part of your world. You knew them from before they became gangsters. It wasn't, hey, that's a crack dealer. It was, oh, little Jimmy selling crack now. The weird thing about these gangsters was that they were all, at a glance, identical. They drove the same red sports car. They dated the same | In the hood, gangsters were your friends and neighbours. You knew them. You talked to them on the corner, saw them at parties. They were a part of your world. You knew them from before they became gangsters. It wasn't, hey, that's a crack dealer. It was, oh, little Jimmy selling crack now. The weird thing about these gangsters was that they were all, at a glance, identical. They drove the same red sports car. They dated the same. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1109 | 0en
| In the hood, even if you're not a hardcore criminal, crime is in your life in some way or another. There are degrees of it. It's everyone from the mom buying some food that fell off the back of a truck to feed her family, all the way up to the gangs selling military-grade weapons and hardware. The hood made me realize that crime succeeds because crime does the one thing the government doesn't do. Crime cares. Crime is grassroots. Crime looks for the young kids who need support and a lifting hand. | In the hood, even if you're not a hardcore criminal, crime is in your life in some way or another. There are degrees of it. It's everyone from the mom buying some food that fell off the back of a truck to feed her family, all the way up to the gangs selling military grade weapons and hardware. The hood made me realize that crime succeeds because crime does the one thing the government doesn't do. Crime cares. Crime is grassroots. Crime looks for the young kids who need support and a lifting hand. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1110 | 0en
| Crime offers internship programs and summer jobs and opportunities for advancement. Crime gets involved in the community. Crime doesn't discriminate. | Crime offers internship programs and summer jobs and opportunities for advancement. Crime gets involved in the community. Crime doesn't discriminate. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1111 | 0en
| My life of crime started off small, selling pirated CDs on the corner. That in itself was a crime. And today I feel like I owe all these artists money for stealing their music. But by hood standards, it didn't even qualify as illegal. At the time, it never occurred to any of us that we were doing anything wrong. If copying CDs is wrong, why would they make CD writers? | My life of crime started off small, selling pirated CDs on the corner. That in itself was a crime. And today I feel like I owe all these artists money for stealing their music. But by hood standards, it didn't even qualify as illegal. At the time, it never occurred to any of us that we were doing anything wrong. If copying CDs is wrong, why would they make CD writers?. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1112 | 0en
| The garage of Bongani's house opened up onto Springbok Crescent. Every morning, we'd open up the doors, run an extension cord out into the street, set up a table and play music. People would walk by and ask, what's that? Can I get one, please? Our corner was also where a lot of minibus drivers ended their routes and turned around to loop back to the minibus rank. They'd swing by, place an order, come back, pick it up, swing by, place an order, | The garage of Bongani's house opened up onto Springbok Crescent. Every morning, we'd open up the doors, run an extension cord out into the street, set up a table and play music. People would walk by and ask, what's that? Can I get one, please? Our corner was also where a lot of minibus drivers ended their routes and turned around to loop back to the minibus rank. They'd swing by, place an order, come back, pick it up, swing by, place an order,. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1113 | 0en
| We spent our whole day running out to them, going back to the garage to make more mixes and going back out to sell. There was a converted shipping container around the corner where we'd hang out when we got tired of the wall. It had a payphone installed inside that we'd use to call people. | We spent our whole day running out to them, going back to the garage to make more mixes and going back out to sell. There was a converted shipping container around the corner where we'd hang out when we got tired of the wall. It had a payphone installed inside that we'd use to call people. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1115 | 0en
| Selling slowly evolved into hustling because Bongani saw all the angles and knew how to exploit them. Like Tom, Bongani was a hustler. But where Tom was only about the short con, Bongani had schemes. If we do this, we get that. Then we can flip that for the other thing, which gives us the leverage we need to get something bigger. | Selling slowly evolved into hustling because Bongani saw all the angles and knew how to exploit them. Like Tom, Bongani was a hustler. But where Tom was only about the short con, Bongani had schemes. If we do this, we get that. Then we can flip that for the other thing, which gives us the leverage we need to get something bigger. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1116 | 0en
| Some minibus drivers couldn't pay up front, for example. I don't have the money because I've just started my shift, they'd say. But I need new music. Can I owe you guys some form of credit? I'll owe you a ride. I'll pay you at the end of my shift. At the end of the week. So we started letting drivers buy on credit. Charging them a bit of interest. | Some minibus drivers couldn't pay up front, for example. I don't have the money because I've just started my shift, they'd say. But I need new music. Can I owe you guys some form of credit? I'll owe you a ride. I'll pay you at the end of my shift. At the end of the week. So we started letting drivers buy on credit. Charging them a bit of interest. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1117 | 0en
| We started making more money. Never more than a few hundred, maybe a thousand rand at a time. But it was all cash on hand. | We started making more money. Never more than a few hundred, maybe a thousand rand at a time. But it was all cash on hand. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1118 | 0en
| Bongani was quick to realize the position we were in. | Bongani was quick to realize the position we were in. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
112 | 0en
| That was apartheid. | That was apartheid. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1120 | 0en
| Cash gave us leverage in the hood's barter economy as well. It's common knowledge that if you're standing at a corner of a main street in the hood, somebody's gonna try to sell you something. Yo, yo, yo, my man. You want some weed? You wanna buy a VCR? You wanna buy a DVD player? Yo, I'm selling a TV. That's just how it works. | Cash gave us leverage in the hood's barter economy as well. It's common knowledge that if you're standing at a corner of a main street in the hood, somebody's gonna try to sell you something. Yo, yo, yo, my man. You want some weed? You wanna buy a VCR? You wanna buy a DVD player? Yo, I'm selling a TV. That's just how it works. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1121 | 0en
| Let's say we see two guys haggling on the corner. A crackhead trying to sell a DVD player and some working dude who wants it but doesn't have the money because he hasn't got his wages yet. They're going back and forth but the crackhead wants the money now. Crackheads don't wait. There's no layaway plan with a crackhead. | Let's say we see two guys haggling on the corner. A crackhead trying to sell a DVD player and some working dude who wants it but doesn't have the money because he hasn't got his wages yet. They're going back and forth but the crackhead wants the money now. Crackheads don't wait. There's no layaway plan with a crackhead. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1122 | 0en
| So Bongani steps in and takes the working guy aside. Look. | So Bongani steps in and takes the working guy aside. Look. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1124 | 0en
| The crackhead protests a bit, but then he takes the money because he's a crackhead and it's cash. And crack is all about the now. Then Bongani goes back to the working guy. All right, we'll do 120. Here's your DVD player, it's yours. But I don't have the 120. It's cool. You can take it now. Only instead of 120, you give us 140 when you get your wages. Okay. | The crackhead protests a bit, but then he takes the money because he's a crackhead and it's cash. And crack is all about the now. Then Bongani goes back to the working guy. All right, we'll do one hundred and twenty . Here's your DVD player, it's yours. But I don't have the one hundred and twenty . It's cool. You can take it now. Only instead of one hundred and twenty , you give us one hundred and forty when you get your wages. Okay. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1125 | 0en
| So, now we've invested 50 rand with the crackhead and that gets us 140 from the working guy. But Bongani would see a way to flip it and grow it again. Let's say this guy who bought the DVD player worked at a shoe store. How much do you pay for a pair of Nikes with your stuff discount? Bongani would ask. I can get a pair of Nikes for 150. Okay, instead of you giving us 140, we'll give you 10 and you get us a pair of Nikes with your discount. | So, now we've invested fifty rand with the crackhead and that gets us one hundred and forty from the working guy. But Bongani would see a way to flip it and grow it again. Let's say this guy who bought the DVD player worked at a shoe store. How much do you pay for a pair of Nikes with your stuff discount? Bongani would ask. I can get a pair of Nikes for one fifty . Okay, instead of you giving us one hundred and forty , we'll give you ten and you get us a pair of Nikes with your discount. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1126 | 0en
| So now, this guy's walking away with a DVD player and 10 rand in his pockets. He's feeling like he got a good deal. He brings us the Nikes and then we go to one of the cheesier cheese boys up in East Bank and we say, yo dude, we know you want the new Jordans. They're 300 in the shops. We'll sell them to you for 200. We sell him the shoes and now we've gone and turned 60 rand into 200. That's the hood. Someone's always buying. | So now, this guy's walking away with a DVD player and ten rand in his pockets. He's feeling like he got a good deal. He brings us the Nikes and then we go to one of the cheesier cheese boys up in East Bank and we say, yo dude, we know you want the new Jordans. They're three hundred in the shops. We'll sell them to you for two hundred . We sell him the shoes and now we've gone and turned sixty rand into two hundred . That's the hood. Someone's always buying. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127.01 | 0en
| At first, I didn't know not to ask. | At first, I didn't know not to ask. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127.03 | 0en
| But who did this belong to? I said. | But who did this belong to? I said. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127.04 | 0en
| Hey, don't worry about it, one of the guys told me. | Hey, don't worry about it, one of the guys told me. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127.05 | 0en
| White people have insurance. | White people have insurance. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127.06 | 0en
| Insurance | Insurance. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127.09 | 0en
| So it's like they've lost nothing. | So it's like they've lost nothing. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127.10 | 0en
| Oh, okay, I said. | Oh, okay, I said. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127.11 | 0en
| Sounds nice. | Sounds nice. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1127 | 0en
| At first, I didn't know not to ask. I remember one time, we bought a car stereo or something like that. But who did this belong to? I said. Hey, don't worry about it. One of the guys told me. White people have insurance. Insurance? Yeah. When white people lose stuff, they have insurance policies that pay them cash for what they've lost. So it's like they've lost nothing. Oh, okay. I said. Sounds nice. | At first, I didn't know not to ask. I remember one time, we bought a car stereo or something like that. But who did this belong to? I said. Hey, don't worry about it. One of the guys told me. White people have insurance. Insurance? Yeah. When white people lose stuff, they have insurance policies that pay them cash for what they've lost. So it's like they've lost nothing. Oh, okay. I said. Sounds nice. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1129 | 0en
| It's easy to be judgmental about crime when you live in a world wealthy enough to be removed from it. But the hood taught me that everyone has different notions of right and wrong. Different definitions of what constitutes crime and what level of crime they're willing to participate in. | It's easy to be judgmental about crime when you live in a world wealthy enough to be removed from it. But the hood taught me that everyone has different notions of right and wrong. Different definitions of what constitutes crime and what level of crime they're willing to participate in. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
113 | 0en
| 2. Born a crime. | two . Born a crime. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1130 | 0en
| If a crackhead comes through and he's got a crate of cornflakes boxes he's stolen out of the back of a supermarket, the poor mom isn't thinking, I'm aiding and abetting a criminal by buying these cornflakes. No, she's thinking, my family needs food and this guy has cornflakes and she buys the cornflakes. | If a crackhead comes through and he's got a crate of cornflakes boxes he's stolen out of the back of a supermarket, the poor mom isn't thinking, I'm aiding and abetting a criminal by buying these cornflakes. No, she's thinking, my family needs food and this guy has cornflakes and she buys the cornflakes. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1131 | 0en
| My own mother, my super religious law-abiding mother, who used to shit on me about breaking the rules and learning to behave. I'll never forget one day I came home and in the kitchen was a giant box of frozen burger patties, like 200 of them, from a takeaway place called Black Steer. A burger at Black Steer cost at least 20 rand. | My own mother, my super religious law abiding mother, who used to shit on me about breaking the rules and learning to behave. I'll never forget one day I came home and in the kitchen was a giant box of frozen burger patties, like two hundred of them, from a takeaway place called Black Steer. A burger at Black Steer cost at least twenty rand. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1133 | 0en
| Every day in the hood was the same. | Every day in the hood was the same. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1134 | 0en
| I'd wake up early. Bongani would meet me at my flat and we'd catch a mini bus to Alex with my computer, carrying the giant tower and the giant heavy monitor the whole way. We'd set it up in Bongani's garage and start the first batch of CDs. Then we'd walk. We'd go down to the corner of 19th and Roosevelt for breakfast. When you're trying to stretch your money, food is where you have to be careful. You have to plan or you'll eat your profits. So every morning for breakfast, | I'd wake up early. Bongani would meet me at my flat and we'd catch a mini bus to Alex with my computer, carrying the giant tower and the giant heavy monitor the whole way. We'd set it up in Bongani's garage and start the first batch of CDs. Then we'd walk. We'd go down to the corner of nineteen th and Roosevelt for breakfast. When you're trying to stretch your money, food is where you have to be careful. You have to plan or you'll eat your profits. So every morning for breakfast,. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1135 | 0en
| Then, we'd just be on the corner, hanging out, meeting characters, seeing who came by, seeing where the day was going to take us. A guy needs this. A guy is selling that. You never knew what it was going to be. | Then, we'd just be on the corner, hanging out, meeting characters, seeing who came by, seeing where the day was going to take us. A guy needs this. A guy is selling that. You never knew what it was going to be. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1136 | 0en
| There was always a big rush of business at lunch. We'd be all over Alexandra, hitting different shops and corners, making deals with everyone. We'd get free rides from the minibus drivers because we'd hop in with them and use it as an opportunity to talk about what music they needed. But secretly, we were riding with the guy for free. | There was always a big rush of business at lunch. We'd be all over Alexandra, hitting different shops and corners, making deals with everyone. We'd get free rides from the minibus drivers because we'd hop in with them and use it as an opportunity to talk about what music they needed. But secretly, we were riding with the guy for free. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1138 | 0en
| After lunch, we'd head back to the garage, relax, sleep off the meal and make more CDs. In the afternoons, we'd see a lot of moms. Moms loved us. They were some of our best customers. Since moms run the household, they're the ones looking to buy that box of soap that fell off the back of the truck. And they were more likely to buy it from us than from some crackhead. Dealing with crackheads is unpleasant. We were upstanding, well-spoken | After lunch, we'd head back to the garage, relax, sleep off the meal and make more CDs. In the afternoons, we'd see a lot of moms. Moms loved us. They were some of our best customers. Since moms run the household, they're the ones looking to buy that box of soap that fell off the back of the truck. And they were more likely to buy it from us than from some crackhead. Dealing with crackheads is unpleasant. We were upstanding, well spoken. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1139 | 0en
| We made some of the craziest trades. Moms in the hood are protective of their daughters, especially if their daughters are pretty. | We made some of the craziest trades. Moms in the hood are protective of their daughters, especially if their daughters are pretty. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
114 | 0en
| I grew up in South Africa during apartheid, which was awkward because I was raised in a mixed family. Well, with me being the mixed one in the family. | I grew up in South Africa during apartheid, which was awkward because I was raised in a mixed family. Well, with me being the mixed one in the family. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1140 | 0en
| In Alex, there were girls who got locked up. | In Alex, there were girls who got locked up. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1142 | 0en
| Then that mom would need a loan. Once we lent her the money, until she paid us back, she couldn't chase us away from her house. We'd go by and hang out, chat, make small talk. The daughter would be right there but the mom wouldn't say, don't talk to these boys. The loan gave us access to establish a relationship with the mom. We'd get invited to stay for dinner. Once the mom knew we were nice, upstanding guys, she'd agreed to let us take her daughter | Then that mom would need a loan. Once we lent her the money, until she paid us back, she couldn't chase us away from her house. We'd go by and hang out, chat, make small talk. The daughter would be right there but the mom wouldn't say, don't talk to these boys. The loan gave us access to establish a relationship with the mom. We'd get invited to stay for dinner. Once the mom knew we were nice, upstanding guys, she'd agreed to let us take her daughter. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1143 | 0en
| We'll bring the girl to your party and you get to hang out with her. How much can you give us? I don't have money, he'd say, but I have some cases of beer. Okay, so tonight we're going to this party. You give us two cases of beer for the party. Cool. | We'll bring the girl to your party and you get to hang out with her. How much can you give us? I don't have money, he'd say, but I have some cases of beer. Okay, so tonight we're going to this party. You give us two cases of beer for the party. Cool. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1144 | 0en
| Then we'd go to the party. We'd invite the girl, who was usually thrilled to escape her mother's prison. The guy would bring the beer. He'd get to hang out with the girl. We'd write off the mom's debt to show her our gratitude, and we'd make our money back selling the beer. There was always a way to make it work. And often, that was the most fun part. Working the angles. Solving the puzzle. Seeing what goes where. Who needs what. Whom we can connect with who can then get us the money. | Then we'd go to the party. We'd invite the girl, who was usually thrilled to escape her mother's prison. The guy would bring the beer. He'd get to hang out with the girl. We'd write off the mom's debt to show her our gratitude, and we'd make our money back selling the beer. There was always a way to make it work. And often, that was the most fun part. Working the angles. Solving the puzzle. Seeing what goes where. Who needs what. Whom we can connect with who can then get us the money. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1145 | 0en
| At the peak of our operation, we probably had around 10,000 rand in capital. We had loans going out and interest coming in. We had our stockpile of Jordans and DVD players we'd bought to resell. We'd also had to buy blank CDs, hire minibuses to go to all our DJ gigs, feed five guys three times a day. We kept track of everything on the computer. Having lived in my mom's world, I knew how to do spreadsheets. | At the peak of our operation, we probably had around ten , zero rand in capital. We had loans going out and interest coming in. We had our stockpile of Jordans and DVD players we'd bought to resell. We'd also had to buy blank CDs, hire minibuses to go to all our DJ gigs, feed five guys three times a day. We kept track of everything on the computer. Having lived in my mom's world, I knew how to do spreadsheets. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.02 | 0en
| Mini bus drivers picking up one last order | Mini bus drivers picking up one last order. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.03 | 0en
| Men coming home from work. | Men coming home from work. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.04 | 0en
| The men weren't looking for soap and cornflakes. | The men weren't looking for soap and cornflakes. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.05 | 0en
| they wanted the gear. | they wanted the gear. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.07 | 0en
| More guys would come through selling stuff too. | More guys would come through selling stuff too. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.08 | 0en
| because they'd been out hustling and stealing all day. | because they'd been out hustling and stealing all day. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.09 | 0en
| There'd be a guy selling a cell phone. | There'd be a guy selling a cell phone. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.10 | 0en
| A guy selling some leather jacket. | A guy selling some leather jacket. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.12 | 0en
| There was this one dude who looked like a black version of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. | There was this one dude who looked like a black version of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.13 | 0en
| He'd always come by at the end of his shift with the most random useless crap. | He'd always come by at the end of his shift with the most random useless crap. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146.14 | 0en
| like an electric toothbrush without the charger. | like an electric toothbrush without the charger. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1146 | 0en
| After work was when business started to pick up. Mini bus drivers picking up one last order. Men coming home from work. The men weren't looking for soap and cornflakes. They wanted the gear. DVD players. CD players. PlayStation games. More guys would come through selling stuff too because they'd been out hustling and stealing all day. There'd be a guy selling a cell phone. A guy selling some leather jackets. A guy selling shoes. There was this one dude who looked like a | After work was when business started to pick up. Mini bus drivers picking up one last order. Men coming home from work. The men weren't looking for soap and cornflakes. They wanted the gear. DVD players. CD players. PlayStation games. More guys would come through selling stuff too because they'd been out hustling and stealing all day. There'd be a guy selling a cell phone. A guy selling some leather jackets. A guy selling shoes. There was this one dude who looked like a. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1148 | 0en
| We never knew where he was getting this stuff from, because you don't ask. Eventually, we pieced it together though. He worked at the airport. It was all the crap he was boosting from people's luggage. | We never knew where he was getting this stuff from, because you don't ask. Eventually, we pieced it together though. He worked at the airport. It was all the crap he was boosting from people's luggage. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1149 | 0en
| Slowly, the rush would start to taper off and we'd wind down. We'd make our last collections, go over our CD stock, balance our accounts. If there was a party to DJ that night, we'd start getting ready for that. Otherwise, we'd buy a few beers and sit around and drink, talk about the day, listen to the gunshots in the distance. Gunshots went off every night and we'd always try to guess what kind of gun it was. That's a 9mm. Usually, there'd be a police | Slowly, the rush would start to taper off and we'd wind down. We'd make our last collections, go over our CD stock, balance our accounts. If there was a party to DJ that night, we'd start getting ready for that. Otherwise, we'd buy a few beers and sit around and drink, talk about the day, listen to the gunshots in the distance. Gunshots went off every night and we'd always try to guess what kind of gun it was. That's a nine mm. Usually, there'd be a police. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
115 | 0en
| My mother, Patricia Nombuis Elornoa, is black. My father Robert is white. Swiss German to be precise, which Swiss Germans invariably are. | My mother, Patricia Nombuis Elornoa, is black. My father Robert is white. Swiss German to be precise, which Swiss Germans invariably are. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1150 | 0en
| A year passed, then two. I had stopped planning for school and was no closer to having the money to enroll. | A year passed, then two. I had stopped planning for school and was no closer to having the money to enroll. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1152 | 0en
| I was out there every day from 7am to 7pm. And every day it was, how do we turn 10 rand into 20? How do we turn 20 into 50? How do I turn 50 into 100? | I was out there every day from seven am to seven pm. And every day it was, how do we turn ten rand into twenty ? How do we turn twenty into fifty ? How do I turn fifty into ten o ?. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1153 | 0en
| At the end of the day, we'd spend it on food and maybe some beers. And then we'd go home and come back and it was, how do we turn 10 into 20? How do we turn 20 into 50? It was a whole day's work to flip that money. You had to be walking, be moving, be thinking. You had to get to a guy, find a guy, meet a guy. There were many days we'd end up back at zero, but I always felt like I'd been very productive. | At the end of the day, we'd spend it on food and maybe some beers. And then we'd go home and come back and it was, how do we turn ten into twenty ? How do we turn twenty into fifty ? It was a whole day's work to flip that money. You had to be walking, be moving, be thinking. You had to get to a guy, find a guy, meet a guy. There were many days we'd end up back at zero, but I always felt like I'd been very productive. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1154 | 0en
| Hustling is to work what surfing the internet is to reading. If you add up how much you read in a year on the internet, tweets, Facebook, posts, lists, you've read the equivalent of a shit ton of books. But in fact, you've read no books in a year. | Hustling is to work what surfing the internet is to reading. If you add up how much you read in a year on the internet, tweets, Facebook, posts, lists, you've read the equivalent of a shit ton of books. But in fact, you've read no books in a year. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1155 | 0en
| When I look back on it, that's what hustling was. It's maximal effort put into minimal gain. It's a hamster wheel. If I put all that energy into studying, I'd have earned an MBA. Instead, I was majoring in hustling, something no university would give me a degree for. | When I look back on it, that's what hustling was. It's maximal effort put into minimal gain. It's a hamster wheel. If I put all that energy into studying, I'd have earned an MBA. Instead, I was majoring in hustling, something no university would give me a degree for. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1157 | 0en
| The hood is also a low stress comfortable life. All your mental energy goes into getting by, so you don't have to ask yourself any of the big questions. Who am I? Who am I supposed to be? Am I doing enough? | The hood is also a low stress comfortable life. All your mental energy goes into getting by, so you don't have to ask yourself any of the big questions. Who am I? Who am I supposed to be? Am I doing enough?. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1158 | 0en
| In the hood, you can be a 45-year-old man living in your mom's house asking people for money, and it's not looked down on. You never feel like a failure in the hood, because someone's always worse off than you. And you don't feel like you need to do more, because the biggest success isn't that much higher than you either. It allows you to exist in a state of suspended animation. | In the hood, you can be a forty five year old man living in your mom's house asking people for money, and it's not looked down on. You never feel like a failure in the hood, because someone's always worse off than you. And you don't feel like you need to do more, because the biggest success isn't that much higher than you either. It allows you to exist in a state of suspended animation. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1159 | 0en
| The hood has a wonderful sense of community to it as well. Everyone knows everyone, from the crackhead all the way through to the policeman. | The hood has a wonderful sense of community to it as well. Everyone knows everyone, from the crackhead all the way through to the policeman. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
116 | 0en
| During apartheid, one of the worst crimes you could commit was having sexual relations with a person of another race. Needless to say, my parents committed that crime. | During apartheid, one of the worst crimes you could commit was having sexual relations with a person of another race. Needless to say, my parents committed that crime. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1161 | 0en
| Then she gives you some money and you go buy milk and bread. As long as you aren't busy and it doesn't cost you anything, you don't say no. | Then she gives you some money and you go buy milk and bread. As long as you aren't busy and it doesn't cost you anything, you don't say no. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1162 | 0en
| The biggest thing in the hood is that you have to share. You can't get rich on your own. | The biggest thing in the hood is that you have to share. You can't get rich on your own. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1163 | 0en
| You have money? Why aren't you helping people? The old lady on the block needs help. Everyone pitches in. You're buying beer? You buy for everyone. You spread it around. Everyone must know that your success benefits the community in one way or another. Or you become a target. | You have money? Why aren't you helping people? The old lady on the block needs help. Everyone pitches in. You're buying beer? You buy for everyone. You spread it around. Everyone must know that your success benefits the community in one way or another. Or you become a target. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1164 | 0en
| The township polices itself as well. If someone is caught stealing, the township deals with them. If someone is caught breaking into a house, the township deals with them. If you're caught raping a woman, pray to God the police find you before the township does. If a woman is being hit, people don't get involved. There are too many questions with a beating. What's the fight about? Who's responsible? Who started it? But rape is rape. | The township polices itself as well. If someone is caught stealing, the township deals with them. If someone is caught breaking into a house, the township deals with them. If you're caught raping a woman, pray to God the police find you before the township does. If a woman is being hit, people don't get involved. There are too many questions with a beating. What's the fight about? Who's responsible? Who started it? But rape is rape. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1166 | 0en
| One morning after a month of G working at the place we were hanging out on the wall and G came out in his slippers and his socks. He wasn't dressed for work. Yo G, what's going on? What's up with the job? | One morning after a month of G working at the place we were hanging out on the wall and G came out in his slippers and his socks. He wasn't dressed for work. Yo G, what's going on? What's up with the job?. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1167 | 0en
| Oh, I don't work there anymore. Why? They accused me of stealing something and I got fired. | Oh, I don't work there anymore. Why? They accused me of stealing something and I got fired. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1168 | 0en
| And I'll never forget thinking to myself that it felt like he did it on purpose. | And I'll never forget thinking to myself that it felt like he did it on purpose. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1169 | 0en
| He sabotaged himself so that he'd get accepted back into the group again. | He sabotaged himself so that he'd get accepted back into the group again. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1170 | 0en
| The hood has a gravitational pull. It never leaves you behind, but it also never lets you leave. Because by making the choice to leave, you're insulting the place that raised you and made you and never turned you away. And that place fights you back. | The hood has a gravitational pull. It never leaves you behind, but it also never lets you leave. Because by making the choice to leave, you're insulting the place that raised you and made you and never turned you away. And that place fights you back. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1171 | 0en
| As soon as things start going well for you in the hood, it's time to go. Because the hood will drag you back in. It will find a way. There'll be a guy who steals a thing and puts it in your car and the cops find it. Something. You can't stay. You think you can. You'll start doing better and you'll bring your hood friends out to a nice club. And the next thing you know, somebody starts a fight and one of your friends pulls a gun and somebody's getting shot. And you're left standing around going, | As soon as things start going well for you in the hood, it's time to go. Because the hood will drag you back in. It will find a way. There'll be a guy who steals a thing and puts it in your car and the cops find it. Something. You can't stay. You think you can. You'll start doing better and you'll bring your hood friends out to a nice club. And the next thing you know, somebody starts a fight and one of your friends pulls a gun and somebody's getting shot. And you're left standing around going,. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1172 | 0en
| The hood happened. | The hood happened. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1173 | 0en
| One night I was DJing a party, not in Alex, but right outside Alex in Lombardi East, a nicer middle class black neighborhood. The police were called about the noise. They came busting in wearing riot gear and pointing machine guns. That's how our police roll. We don't have small and then big. What Americans call SWAT is just our regular police. They came looking for the source of the music and the music was coming from me. This one cop came over to where I was with my computer | One night I was DJing a party, not in Alex, but right outside Alex in Lombardi East, a nicer middle class black neighborhood. The police were called about the noise. They came busting in wearing riot gear and pointing machine guns. That's how our police roll. We don't have small and then big. What Americans call SWAT is just our regular police. They came looking for the source of the music and the music was coming from me. This one cop came over to where I was with my computer. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1175 | 0en
| The tear gas had nothing to do with me or the music. Tear gas is just what the police used to shut down parties in black neighborhoods. Like the club, turning on the lights to tell everyone to go home. | The tear gas had nothing to do with me or the music. Tear gas is just what the police used to shut down parties in black neighborhoods. Like the club, turning on the lights to tell everyone to go home. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1176 | 0en
| I lost the hard drive. | I lost the hard drive. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1177 | 0en
| Even though the cops shot the monitor, the explosion somehow fried the thing. The computer would still boot up, but it couldn't read the drive. My music library was gone. Even if I'd had the money for a new hard drive, it had taken me years to amass the music collection. There was no way to replace it. The DJing business was over. The CD selling business was done. All of a sudden, our crew lost its main revenue stream. All we had left was the | Even though the cops shot the monitor, the explosion somehow fried the thing. The computer would still boot up, but it couldn't read the drive. My music library was gone. Even if I'd had the money for a new hard drive, it had taken me years to amass the music collection. There was no way to replace it. The DJing business was over. The CD selling business was done. All of a sudden, our crew lost its main revenue stream. All we had left was the. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1178 | 0en
| Then one evening after work, our friend from the airport, the black Mr. Burns, came by. Hey, look what I found, he said. What have you got? A camera. | Then one evening after work, our friend from the airport, the black Mr. Burns, came by. Hey, look what I found, he said. What have you got? A camera. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
118 | 0en
| humans being humans and sex being sex, that prohibition never stopped anyone. | humans being humans and sex being sex, that prohibition never stopped anyone. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1180 | 0en
| Yeah, some guy might get fired because of the pallets of cornflakes that went missing from the supermarket. But that's degrees removed. You don't think about it. But this camera had a face. I went through those pictures, knowing how much my family pictures meant to me. And I thought, I haven't stolen a camera. I've stolen someone's memories. I've stolen part of someone's life. | Yeah, some guy might get fired because of the pallets of cornflakes that went missing from the supermarket. But that's degrees removed. You don't think about it. But this camera had a face. I went through those pictures, knowing how much my family pictures meant to me. And I thought, I haven't stolen a camera. I've stolen someone's memories. I've stolen part of someone's life. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1181 | 0en
| It's such a strange thing, but in two years of hustling, I never once thought of it as a crime. I honestly didn't think it was bad. It's just stuff people found. White people have insurance. Whatever rationalization was handy. In society, we do horrible things to one another because we don't see the person it affects. We don't see their face. We don't see them as people. Which was the whole reason the hood was built in the first place. | It's such a strange thing, but in two years of hustling, I never once thought of it as a crime. I honestly didn't think it was bad. It's just stuff people found. White people have insurance. Whatever rationalization was handy. In society, we do horrible things to one another because we don't see the person it affects. We don't see their face. We don't see them as people. Which was the whole reason the hood was built in the first place. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1182 | 0en
| Because if white people ever saw black people as human, they would see that slavery is unconscionable. | Because if white people ever saw black people as human, they would see that slavery is unconscionable. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1184 | 0en
| If we could see one another's pain and empathize with one another, it would never be worth it to us to commit the crimes in the first place. | If we could see one another's pain and empathize with one another, it would never be worth it to us to commit the crimes in the first place. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1185 | 0en
| As much as we needed the money, I never sold the camera. I felt too guilty, like it would be bad karma, which I know sounds stupid and it didn't get the family their camera back, but I just couldn't do it. That camera made me confront the fact that there were people on the other end of this thing I was doing. And what I was doing was wrong. | As much as we needed the money, I never sold the camera. I felt too guilty, like it would be bad karma, which I know sounds stupid and it didn't get the family their camera back, but I just couldn't do it. That camera made me confront the fact that there were people on the other end of this thing I was doing. And what I was doing was wrong. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1186 | 0en
| One night our crew got invited to dance in Soweto against another crew. Hitler was going to compete with their best dancer, Hector, who was one of the best dancers in South Africa at the time. | One night our crew got invited to dance in Soweto against another crew. Hitler was going to compete with their best dancer, Hector, who was one of the best dancers in South Africa at the time. | male | 1 | true | None |
|
1187 | 0en
| This invitation was a huge deal. We were going over there, wrapping our hood. Alex and Soweto have always had a huge rivalry. Soweto was seen as the snobbish township and Alexandra was seen as the gritty and dirty township. Hector was from Diepluwief, which was the nice, well-off part of Soweto. Diepluwief was where the first million-rand houses were built after democracy. Hey, we're not a township anymore. | This invitation was a huge deal. We were going over there, wrapping our hood. Alex and Soweto have always had a huge rivalry. Soweto was seen as the snobbish township and Alexandra was seen as the gritty and dirty township. Hector was from Diepluwief, which was the nice, well off part of Soweto. Diepluwief was where the first million rand houses were built after democracy. Hey, we're not a township anymore. | male | 1 | true | None |
Subsets and Splits