Ace Capone Sentenced to Life

D-Lock felt compelled to write something about this. Ace Capone, Philly CEO of Take Down Records, just received life with an additional 55 years in prison. According to the article (courtesy of hiphopdx.com), Capone was accused of "trafficking over two tons of powdered cocaine and close to a half-ton of crack in a span of about eight years." After he was sentenced, Capone's alleged response was he “…never thought it would come to this."

I'll be honest with you. I don't even know who Ace Capone is. But his current situation of facing life in prison for alleged drug trafficking did spark some thoughts in my mind. Specifically about the glorification of the drug trade, and really illegal activity in general as it relates to youth. I'm not going to discuss the societal factors and institutionalized mechanisms that led to thinking that selling drugs is cool, however it is important to realize that a lot of people think it is, white kids, black kids and everybody in between. As a former public school teacher in DC Public Schools, in a school 99.2% black, I vividly remember a few of my students being involved in selling drugs or illegal activity (stealing cars etc...) out of a sense of pressure, necessity, or just plain ignorance. I'll never forget the day when one of my students, call him "Magic", try to sell me (his English teacher) a bag of weed. FYI: I didn't accept his offer. But I did have to sit down with Magic, and discuss the tragedy and the severity of what he just did. The fact that he tried to sell me drugs was less relevant, I wanted to know WHY he thought that was okay, and WHY he feels he had to sell drugs in the first place. Once I put my stance on the table, Magic explained to me that to be honest: he was selling crack in 7th Grade, one of his older brothers was incarcerated on gun charges, and he didn't think he was going to see 21. That's some tragic shit to hear from anybody, let alone a 13 year old. Magic felt like selling drugs and illegal activity is what he was supposed to do, not necessarily because of what he looked like, but where he came from. I tried to explain to him that although being from the hood does limit your access to resources, it doesn't in any way, shape or form limit your ability to make intelligent decisions. Selling drugs and partaking in illegal activity is a TRAP. Period. The short-term accolades are initially attractive, but the common denominators are prison and death. That resonated with Magic for a month or so, and then he went back to his old lifestyle, and missed out on 8th grade.

Ace Capone's life sentence just shows how much of a trap that game really is. But it's so attractive to young kids coming up because many, like Magic, feel that there aren't any other options. It's my hope that I'll be around to see the other, legitimate options not only become accessible, but also visible.