Tryna Find Peace of Mind

Inspired by Tupac’s So Many Tears and Joy DeGruy’s Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, this piece centers a Black boy growing up in a warzone— Compton in the 2000s. It explores how systemic trauma, historical oppression, and emotional repression contribute to gang life as both a coping mechanism and an act of survival. I portray him standing strong but wounded, embodying the complexity of victimhood and participation in a violent cycle. Rather than glorify, I aim to humanize—to show that even those still trapped in these environments deserve empathy. His story matters. Survival is resistance, and like our ancestors, he fights daily for a peace he may never fully reach.