Letter to Piri Thomas

Growing up in harlem was'nt easy for piri Thomas. It was a time of racism, it ddin'nt matter

where you from if you are dark skin you are consider black. Piri and his family are Puerto Rican and living

in harlem. Through out his life piri had many problems and struggles but he was strong enough to

survive. Piri was born in 1928. Poverty in the ghetto led him to drugs, youth gangs, and a series of

criminal activities for which he served seven years in prison. All that bad influence and peer pressure

around him his life began of rehabilitation, and prison experience to turn youths away from lives of

crime. Piri also had a lot of adolescent struggles causes his life to spiral into an unbreakable, self-

destructive cycle of drug addiction and violence. Living in a time of racism piri struggles with racial

identity and coming to terms with life as a black American aven though he is really Puerto Rican descent.

He also had a brilliant way with words and his ability to make language come alive.

Piri was a good kid but had a lot of peer-presure around him, He join gangs, did crimes, hang

out a lot at night. He like it night better because he said that harlem in the daytime looks kinda dirty and

the people a little drab and down but at night it's a swinging place especially spanish harlem the lights

transform everything into life and movement and blend the different colors into a magic cover all that

makes the drabness and garbage wailing kids and tired people invisible. As a adolescent piri was selling

drugs and smoking it to. His family did'nt know all that, he told his mother he work at a selling job, to

his mom he was a good kid and piri always act it good and nice around her. He also became homeless at

a time but luckily he find a girl that help him stay over her hause but at the end he end it up stealing

from her . and never going back. It was really hard for him specially in his teen age years, he was very

poor and need it money quickly and by not founding a job his first choice was to sell drugs and hanging

out with his gang. Bieng in a gang was dangerous for him because they had problem with another gang

named TNTs and he could've get killed anytime.

Racism was not only on newyork but the whole country, like many African American living in the

united states during this time piri was treat it different and nnot being seen as a normal human. The

economy was'nt that good at this time and piri need it money. He decided to go to a interview for a

selling job. The person that was interview him was acting like a good person and told piri he would call

him back but