"Keep pushing into the heart of the circle, toward the sound of taut leather pap-papping against bone, toward the odor of violence, and, as often as not, you'll find two men sparring, their fists stuffed into blue or red or black Everlast gloves, T-shirts matted down by hot per spiration, heavy breaths shushed through mouth pieces moving quick and staccato and with tangible tinges of fear as they bob and weave and flick and fake, searching for a taste of another man's blood." "Boxocracy? Fightocracy? Whatever. I can do whatever I want and be whoever I want to be. All fighters live until the day they die. That's not a thing all men can say. But while he's alive, a fighter lives." "No matter what," Toure said, looking directly at me, "I've got to fight, always fight, even in the face of sure defeat, because no one can hurt me as badly as I can." Toure is a man fighting with himself and its evident in his writing. He is constantly talking about fighting but you can tell by reading his story he is fighting with himself. Along with fighting himself he also has to fight against other people. From growing up and dealing with racism and being a grown up and dealing with racism, fighting is what he knows how to do. He may not be good at fighting but he does it anyway. As much as he fights people, he probably fights with himself the most. He didn't grow up in a predominately black area so he had to fight against being made fun of almost everyday. As he grew up he started to associate with white people until his subconscious started eating at him. Then he realized that no matter what anyone did to him, what he can do to himself is far worse.
#Blog#5,#ENG 274 #Response to a memoir, #my thoughts on Toure, #What's inside you, Brother?
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