This is the fourth and final installment in our series of posts from our exclusive with the Real Freeway Rick Ross. He speaks on a very important subject – our youth – and we need to listen. What we are currently doing, is clearly creating an even bigger problem. Get involved. Care. Make a difference.
Make sure to read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, before checking out Part 4 of the interview. Here’s what the Real Freeway Ricky Ross had to say in Part 4:
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: Tell us something about your youth – maybe about how you were into sports and how that had kept you out of trouble for a while. I think that’s something that’s very important to keep kids focused and keep them in line and on the right path. What about playing tennis? How much do you think that affected your childhood?
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: I think had I not played tennis, I would have probably been in prison for something worse than drugs – maybe murder or something like that. Right before I started playing tennis, I wanted to be a gang banger. I wanted to be a Crip. I wanted to be like Big Took. Big Took was a guy in my neighborhood who ran everything. One of my aspirations was to be like him.
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: And that’s Tookie Williams you’re referring to?
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: Right. If I hadn’t been playing tennis, I could have seen myself as one of the dope guys.
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: Tell our readers something about yourself that hasn’t been printed in the media before, that they may not know – just maybe an interesting fact.
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: Well, I’m a very hard worker. I don’t give up – and I love to get my way.
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: And I definitely think you’re doing that. You know there’s probably not a young person around who doesn’t know who you are and you do have a lot of people who respect you and look up to you, so it’s great that you’re taking your experience and turning it into something that’s positive and that can potentially save other people’s lives and the direction that they’re going in. What are we going to see from you in the next five years?
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: Well, you know I’ve got my movie I’m working on right now. I’ve got a documentary that should be coming out. It’s going to be really huge. I hope one day the Reagan Library comes down (LAUGHS) – or at least take his name off of it. We’re going to be doing a lot of exposure – talking to a lot of people. I’m hoping that my record label becomes popular and I’m hoping I can get a #1 hit. My autobiography will be coming out soon. There is just a lot going on now.
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: Who all are you looking at to play you in the movie?
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: Well you know, I’ve had conversations with Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Don Cheadle, Larenz Tate – oh man, the list goes on and on. So many people. Bruce Porter is the guy who wrote “Blow” and he’s working on my movie. It’s going to be nice. I’m keeping it independent so I can keep it as real as I can.
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: And that’s important because there’s no reason for it to be told any other way than the way that it really happened. It probably scares some people because a lot of things would come out about how involved the government was in it, but that needs to be told also. That’s very important and as you said earlier, it’s a piece of American history and it’s a piece that people definitely need to hear.
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: This isn’t the first time they treated us badly.
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: Yeah, and this is probably, in my opinion, one of the biggest pieces of American history because it has turned into something extremely large and seemingly endless and devastating – at the government’s hands, as a matter of fact.
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: This is the largest incarceration of black men ever.
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: It is – it’s the highest concentration in the world actually, per capita. I’m in Louisiana. We have the highest concentration of juvenile offenders anywhere in this world, by number, and it’s sad because it’s going to be a whole generation that was incarcerated before they were even 18. We just don’t have a lot of positive opportunities here for our young people. It’s just going to be a vicious cycle if somebody doesn’t step up and do something. Like you said when we previously spoke, the situation with New Orleans – it’s all over the country. Somebody has to do something and they have to take some kind of responsibility for it. Did you have anything else you wanted to add?
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: Just to tell everybody to check out my website, FreewayEnterprise.com. Sign up, become a member, and check it out. It doesn’t cost you any money.
THE HEAT MAGAZINE: I looked at the website and I joined it. It’s very informative – great news section – and I think it’s got a little something for everybody. It looks like you have quite a few members already. That’s a pretty big thing and we wish you luck with it.
FREEWAY RICKY ROSS: We have a lot planned. We have an iPhone giveaway coming up. We want to give back to our members, even though it’s small. We’re just trying to give back.
EDITOR’S NOTE: To our readers, Freeway Ricky Ross is an icon of American History. His story is as relevant today, as it ever was, because the American Drug War is failing miserably. We are locking up young people at untold rates and there has to be something better out there for them than prison. Please, by all means, do what you can to better your community by doing whatever you can to help save our youth. Get involved. As Freeway Ricky Ross himself said, prevention is the key. If you want to read more about the Freeway Task Force, click here:
