In this first‑person video, the speaker—who now works at a juvenile detention facility—recounts a brief street altercation with a young man from his old neighborhood. After work he passes through the hood, is provoked by a group of youths, and ends up in a quick physical scuffle with one of them. The young man threatens to retrieve a gun, but the speaker de‑escalates by refusing to stay, inviting dialogue, and buying the youth a drink. The confrontation ends peacefully, and the youth later ends up in the speaker’s juvenile hall, where the speaker becomes his mentor. The youth subsequently joins the notorious Nutcase Gang and is later arrested for multiple murders, robbery, and kidnapping, ultimately receiving a life sentence. The speaker uses this story to illustrate the importance of setting aside ego, practicing immediate conflict resolution, and studying “the 11 behaviors” that he claims are hidden in plain sight. He argues that the brief de‑escalation saved his own life and allowed him to positively influence the youth before his criminal descent.
Chapters
Okay, so in order to get the full context of this video and why this is important, when it's over, I want you to go and Google the Nutcase Gang. So one day I am getting off work. By this time I've turned my life around and I'm working at juvenile hall. I'm coming down 98th and Eads because I used to get off work and always go back through the hood for whatever reason. So I go down to the store we used to hustle at And by this time, all of the OGs, cats like myself and older, have transitioned. We've changed our life around. So now it's the youngsters' turn. So when I get out the car, it's a group of youngsters out there, and they stay shucking and jiving, playing around, and they're throwing like pebbles or like little lemon heads, something at each other, play— being very playful. In the midst of it, I got hit in the crossfire. Really ain't tripping, but you know, just as the OG, I'm like, what's up, man? Y'all ain't nobody going to say nothing? And they like ignored me and kind of laughed it off. So So that was a little triggering. So I was like, oh, okay. I was like, that's why we don't eat food with you youngsters like that, man, because y'all ain't got no respect. And I dip into the store. By the time I come back out the store, the little homie, right, who was a youngster— he was yay high to a grasshopper when I was on the block, but now he's growing into himself— he comes over, approaches me, and he says something confrontational like, man, who was I talking to? He challenges me about whatever I said. I'm like, listen, dude, I'm talking to you and your little fake-ass partners, right? And so he huffs and puffs. Now, anybody who's ever been in the street as an OG, you know when the youngsters come behind you, they get tough, they get frisky, they want to let us know that they ain't little no more. And so that's what ended up happening. We end up squaring up, and it wasn't like a, um, a super scuffle, just like a quick little pop, pop, pop. He tried to come in again, I hit him with a pop, pop, pop. He realized he couldn't really handle it. So now he wants to go get his gun. He's like, man, be here when I get back. I'm like, nah, I ain't gonna be here when you get back. I said, but remember, if you leave though, you started this. By the grace of the universe, he can't find his bike or whatever he was trying to do to get out of there. And I said to him, I said, man, come over here and let's holla, bro. I said, this is what men do. He put his ego to the side and he came and holla at me. And we had a conversation, we talked it through. And by the time we were done talking it through, I was like, see what I'm saying? That's how we do. That's how men do. We have confrontation and we talk it through. But then I go, so what you drinking? So I take him to the store, I think I buy like a half pint of Hennessy or something, and that was it. But then later on, that's why I said you gotta Google this, he ends up coming into juvenile hall. The Nutcase, uh, gang is all over the news. This captain got arrested for 4 murders, robbery, kidnapping. He's really about that life. Now what's the point here? Because we squashed it in that moment, when he came into juvenile hall, I became his biggest ally, and I was able to help him through the most trying and difficult time in his life, all because we were able to be civil right after a fight. But when that boy said, be here when I get back, oh, he wasn't playing. Imagine if he left and I stood there with my ego. I'd be dead right now. More than likely. This is why I am so focused on helping you in whatever situation to study the 11 behaviors, because they be hidden in plain sight.
