Comedian and actor D.L. Hughley was once a member of the L.A. gang The Bloods. When his cousin was murdered, Hughley left the street life, but not his street smarts, behind. ”In some cultures, if something saves your life, you’re indebted to it forever,” Hughley recently shared with CBS This Morning’s Gayle King. ”And I feel like comedy saved my life.” Hughley’s stand-up act is punctuated by ”Yeah, I said it” punch lines. As of late, Hughley has become a frequent cultural and political commentator. His latest book, I Want You to Shut the F#ck Up: How the Audacity of Dopes Is Ruining America, touts, among other things, the value of bullying. ”I don’t believe it’s a good thing,” he clarifies. ”I think it’s a thing that exists and that you have to adjust to. The problem is that we don’t learn to stand up for ourselves. Every person is going to have a fight, whether it’s physical or emotional. Everybody has to get through something or someone. You have to understand who you are and what capacity you have, and nobody teaches you that like an adversary.” Seems those street smarts come in handy.
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This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2012.