FREETOWN — In his poem "Rough Path", Yousef Kamara reflects on his years selling drugs and stealing as the leader of a street gang in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown. "Like a traveler in a rough jungle/Self propelling all alone/Edging through danger sharper than blades/My rough path is a cracked zone," he writes. After quitting the gang three years ago, Kamara now hopes his journey to acclaim as a poet can offer an example to other wayward youths in Freetown, where increasing numbers are joining gangs modeled on the Bloods and Crips of Los Angeles. Kamara has been published in several international poetry magazines and was invited last year to attend the African Writers Conference in Kenya.

Source: International New York Times February 19, 2020 08:26 UTC