Tony Rock on Growing Up in Crack Era Brooklyn,Saw Drug Dealer Friend Killed in Front of Him (Part 1)

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Comedian Tony Rock discussed his upbringing in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, a neighborhood profoundly impacted by the crack epidemic in the 1980s. Born into a family of eight children, Rock fondly remembers his parents’ hardworking nature. His mother, a schoolteacher and social worker, later opened a daycare center, while his father, Julius Rock, became a pioneering figure as the first Black man in Brooklyn's truck drivers union, despite facing severe racial hostility. Rock’s childhood was deeply shaped by the crack era, which he described as a bomb hitting Brooklyn overnight, transforming people into "zombies" and turning buildings into crack houses. The comedian recounted a harrowing experience where he witnessed a friend, a drug dealer, being shot dead just moments after they had talked about playing basketball.