Somewhere We Went Wrong- Part 3

This will be my final post on the topic of "Somewhere We Went Wrong." By no means do I feel that I have touched on all that is needed to be touched, but I fear that this blog will come off sounding preachy and self-righteous to the point that it loses its' effectiveness. Let me further clarify that I myself am part of the problem, being that I have a child born out of wedlock and her mother and I still have not married. Yet I still feel that it has to start somewhere and why not with me.

I know many will say that we already have our "Black Leaders," I have a major problem with that statement. First of all, can anyone tell me when we had a Black Election and voted on who our leaders would be and what our "National Agenda" would be? What platform did these guys run on? Did they come to your church or local community center like candidates for any other political races and explain to you what their credentials were or what they can do for your community to make things better? Why do we as blacks feel that we have to have these leaders in the first place? Who is the leader for all Whites? Who is the leader for all Mexicans? Why aren't we raising our children to be leaders and to take control of their on destiny? Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson do they really speak for you and what you need in your communities? We have to stop accepting the status quo and truly question the motives and agendas of the people that claim to be our leaders. What makes them qualified to be leaders anyway? Just because someone walked with Martin Luther King does not automatically entitle them to be a leader.

Too many times our communites have accepted the loudest, boldest, most outrageous voice in the crowd and with open arms, accepted them to be our unofficial leaders instead of choosing leaders off of their body of work. I do not want to discredit the work that Jesse and Al have done over the years and they have brought attention to cases that would slip under the radar and have been instrumental on some of the more publicized cases, but it is easy to lead when the spotlight and glory is to be had, what type of leader are you in the trenches when all you have is everyday people saying thank you? Why wait until an injustice has been done, a waiter does not serve you at Denny's or the new movement to stamp out vulgar rap lyrics? Do we not think these modern day artist are just reflecting what is going on at this time and what they see in their environments?

If they truly are the leaders that we profess them to be, why haven't anyone called for their resignations? Are we better off today than we were 20 years ago? If you look around our communities there are four common denominators in every "hood": drugs, crime, poverty and despair. We continue to suffer while they fly around giving "token" speeches on any and every hot button topic they can. Jesse Jackson and Rainbow Push got bus loads of people to go back to New Orleans to vote for the Mayoral election after Katrina, but don't you think we would have been better served organizing and working with "The Habitat for Humanity" on getting bus loads of people to rebuild the Lower 9th Ward and East New Orleans? We need to recognize who the real enemy is, we have said time and time again how the system is stacked against us and how the government does not care about what happens to us. I ask you this question; if we know this and it has been constantly proven, why do we feel the need to wait for the government to handle issues that we can do as a community? Why haven't our so called leaders addressed this. Stop waiting for others to do what we can do for ourselves and lets get it done! Everyone is not fit to be a leader and I understand and accept this, but at some point and time we all have to take account for our own actions and make sure that we take care of our best interests.

Somewhere We Went Wrong - Part 2

There are a number of topics that could be discussed today, but in keeping with the theme for the week, I decided to continue down the path of were we went wrong, and the self-inflicted ills of the black community. I hope to further expand on some of the problems and how we got off the path envisioned by our forefathers and Civil Rights leaders of the past.

I talked with my mother today, and we had a brief discussion on what made me decide to write about these issues. I explained to her that these are topics that have always been on my heart and mind, but the true driving force comes from dealing with the battles occuring within my own home as I struggle with raising and developing a 13 year old black male during the hip hop times of today. By opening these lines of communication and hopefully give a platform for others struggling with trying to raise a well-educated and respectful young man we can stop the downward spiral of our community. Harriet Tubman was quoted as saying, "If I could have convinced more slaves that they were actually slaves, I could have freed more of them!" Hopefully I can convice our community that we really have problems and that we must look within ourselves to solve them.

According to a 2001 report from the US Department of Justice, black males had a 32.2% chance of going to prison followed by Hispanic males at 17.2% with only a 5.9% chance of going to prison for white males. In 1974 the chance of a black male going to prison was 13.4%. Can we honestly say there is more racism today than in 1974? What has happened in our community to cause such a dramatic increase in these numbers? I ask this because the problems in our community often times are attributed to unfair targeting by overly suspicious cops, racial profiling, the design of "the system", but the fact remains that until we take account for our own actions and community, these numbers are going to continue to rise. Never mind that even racist cops are left powerless if we just don't do the things that will cause us to lose our freedom!

I read an article where a TV director was asking black people if they thought more black men were in jail or in college; almost 4 to 1 the response was in jail. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005 there were 864,000 black males in college and 800,000 in prison. Nothing to cheer about, but this just alludes to the idea of perception and reality. If you believe everything you see or hear on TV and the radio, you would think that most black males are either headed or just getting out of jail.

See we need to stop focusing on what everyone else thinks of us because until we have a better view of ourselves, our abilities and our community, it won't matter what anyone else believes. Gone is the excuse, that is all I am expected to be, we need to expect the best from ourselves. I look back at pictures of my great grandfather's and grandfathers' time, and you would be hard pressed to see any black man on the street without being neatly dressed in public because they understood what being presentable means. 95% of who you are to others is about perception. Right or wrong, rarely do people take the time to learn the person without first judging them based off their appearance. Our children today are quick to state that they will be hired by what they know, not how they dress, but how many business men or women do you know with sagging suits and doo-rags at work?

As a community we need to demand excellance from our youth and not except the excuse that are so prevalent today. We have it easy compared to what earlier generations had to face so the excuses of today hold no weight. Whether we realize it or not, we have greater access to opportunites now than at any other time in our lives. We can go were we want without threats of physical harm, live where we want, and own some of the same places that just 40 years ago were unheard of. The true onus is not on the children but on us as adults and leaders in our communities. No longer can we accept the notion that it is cool to be a fool, dropping out of school, sloppy dressing and all the other things we equate with being young. We must begin to hold our children up to a higher standard and we will in turn see our children and community respond.

Somewhere We Went Wrong - Part 1

As I began to leave my imprint on the digital age, I struggled and contemplated over just what it was that I had to blog about. I mean, you can find numerous articles and blogs on just about anything you can think of, so why add one more? Well, as I doggedly watch the saga of Michael Vick and his so-called comrades it hit me. There are a lot of people talking about what Black America, and specifically Black Men in America and what they should or should not be doing. The difference is, none or rather most of the people doing the talking are either white or older black adults that are not in touch with what we actually face. I plan to take a different approach as I am 30, and I have lived in the sports world and have made the transition to Corporate America. I am going to attempt what so many others have failed, and that is to provide a blueprint for my young brothers to excel in all facets of life and keep the "hood pass" that so many foolishly try and keep and to some extent live down to.

BET has it all wrong, T-Pain has it all wrong, see the "hood pass" should not be worn as a sign to show this is what I am and all that I will ever be which usually equates to ignorance, poverty, petty crime and welfare. When I listen to the song "I'm so Hood" by DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain playing on every urban radio station under the sun, I understand how the youth are misunderstanding this. See the " hood pass" should be worn as a badge of inspiration to prove to everyone that no matter what odds are against you and what obstacles get in your way, you will still succeed and achieve your goals. If you talk to anyone in the hood their goals and dreams are the same as anyone else, they want to get an education, a well paying job or start a business, and move to suburbia. But if you pay attention to the media and what is being displayed through the TV and radio waves, you would never know this. I am a firm believer that people learn through repetition and if you are constantly hearing the garbage that is being pumped that our children are hearing you will see why so many fall into the trap living down to the "hood pass".

All this week we will analyze and hopefully debate some of the ills that come with this thinking of the "Hood Pass" and some ways to change our situation.

technorati tags:black, america, vick, mike, hood, culture, urban, bet, BET, T-Pain