What has happened to my people? What happened to shame? We talk loud in public with the worst English imaginable and think that it is funny. Little children ask perfect strangers for money like it is no big deal. Men wear their pants below their ass and women have their asses hanging out like drug dealers on the corner. What happened to respect? What happened to respecting your elders, teachers, and PARENTS? How dare you talk back to the ones that raised you, feed you, and put clothes on your back? How dare you continue to sit down while allowing someone twice your age to remain standing? This same someone who fought the battles and wars that allow us to ride the bus today. How could you disrespect the people that have dedicated their life to teaching you what you needed to be successful in life? What happened to “it takes a village….”?
Your child is outside acting like a fool and when I reprimand them, you have a problem with ME? This is the same parent who won’t go to parent/teacher conferences, won’t attend report card pick up day, and won’t return the teachers phone calls, but if they take your child’s cell phone away, you will call off work to show up and get the phone back the next day. What happened to black pride? Instead you are proud of being a nigga. You are proud of being hood. In reality, you are proud of being ignorant.
What happened to “working twice as hard to get half as far”? Though it wasn’t fair, this mind set is what my parents and their parents used to push them to succeed thru all odds and over all obstacles. That has been replaced with “work half as hard and expect twice as much” and “getting something for nothing” and you wonder why we don’t have anything. What happened to accountability? You come to work late, do a half-ass job and when you get written up, the first thing you say to your friends and co-workers is “they on bullshit”.
What happened to saving? What happened to investing? You work hard everyday just to buy the latest overpriced name brand clothes; cars you can’t afford with rims you don’t need all the while still living in an impoverished neighborhood. What happened to families? What happened to fathers and mothers? Men take more pride in how many women they slept with than in raising their kids. Women spend more time on their hair and make-up than they do on helping their children with their homework. What happened to accomplishments? We throw bigger parties for brothers coming home form jail than we do for college graduates. It is great to be proud of your hood, but when you are proud to still be in the same place you started from, there is a problem. You should want to elevate and progress. You can not win a race if you never leave the starting blocks.
What happened to crime not being cool? Why do drug dealers get more respect than doctors, lawyers, and educators? What happened to wanting to be more than an athlete or a rapper? While I’m on the subject, what happened to Hip Hop? Hip Hop burst on to the scene and exploded because people just like you and I were poetically telling their stories over innovative beats. We fell in love with Hip Hop because it was based on true stories and experiences. It was as if for the first time, someone understood what our life was like. It was rhyme vs. rhyme, using wordplay, metaphors, and incredible skill. Now it is just a bunch of fake thugs talking about their clothes, money, sexual exploits, and made up street credibility. This is Hip Hop, it is our culture, and it is real life. It is not the movies.
And, by the way, what happened to black movies? Why is it that the only thing we can make a movie about is relationships or the hood? Why can’t we have a drama, a mystery, or a comedy that is not based in the hood or on relationships? What happened to good black TV shows? The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, Good Times, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, A Different world? What happened to BET? How can Black Entertainment Television owned and operated by white people really be for us? What happened to talent? Why do we act as if the only way to get famous is by acting as ignorant and as hood as possible? Why do feel the need to promote negative stereotypes and expose the ills of our culture? What other race does this? What race constantly degrades their women by referring to them as “bitches” and “hoes”? What race brags about being criminals as if killing with no remorse and selling drugs is something to be admired? I will tell you, none! What happened to progress? Have we even made any lately? Would the ones who scratched and clawed for us to get this far be proud of us?
Your child is outside acting like a fool and when I reprimand them, you have a problem with ME? This is the same parent who won’t go to parent/teacher conferences, won’t attend report card pick up day, and won’t return the teachers phone calls, but if they take your child’s cell phone away, you will call off work to show up and get the phone back the next day. What happened to black pride? Instead you are proud of being a nigga. You are proud of being hood. In reality, you are proud of being ignorant.
What happened to “working twice as hard to get half as far”? Though it wasn’t fair, this mind set is what my parents and their parents used to push them to succeed thru all odds and over all obstacles. That has been replaced with “work half as hard and expect twice as much” and “getting something for nothing” and you wonder why we don’t have anything. What happened to accountability? You come to work late, do a half-ass job and when you get written up, the first thing you say to your friends and co-workers is “they on bullshit”.
What happened to saving? What happened to investing? You work hard everyday just to buy the latest overpriced name brand clothes; cars you can’t afford with rims you don’t need all the while still living in an impoverished neighborhood. What happened to families? What happened to fathers and mothers? Men take more pride in how many women they slept with than in raising their kids. Women spend more time on their hair and make-up than they do on helping their children with their homework. What happened to accomplishments? We throw bigger parties for brothers coming home form jail than we do for college graduates. It is great to be proud of your hood, but when you are proud to still be in the same place you started from, there is a problem. You should want to elevate and progress. You can not win a race if you never leave the starting blocks.
What happened to crime not being cool? Why do drug dealers get more respect than doctors, lawyers, and educators? What happened to wanting to be more than an athlete or a rapper? While I’m on the subject, what happened to Hip Hop? Hip Hop burst on to the scene and exploded because people just like you and I were poetically telling their stories over innovative beats. We fell in love with Hip Hop because it was based on true stories and experiences. It was as if for the first time, someone understood what our life was like. It was rhyme vs. rhyme, using wordplay, metaphors, and incredible skill. Now it is just a bunch of fake thugs talking about their clothes, money, sexual exploits, and made up street credibility. This is Hip Hop, it is our culture, and it is real life. It is not the movies.
And, by the way, what happened to black movies? Why is it that the only thing we can make a movie about is relationships or the hood? Why can’t we have a drama, a mystery, or a comedy that is not based in the hood or on relationships? What happened to good black TV shows? The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, Good Times, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, A Different world? What happened to BET? How can Black Entertainment Television owned and operated by white people really be for us? What happened to talent? Why do we act as if the only way to get famous is by acting as ignorant and as hood as possible? Why do feel the need to promote negative stereotypes and expose the ills of our culture? What other race does this? What race constantly degrades their women by referring to them as “bitches” and “hoes”? What race brags about being criminals as if killing with no remorse and selling drugs is something to be admired? I will tell you, none! What happened to progress? Have we even made any lately? Would the ones who scratched and clawed for us to get this far be proud of us?
Our parents, grand parents, great grandparents, etc…..worked their asses off, struggled and fought, shed blood, sweat, and tears so that we could have a better life than they did and this is how we repay them? They went through hell and back so we could enjoy the things that they were not given the opportunity to experience or even know about. Are we really just going to disrespect all their sacrifices by forgetting everything they did and everything they gave up by glorifying ignorance, accepting laziness, and promoting disrespect and materialism? WHAT HAPPENED TO US?
You make a compelling point no matter what the race of the person. It is amazing how people act now. It is almost like they are trying to damage their futures and are dodging success. The disrespect that I see daily is disgusting. When did women become bitches and ho's? When did the N word become socially acceptable? People died because of that word. How dare people sling it around like it is some arbitrary comment and not a demeaning and hurtful term? I fear for the next generation. Hell, I fear for mine. Respect for yourself and for others is not out of style.
ReplyDeleteThose are excellent points and a great start to your blog. I look forward to your wisdom.
ReplyDeleteH.O.
Wow, some great questions to take to heart and answer honestly. A lot to think about and consider. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteWHATS UP BROTHER? THIS YOUR DD. LOVE THE BLOG DUDE. IT IS EXCELLENT AND WE NEED OUR BROTHERS THINKING LIKE THIS UNTIL IT PROVOKES N2 ACTION. FIRST OF ALL CAN U REMEMBER WHEN MEN WERE STRONG,WORKING AND RAISING THERE KIDS? MEN HAD TO LEAVE THE HOME WHEN THE GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT ALLOW FAMILIES TO GET SECTION 8 NOR GOVT ASSISTANCE UNLESS THE MEN WERE GONE. THIS WAS DESIGNED TO BREAK N DESTROY THE BLACK FAMILY. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF WHERE OUR YOUNG KIDS ARE TODAY.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree...Where the hell is Black America??? Just had a update about black entertainment...there is not one single black show on television right now...What???? We grew up with all types of positive black shows like the ones you just mentioned...this is
ReplyDeleteCRAZY!!!!
My Dude, I have shared this blog with the young black brothers at the college where I coach. If we can get our young black brothers' to become real men, we can accomplish any and all things that we want as a people.
ReplyDeleteOne Love!
I believe we have found ourselves where are decisions and choices have taken us. And i don't just look at it as a black people issue but a human race issue. Of course as black people we will be more aware and in-step with what "our" people go through. I also tend to believe that way of thinking is a part of the problem. I believe the single greatest cause for where we find ourselves is because we have strayed away from the TRUTH (2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.) The TRUTH was suppose to be taught to us by our parents who should have been taught by their parents, and in turn our children should be taught by us (Deuteronomy 6:1-9 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.) I am not talking about using the old cliche' church phrases that our black communities use all the time. I am talking about walking the walk and not using the cliche's "we are all sinners" as an excuse to continue to practice the sin. The bottom line is we will never create or invent answers to the problems mentioned in this blog. Even if we tried it will never be agreed on as to what the answers are or how they should be implemented. Knowledge and wisdom says we should take the answers already given to us by one who is perfect and sovereign. But due to our societies blatant disregard and exclusion, lack of fear, and total disbelief that God even exists, most will continue to talk about the issues in order to pontificate their own knowledge of the problems. But for those of us who begin to realize the error in our ways, our lack of reverence and trust in God, and admit our errors will hopefully begin to seek God for answers only he can provide (Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity.)
ReplyDeletePoint well made! I'm proud of you for standing up for your opinion on such a controversial matter. As a teacher, I believe that more educated males in the African - American community should do some outreach in inner city high schools to discuss these topics with young black men who often need guidance and just need a different perspective on life from someone they can relate to. It would be interesting to see the impact it would make. GREAT POST!
ReplyDeleteWE MAY HAVE BEEN THE LAST GENERATION THAT WAS RAISE BY PARENTS WHO ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT HOW AND WHERE THEY KIDS GREW UP..AND WHAT THEY LET BE THEIR INFLUENCES..ITS OUR JOB NOW AS PARENTS TO REBUILD AND INSTILL SOME OF THE OLD SCHOOL BELIEFS AND WAYS OF LIFE THAT WERE BEAT INTO US AS KIDS...THESE LATE 80'S BABIES DONT HAVE A CLUE..IF WE CONTINUE TO LET BET MTV AND THE INTERNET RAISE OUR KIDS THEY WILL FOEVER BE BRAIN WASHED BY THE TIME THEY ARE ENTERING YOUNG ADULT HOOD...WE NEED THESWE PARKS TO BE OPEN AND SOEM MORE POSITIVE ROLE MODELS TO STEP UP AND SHOW THE YOUTH THAT THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO BE SUCCESSFUL BESIDES WHAT THEY SEE ON THESE MEDIA OUTLETS
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ReplyDeletePARDON THE GRAMMATICAL ERRORS...DIDNT PROOF READ
ReplyDeleteI hear you, I feel the same way about the Puerto rican community.
ReplyDeleteWow...Fred that was a great comment. That was real deep and truly insightful.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Fred and Mon we are the last generation whose parents worked to raise us with the tools to become productive black people in America. The lack of spirituality among these newer generations of black people is appaling. That is why they can brag about being so hood and loving the hood so much. Our people have seem to lost the battle. There is no more determination, no more will to progress. Niggas(yes I'm saying it because I'm proving a point)accept their lives and think it is good just because we can do things that we were unable to do before the civil rights movement. Whereas black people still realize that there is more that can be accomplished. Lance I congratulate you for being able to speak the truth and I look forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteLance this was a great post. People like me (your mother's age) have been asking these same questions for some time. It is refreshing to see young people like you appalled by this behavior. I tend to blame a lot on MTV and rap music but it's more than that. We've lost our respect for each other, a sense of pride, a sense of self and more than I could begin to list here. I hear young women referring to themselves as "bitches". Why would they think of themselves that way? We are moving backward!!!
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