Thursday, March 13, 2008
Where Did We Go Wrong
As I think about the mind state of our generation, I wonder who is to blame for our laziness? Our parents and their parents struggled so much and great minds came out of this struggle, and barriers were broken. The main goal during that time was advancement and awareness of being black. To me this made their generation more compelled to become educated and successful. For us eighties babies we were born into the culture of drugs and Reaganomics, in which blacks were pushed back even more. Those who were still continuing to become educated became about the almighty dollar, and the Movement was lost. Our parents had Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Angela Davis and so many others. Kids now look up to rap stars that glamorize drugs and sex, the leading cause of our demise, and the reason why AIDS runs rapid in our communities. Who are our role models Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton? Ha! All the barriers are being broken in entertainment and sports, rather than education. Oprah may be the biggest role model we have but we are unsure if she is on our side sometimes. We need to come together, our way of thinking has changed, and we rather assimilate than dominate. I know we can do it, and you should too.
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2 comments:
First cousin, I want to tell you how inspiring your blog is. You have very insightful and concise thoughts. I totally agree with you in this post though. Sometimes I wish we (as in our generation) had the mentality of our parents and grandparents. The mind to WANT better for ourselves and not settle for welfare, government assistance and bullshit like that. It's sad that so many of us are content with mediocrity. When did becoming a true success mean having big cars, big houses, and lots of women? I wish more of us would believe in taking care of our communities and our families. Ain't nothing wrong with giving back! Peace girl!
Oh yeah that e. badu is hot huh? Tryna get over "that hump"
First, you left me message asking me what music you should be on, how could I give that to you if you take your account BACK off facebook? lol. Anyway, such an open ended question, that has a myriad of answers often combined with little action that results in NO solution. I'll try and frame a question out of your thesis to help me better answer.
When did blacks become so materialistic.....easy, A LONG ass time ago. Hell i'll even theorize that we did it during slavery (latter slavery)....anyway. The psyche of the African American has to be the most attacked, warped, controlled, confused, tattered, etc. in the free world. It has been bombarded with images of "can't" "not able" "ill-equipped" "destined to fail" and these images have not stopped. They are now being fed in ways of entertainment and so much so that now the people providing them don't even understand the power or degradation behind them.
So as to keep it short....we have very low self esteem in many parts of our dynamic community. And we have always bought things to help compensate for how we felt and were told to feel about being "black". I mean think about it, we are LEGISLATED into being treated fairly, that's unheard of in ANY SOCIETY....we are legislated into voting, we have to be legislated into given a fair shot....every time I think it about it, the shit is beyond me. Which is why I attend an HBCU, and went to black private schools, so I wouldn't have to be REMINDED of my treatment here, these social areas only have recognized as human, I can appreciate that. But back on topic, the Cadillacs with white walls was the car with rims in my grandfathers day....my granddad even had a gold tooth. And jewelry in the mouth came from Caribbean roots as it was a sign of wealth for them which in other words pride.....
We would buy things that had OUTWARD wow factor in order for real selves not to be shown. Such as big rims, gaudy jewelry, brand clothes etc. Buying things that people can't always see or catch their eye, would serve no purpose in the agenda of "I want these niggas to think I'm on something they ain't".
Now, our American society is very much materialistic...we borrowed it from the most arrogant society in Europe, England our surrogate mother. As she would have it we have a compulsive behavior of buy buy buy regardless of resources or lack resources to acquire them. Home foreclosures are the biggest are or example of this (not all but some) whites buy boats, club memberships etc to have a "leg up" on their contemporaries. Now its important to note what whites I'm talking about, its usually well to do, or middle class and up. This was the class that owned slaves and therefore we emulated them the most. They were sign of "better" life so imitation of them inevitable. However, as left slavery and went into Jim Crow and sharecropping, we had a little more purchase freedom. Classes are a western thought and it empowers "few" to have the "most" and it was passed down to us. So we had "classes" of blacks and in order to signify those changes we wore, drove, and kept things that plain ole made us feel better about our situation...it is the same case today, especially since we are a combination of the generation and 2nd generation of genocide on black fathers, caused by lynchings, vietnam, slave "breeding" houses, police brutality to name a few. So many of the fathers today didn't have fathers when they grew up and don't know how to be something they've never seen......sorry for so much ranting ;) peace.
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