I know I am venturing out on a very touchy subject. Given the media hype surrounding the series Black in America on CNN and as a Black male in America, I just had to put "my side" out there.
After watching the series, I began taking a look at my background growing up in the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio. As much as I wanted to "identify" with having it "hard" as a Black man in America, I couldn't. Whenever you watch something put out by the media, you have to look at it to see if it is balanced. By balanced I mean does it show the good and the bad. Growing up I saw both the good and the bad; and I commend CNN for showing the good and the bad.
So what does that mean for the purposes of this blog post?
As a career coach and educator, it is important for me to encourage, challenge and motivate individuals that success is attainable for ANYONE - even Black people. I truly believe anyone can achieve goals they have set for themselves. Looking back on my own experiences, I am where I am because of what I determined in my own mind what I wanted to accomplish. Did I get here without struggle? No. Did I get here soley on my own merit and good looks? Certainly not. Did I experience racism and/or prejudice. Of course.
However, I did not use those obstacles to keep me from getting here nor did I allow the "values" of the streets to influence my decisions. No, I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth yet I chose not to get caught up in the drugs, gangs and other influences of the inner city. I know, you're probably saying, "but everybody was (is) as fortunate as you." Guess what, you are exactly right.
Not everyone has the same experience. So, being Black in America is not generally good nor is it inherently bad. It is more complex than just being Black. At varying times in our (Black people or African-American - you decide) lives, we will come to points where we will have decisions to make; there is a point where we can decide whether or not to allow someone to determine our future. What am I saying?
It's all about choice. Sure, life doesn't give you anything. A quote from Frederick Douglass sheds light on this: "We may not get everything we work hard for but we will work hard for everything we get." Choice. What is it?
Create good Habits Or It'll Cost Everything!
Growing up in the 'hood, I had a choice of whether or not to use/try drugs; I had a choice of whether to become a teen father or not; I had a choice of whether or not to commit a crime.
Will choice mean you won't experience all of the negatives in our society? No. Choice doesn't shield you from the ills of society but good choices can make those ills less damaging. As I have said many times, as a man thinketh, so is he. We can choose to think society doesn't want me to succeed. Once you believe what you think, your actions will soon follow.
I could go on with this discussion but I would like to begin a dialogue with you, my readers, and get some feedback about what I have stated here. I understand not all will agree with me - and that's ok - but I welcome your intellectual feedback.
So I ask, is being Black in America good or bad?
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2 comments:
Brother Allen, my name is Rayvel and I'm also from one of Cleveland's inner-city neighborhoods. Growing up though, my mother (a divorcee with 3 kids to raise on her own, while attending college) always reminded us of 3 key things:
1) We were God's childern being raised in His will. In other words, we could achieve anything with The Lord in our hearts. A N Y T H I N G !!!
2) She was raising us, as opposed to letting us "grow like weeds". This is key, because we could never use the excuse of peer influence to define our behavior, because we knew better.
3) Actions have consequences. The lessons of life surrounded us in the ghetto. We knew that drugs and violence lead to death and incarceration because we saw the effects almost daily. PERIOD.
I believe that as much as we are enertained by the media, we should not allow the images and messages to socialize our behavior. The fact is, if the images on TV are predominantly negative for Blacks and poor folks, TURN OFF THE THE IDIOT BOX. I personally have a theory that "they" call it programming for a reason. Decreasing attention spans, increased exposure to violence, and the lack of balance in presentation should be enough for folks to see that the TV aint reality, to use the vernacular.
Finally, I believe that the issue of family values was under-played in the special. The "successful" families weren't successful because of circumstances, but of their collective values. That's what my mom was teaching us -- family values. And in my humble opinion, as a people and a nation we need to stop allowing the media to shape and define those values.
Rayvel. Thanks for your comment. I think the KEY term you use is values. People may not use the values they have, and even if they do value something there is still the matter of choice.
I agree wholeheartedly with you that family-values could have been played up more, because even with the gentleman who was about to lose his apartment still displayed values to be commended even in his situation.
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