Wake up Black People, Community is Everything
Black people don't understand community...yeah I said it! I don't know what exactly happens in their minds when they hear the word but it's like the elephant in the room. We all know it's an issue but nobody wants to directly address it or even know how to.
For those of you who are not black you just wouldn't understand unless presented with a complete picture of what I'm talking about. I have no beef with you as we are in the same picture just with different poses. Of course we have to mention slavery, sharecropping, Jim Crow, Plessy v Ferguson, Black Wallstreet, the Black Panthers and countless other attempts to break up the African American community. This of course reeks of the victim rhetoric that normally serves no one, so I won't go there.
The real challenge is not to get boys to pull they're pants up but for the older generation to work with them and build community not because of how they look, but in spite of it. I was reading a post the other day and it was one of those "here we go" gender role type questions. Over the years I have developed a blank and numbing stare when I see the phrase "As a man" in their statement. Who really defines what a man is in the first place? Religion influences belief systems and maybe I'm just not easily influenced because I'd take a strong community over a strong religion any day of the week.
Still our willingness to work together hinges on an archaic belief system based on religion (which is where you normally find attempts of community...kind of), a dwindling cultural development based on economic struggles and a perceived lack, and usually a death or wedding. This is a social dynamic that must change. We have to challenge the old belief systems and sift out the truth while nuking the dumpster fire of a culture we call African American.
As a child I was told that money doesn't grow on trees, yet an organic farmer in 2018 is certainly not poor. I was told as black man I'd have to work twice as hard for the same opportunity others get but cryptocurrency says otherwise. I was told to make good grades in school and respect the teachers yet they told more lies and misinformation than #45. I was told that eating meat is ok because it's in the bible yet most health deficiency stem from that same train of thought. I was given a lot of "questionable" advice but the one thing that made the most difference was Love.
If blacks are to rise out of this current state only a few things have to change.We have to redefine what wealth is. Personal health, social health, financial health and spiritual are all viable solutions. Since we spend over a trillion dollars a year money circulation is not an issue but rather where it's being spent and how often the money circulates. I have to look back at the lack of community as a big part of this problem. People tend to make better decisions when they're not pressured, and keeping money in the community helps. Organizing community centers, after school programs, focusing on entrepreneurship and job creation, advancements in technology and land ownership should be paramount. Growing food, developing an infrastructure for sustained growth and educating in a way that reaches the youth and teaches the truth goes a long way.