My topic and many of the things I’ll say in this post will not be popular with some. They will even make some folks outright mad. A few days ago, my brother presented a post that contained some excerpts from a speech that he delivered at the joint founders day for the two most prolific organizations in ALL of Greekdom. In his speech he challenged us as brothers to do better. He challenged us to make better choices and plan for our future. He said a lot of stuff and made a lot of challenges that we need to take heed to. I, on the other hand, will be addressing one young man and those like him that are contributing to the problem we have in our community [not just the black community].
You see the picture so you know who it is. The other day heard a story on CNN that advised that Lil Wayne’s sentencing was being delayed due to him having to go to the dentist to get the jewelry he has imbedded in his mouth removed prior to going to jail. What? He needs to go to the dentis? What kind of crap is this? This little dud’s persona and the image he projects is an irritant to me and has been since the first time I saw him. This was just another nail in the board. This moron believes that his body, including his face, is a palette for jailhouse quality tattoos (even though he can afford nicer ones); he doesn’t believe in wearing clothes that are his size, or a belt to keep his pants on his waist where they belong (no, I’m not Gen Platt); he lives a life that is so boisterously ridiculous that it’s pathetic. Yes, I’m harping on him, not because he’s the only one that aggravates me, but because he’s the one that’s in the news this week. This idiot knew he was going to jail when he went to court furthermore, he knew that he needed to take that crap out of his mouth before he showed up. Hell, he knew that before he put it in his mouth in the first place. I’m glad I wasn’t the judge…he’d be in jail, in general population and wearing the same jacket he’s wearing in the picture above. I could care less if somebody beat him out of his teeth, maybe after that he’d make better life decisions and think twice about what he does, who he hangs with and how he’s perceived by society.
What bothers me is how many successful, intelligent folks love this dude. He crosses socioeconomic and racial lines. This is really what bothers me! He’s shown himself to be a rather intelligent brother. I was impressed, last football season when he did a guest host spot on on ESPN football program one Sunday morning and wasn’t reading from a script, but was speaking from the knowledge he gathered from the information they sent him to prep for the show. One of the other hosts of the show was impressed by, not only his knowledge, but by the amount of highlighting in the 100’s of pages they sent him (he left it in his dressing room). You see, this is another case of an intelligent brother who’s using what he has for a reason other than what God intended him to. If he can figure out how to get grown men to emulate him as well as kids. If he can have grown women in their late 40’s to swoon over him and shiver at the mention of his name. If he can make hits that have him being sought for collaborations by almost everyone in the game (crossing lines of musical genre). If he can do all of these thing, I KNOW he can figure out how to make a positive impact on the youth that he impacts. I KNOW he can do better than getting two women, neither of which he’s married to, pregnant simultaneously. I KNOW he can figure out how to be the positive influence on society that we need.
It’s the likes of him and those he influences that causes all black men to be put in a category that we don’t belong in as soon as we walk in the door. We’re either a thug, a rapper or a miscreant. No matter whether we’re dressed like him, somebody’s jailhouse girlfriend, or in a bidness suit, we’re looked at the same. It’s high time that black men stopped perpetuating these stereotypes and started forging new ones! It’s high time we stop selling ourselves short and our future down the river so that we can have millions in the bank and have idiotic capitalistic morons justifying it for us. I know someone will post a response stating that it’s not his responsibility to raise other people’s kids. Somebody else won’t post, but will think that he’s not a role model. Then there’s the one who’ll say that I’m just old and I don’t understand young folk and their music. On the first two counts I can answer with one question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?…Yes, I am” made famous between Nino Brown and the Cash Money Brothers in New Jack City, but a true dialogue nonetheless. We are all responsible for one another’s kids, for the influence we have on them (whether we accept it not) and we ought to all endeavor to make as positive impact on the next generation that we can. I’m not saying that we all need to be parts of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, not everyone is cut out for that. We all do have a part to play. Those who go to BBBS need someone to point out in society to tll the kids they can grow up to be like. Those who teach in the classroom ought to have some sort of success story to share with the kids about someone they can strive to emulate. As for those who will simply state that I’m old and I don’t understand the music of this younger generation, I simply state, if making responsible decisions and wanting to make a positive impact on the community in which I live, and the world as a whole make me old, I’ll wear that label with pride. They just need to realize the label they’re placing on themselves when they relegate everything I’ve put forth to such a simplistic explanation.
It’s Just My Opinion, but I’m Not Wrong!
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