I want to be the reason you never said never...
The reason you believe in forever...
The reason why through the good and bad,
The happy and sad, the insanely mad
And when too much has been had,
No tear falls further than your cheek, ever.
I want to be the tie you can't sever...
When people give up on making you smile, I'll be clever...
The maintenance of your happiness is a lifelong endeavor,
One that I'll take on no matter the pressure
For it is my true pleasure to see you smile by any measure.
Your heart is far more valuable to me than any treasure...
Before it, I knew not the depths of my soul
I was unaware of the passionate tempest that churned out of control
My soul had pined for something meaningful, something real
Something that required for me to truly be in tune with how I feel
Something that would make the subjugation of my ego necessary
Something that would bridge the thunderously powerful river of my mind with the rough sea of my soul, an estuary...
I could never have imagined finding it all in you.
Due to natural selection and the Lord not needing correction,
I was told that no person could reach perfection...
Yet in my heart's inspection I could find no imperfection...
In you lies the validation of my past transgressions
Galvanized motivation to continue my present progression
And hope for a future sans regression.
I see the best in you because I can see the best in me
I think the two could coincide and make a best in "we"...
But I've gotten ahead of myself.
For now, you're just a young lady blossoming with every passing day,
With your confidence and class enamoring men in a most lasting way.
And me? I'm just admiring from a distance...
Well aware of how this could all change in an instant.
I know you've been hurt, which is the genesis of your hostility
But with matters of the heart, that happens with high probability
If I offered you what I described, would you assume it laced with volatility?
Or would you be open to the possibility...
-A. Lewis
Monday, July 26, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
A Freestyle Piece: Lover And A Fighter - 7/22/10
"You say you're a lover and not a fighter...but that's like being a puffer without a lighter...love's a battle against the odds to stick together while time prods and life trods...the goal is reach and maintain a love wholesome like God's...all while keeping him and commander-in-chief...to not do so is to willfully meander in grief...we have all we need, so let's go to war...our togetherness is worth fighting for..."
-A. Lewis
A Freestyle Piece: Check The Route - 7/22/10
"There were snipers around your heart, but I look too good to shoot...I got past the gate because my approach was too genuine to refute...I took a boat across the moat, courtesy of my intellect...I'm mannerable; the tigers chomp guys that come incorrect...your walls crumbled from a joke bombing...then you lost the will to fight, my charm's disarming...relax with no doubt...I'm here for you, check the route..."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Why Women Are Sensitive - 7/22/10
"A woman is sensitive so that only the right man can be concerned enough to keep her happy and secure. A woman's knees buckle so that a man can sweep her off of her feet; a woman falls head over heels so that a man can catch her. A woman 'nags' so that only the right man can find the way to satisfy her. A woman is made to be loved; first, however, a man must submit himself to that notion through devotion."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Hatred - 7/22/10
"Hatred is a most self-destructive feeling; it takes a commitment to believe in it, a devotion to maintain it, and
an unyielding desire to follow through on it. The 'it' itself is constantly dying however, feeding on itself to continue to manifest, like an immortal, self-eating parasite."
-A. Lewis
A Freestyle Piece: Together 'Til the Bell Tolls - 7/22/10
"We can be together until the bell tolls...be synonymous like DMC and Shell-toes...my feelings run so deep, I
can't quell those...I'm a lover, so death is the only way to render my well closed...otherwise, my love is immutable, irrefutable, inscrutable...tethered to the rock that is God, my love is immovable...ever so dutiful catering to you the beautiful...your willingness to reciprocate makes it suitable..."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Flaws And All - 7/22/10
"Yes, there will be a man that accepts you 'flaws AND all,' but that's only after he knows it's not 'flaws IN all.' What I mean by that is that you cannot be so severely flawed yet expect a man to appreciate that...no man wants to deal with issues that you recognize but do not rectify...that shows that you have no problem leaving an issue to fester, which is NOT good for a relationship at all."
-A. Lewis
A Freestyle Piece: The New Real - 7/22/10
"Man...you just shattered my perception...I thought I knew what real was, now I have no recollection...you are the resurrection of near perfection...a collection of traits and attributes of the finest selection...you are in need of only one correction...rather than separately, we should jointly head in the right direction...God is our lead, no misconception...guided by faith so we miss deception..."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Parameters on Perception - 7/22/10
"There are parameters on the fringes of your perception that ultimately alter your decisions and thoughts. The subconscious is far more keen than the conscious mind; it will pick up on things you don't even recognize. The subconscious is the compass that directs our thoughts. Implications are the largest feeders of the subconscious...nuances can take residence and reshape your paradigm."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Relationships That Lack A Purpose - 7/22/10
"A relationship with no purpose is like a sport with no championship. You can be a wonderful athlete, yes. But you'll owe no loyalty to a team, and vice versa, which makes you expendable. You can enjoy playing, but there's no goal...no matter how many times you score, you're not winning anything. Losses mean nothing, so you just keep playing...which shortens your career. Your retirement pension? Loneliness."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Seeds of Change - 7/22/10
"Unlike any others, the seeds of change do not grow naturally; they must be tended to. However, they can only take root when watered by the acceptance and embrace of the person whose garden they've been planted in. Without that specific elixir, they are guaranteed to die, no matter the amount of other care given. It is akin to the body accepting organs from others; acceptance is the key, function or not."
-A. Lewis
A Freestyle Piece: Untitled - 7/22/10
"Before you, I knew not the extent of pain...how it could reach the deep recesses of the mind...I never knew that being sane...would be something for which I'd pine...I went insane trying to contain what had slain the grip I had on my mental plane...my window pane was fogged, all avenues clogged, I became a prisoner and kept a log...all it said was love; it hurt to demote my ego, so that you were all I'd think of."
-A. Lewis
A Freestyle Piece: Quit With the Static - 7/22/10
"You text other guys when I'm not in the room...many give you looks and you give them back to them...your phone rings when we're out, and you neglect to answer...when I ask about your personal life, you act like I say you have cancer...things aren't right, and you're at the root...all I really want is the truth. Just quit with all of the static...there are grey areas interrupting our communication, and I've had it."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Love Thyself, the World Will Follow Suit - 7/22/10
"We spend a lot time trying to find who we are...not realizing our actions define who we are...always so self-critical, people will go deaf hearing you...the criticism is incessant, but if we were pleasant, and counted our blessings, our inward views wouldn't be so depressing...see not envy, hear not denigration...speak not jealousy nor hatred, do not feel unappreciation. Love thyself, the world will follow suit."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Technology and the Loss of Innocence - 7/22/10
"One of the largest issues with our youth today is that they use technology as an outlet for the troubles of their puberty. When they feel inadequate, they can post nude pictures of others. When they get jealous, they can call someone out in a status. When they get arrogant, they can post pictures showing too much skin. They can even cyber bully, cyber date, have cyber sex. Innocence becomes raw maturity."
-A. Lewis
Sunday, July 4, 2010
An Essay: No Future, No Sex - 7/4/10 (from 7/1/10)
With sex, there is always a chance for a future, aka a child. So if you can't see a future with someone, you wouldn't have a child with that person, would you? No. However, we live in a culture of hedonism...everyone just wants to feel good...last I checked though, love and happiness were two of the BEST feelings. They've been lost in bodily pleasure though. Here's something to think about: the mind remembers, the soul connects, the body acclimates. If you please the mind, it will remember. If you please the soul, it will connect. If you please the body, however, it will only acclimate itself to pleasure...forcing you to keep it up. It's hard to keep it up if you don't have someone willing to do so...it'll leave you searching; that's where these overly promiscuous people come from.
By future, I mean a real FUTURE. Not just a few months. I'm talking about actually growing up and older with this person, progressing through life with this person, possibly getting married and having a family with this person. That's something you put on the line every time you have sex. The only reason it doesn't seem that way is because there are ways around that now...between abortions and flat out walking away from children, people aren't living with the consequences of their actions. But it's coming back in other ways...any time you skate by dealing with something you've done, you'll do it again. ...until you deal with it. You'll have sex until it hits you that you should've closed your legs. Some men don't get it until they catch something. Some women don't get it until they have 3 or 4 kids and can barely make ends meet.
At those points, your future has been adversely affected...it's harder to find a woman when you have an STD, unless you don't tell them...and it WILL come to the light. It's harder to find a man when you have kid(s), no man wants all of that baggage in the 'get to know each other' phase. Even those situations demonstrate how sex impacts your future. It affects all facets of self...but it is physical first. Then, your soul connects to that person, which puts that person on your mind. If all of you becomes involved with this person, but this person could care less, isn't that like neglecting your well being? That is THE easiest way to get hurt. And let's not forget about those that use sex to manipulate...they use the connections like strings to a marionette. (see: women as sex slaves/toys) Don't become a puppet. Understand that sex is deeply intimate...and that those that don't care are numb in the WORST way possible; that would mean that their physical, mental, and spiritual planes aren't balanced nor connected...and NO ONE needs a person that unstable.
In conclusion (didn't mean to expatiate so much, lol), just think about it before you engage. Don't get yourself hurt when you don't have to. Don't put yourself in a position to be played, or to have your future negatively affected just for a moment of pleasure in the present. It isn't worth it. If there's no future with the person, there should be no sex with the person. Point blank. Sex will always do two things: create and affect futures. You should always be out to positively impact your future...and I'm willing to be that MANY of the people you deal with aren't trying to do the same for you. Just think before you do it. Regret doesn't take back what happened.
-A. Lewis
By future, I mean a real FUTURE. Not just a few months. I'm talking about actually growing up and older with this person, progressing through life with this person, possibly getting married and having a family with this person. That's something you put on the line every time you have sex. The only reason it doesn't seem that way is because there are ways around that now...between abortions and flat out walking away from children, people aren't living with the consequences of their actions. But it's coming back in other ways...any time you skate by dealing with something you've done, you'll do it again. ...until you deal with it. You'll have sex until it hits you that you should've closed your legs. Some men don't get it until they catch something. Some women don't get it until they have 3 or 4 kids and can barely make ends meet.
At those points, your future has been adversely affected...it's harder to find a woman when you have an STD, unless you don't tell them...and it WILL come to the light. It's harder to find a man when you have kid(s), no man wants all of that baggage in the 'get to know each other' phase. Even those situations demonstrate how sex impacts your future. It affects all facets of self...but it is physical first. Then, your soul connects to that person, which puts that person on your mind. If all of you becomes involved with this person, but this person could care less, isn't that like neglecting your well being? That is THE easiest way to get hurt. And let's not forget about those that use sex to manipulate...they use the connections like strings to a marionette. (see: women as sex slaves/toys) Don't become a puppet. Understand that sex is deeply intimate...and that those that don't care are numb in the WORST way possible; that would mean that their physical, mental, and spiritual planes aren't balanced nor connected...and NO ONE needs a person that unstable.
In conclusion (didn't mean to expatiate so much, lol), just think about it before you engage. Don't get yourself hurt when you don't have to. Don't put yourself in a position to be played, or to have your future negatively affected just for a moment of pleasure in the present. It isn't worth it. If there's no future with the person, there should be no sex with the person. Point blank. Sex will always do two things: create and affect futures. You should always be out to positively impact your future...and I'm willing to be that MANY of the people you deal with aren't trying to do the same for you. Just think before you do it. Regret doesn't take back what happened.
-A. Lewis
An Epitaph: Farrah and Michael - 7/4/10 (from 6/25/09)
Mary Farrah Leni Fawcett - 1947-2009
Michael Joseph Jackson - 1958-2009
People die every day. Whether they are soldiers, patients, victims, or even innocent citizens of 3rd World Countries, it happens. For some, that, coupled with the inevitability of death, deadens their mitigates their capacity to sympathize with the loss of life. That's understandable, and I'm not saying they are wrong for feeling that way. However, two people didn't die today; two legends were freed today.
Farrah Fawcett defined the young ladies of her generation, and helped to shape a new definition of sexy in America. Her hairstyle alone swept across the nation and became the hottest 'do of the decade. Not many actresses could star in only one season of a show then launch an acting career, but she did it. Though her acting career wasn't the best, she was happy with it, which is what mattered. It was her life after acting, however, that truly cemented her legacy. In 2006, she was diagnosed with anal cancer. From the beginning, she was adamant about beating the cancer. She was in good spirits and was always resilient. She filmed a lot of her treatments, and became a martyr of sorts in the fight against cancer; her resolve and sense of humor could not be put down, even by intense chemotherapy. She showed people that cancer patients could be 'normal.' Back in April, it took a turn for the worse, with her cancer reaching its final stages. By this point, she had become bedridden, and slept most of her days. And now that her courageous fight is over, we can look back and know that she inspired other cancer patients, showing them that cancer isn't a morbid death sentence, but just a life hindrance that could be overcome. Her enduring appreciation for life, even as her health declined, will never be forgotten.
There's nothing that needs to be said about MJ. He is easily the greatest entertainer to ever live, and the greatest solo artist. His music transcends gender, race, everything; he made genuinely great music. To listen to him was to listen to a man that not only loved music, but loved people as well. He made a soundtrack to live by, music that could uplift even the lowest of spirits. People in the aforementioned 3rd World Countries even heard and enjoyed his music. He was the perfect mix of euphonious vocals, impeccable rhythm, prodigious physical skill, and affable charisma. His dance moves defined a generation, and shaped dance itself as we know it. He broke the MTV color barrier, as well as made the music video a medium for enhancing a song, the first to do so. A pioneer he was, being the first to do so many things; to further that, he put it all together. He became the King of Pop. The king of an entire genre. While that would've tainted most, or at least given them an inflated ego, it didn't affect him. He was a philanthropist, giving all types of money to his fans that were impecunious, to say the least. He did his best to give back to those that give him the joy of adoration and enjoyment. He loved being loved and loved everyone back. Many like to get on their high-horses and put him down for his legal troubles, but it is beyond inappropriate; even if he DID molest a child, think about his childhood, and all he did for children across the world. I'm not saying it excuses what he did, but most don't understand the mental anguish he was in...the media crucified(NOT comparing him to Jesus) him after he got into his legal troubles. Then he had to hear about his skin all the time, as well as the pressure to come back into the music world. Who can forget about the scrutiny he faced trying to be a parent. As of the last few months or so, he was training rigorously to prepare for a concert stint in London. One can only guess that all of that stress, along with the training, was just too much for his heart to bear.
These are two souls that were put on this earth for a purpose. Even in death they impact the world, which is what they were meant to do. Some have chosen to badmouth MJ, and they don't see the error of their ways; you're STILL talking about him. He has still enthralled you enough that you continue to talk about him after he's left the physical world. They shall both have long lasting legacies; MJ as well as Farrah were here to change things, and to leave imprints. Both succeeded, and their untimely deaths were the culminations of their journeys. Such abrupt ends always make people more aware, and as those two cross over to the other side, their lives are touching others in the way that they were intended to. Most importantly though, their souls were freed...Farrah's from the pain, and Mike's from all of the scrutiny and pressure. So may they Rest In Peace, and know that they have done their jobs to the best of their abilities. And so I conclude with two quotes:
"Anyone can speak in life, and some do it loudly to get a point across; however, it is he who speaks in death that has the greatest voice."
"Fear not death; only through death can we truly live. Death is but our spiritual rebirth, as we find life in those we inspire.”
-A. Lewis
Michael Joseph Jackson - 1958-2009
People die every day. Whether they are soldiers, patients, victims, or even innocent citizens of 3rd World Countries, it happens. For some, that, coupled with the inevitability of death, deadens their mitigates their capacity to sympathize with the loss of life. That's understandable, and I'm not saying they are wrong for feeling that way. However, two people didn't die today; two legends were freed today.
Farrah Fawcett defined the young ladies of her generation, and helped to shape a new definition of sexy in America. Her hairstyle alone swept across the nation and became the hottest 'do of the decade. Not many actresses could star in only one season of a show then launch an acting career, but she did it. Though her acting career wasn't the best, she was happy with it, which is what mattered. It was her life after acting, however, that truly cemented her legacy. In 2006, she was diagnosed with anal cancer. From the beginning, she was adamant about beating the cancer. She was in good spirits and was always resilient. She filmed a lot of her treatments, and became a martyr of sorts in the fight against cancer; her resolve and sense of humor could not be put down, even by intense chemotherapy. She showed people that cancer patients could be 'normal.' Back in April, it took a turn for the worse, with her cancer reaching its final stages. By this point, she had become bedridden, and slept most of her days. And now that her courageous fight is over, we can look back and know that she inspired other cancer patients, showing them that cancer isn't a morbid death sentence, but just a life hindrance that could be overcome. Her enduring appreciation for life, even as her health declined, will never be forgotten.
There's nothing that needs to be said about MJ. He is easily the greatest entertainer to ever live, and the greatest solo artist. His music transcends gender, race, everything; he made genuinely great music. To listen to him was to listen to a man that not only loved music, but loved people as well. He made a soundtrack to live by, music that could uplift even the lowest of spirits. People in the aforementioned 3rd World Countries even heard and enjoyed his music. He was the perfect mix of euphonious vocals, impeccable rhythm, prodigious physical skill, and affable charisma. His dance moves defined a generation, and shaped dance itself as we know it. He broke the MTV color barrier, as well as made the music video a medium for enhancing a song, the first to do so. A pioneer he was, being the first to do so many things; to further that, he put it all together. He became the King of Pop. The king of an entire genre. While that would've tainted most, or at least given them an inflated ego, it didn't affect him. He was a philanthropist, giving all types of money to his fans that were impecunious, to say the least. He did his best to give back to those that give him the joy of adoration and enjoyment. He loved being loved and loved everyone back. Many like to get on their high-horses and put him down for his legal troubles, but it is beyond inappropriate; even if he DID molest a child, think about his childhood, and all he did for children across the world. I'm not saying it excuses what he did, but most don't understand the mental anguish he was in...the media crucified(NOT comparing him to Jesus) him after he got into his legal troubles. Then he had to hear about his skin all the time, as well as the pressure to come back into the music world. Who can forget about the scrutiny he faced trying to be a parent. As of the last few months or so, he was training rigorously to prepare for a concert stint in London. One can only guess that all of that stress, along with the training, was just too much for his heart to bear.
These are two souls that were put on this earth for a purpose. Even in death they impact the world, which is what they were meant to do. Some have chosen to badmouth MJ, and they don't see the error of their ways; you're STILL talking about him. He has still enthralled you enough that you continue to talk about him after he's left the physical world. They shall both have long lasting legacies; MJ as well as Farrah were here to change things, and to leave imprints. Both succeeded, and their untimely deaths were the culminations of their journeys. Such abrupt ends always make people more aware, and as those two cross over to the other side, their lives are touching others in the way that they were intended to. Most importantly though, their souls were freed...Farrah's from the pain, and Mike's from all of the scrutiny and pressure. So may they Rest In Peace, and know that they have done their jobs to the best of their abilities. And so I conclude with two quotes:
"Anyone can speak in life, and some do it loudly to get a point across; however, it is he who speaks in death that has the greatest voice."
"Fear not death; only through death can we truly live. Death is but our spiritual rebirth, as we find life in those we inspire.”
-A. Lewis
An Essay: Desensitization and Black America - 7/4/10 (from 9/29/09)
I wrote this last night in 2 hours...I was compelled by the beating of Derrion Albert. May he rest in peace. This is pretty lengthy. You've been forewarned on that. If you do choose to read this, please leave your thoughts and/or opinions in a comment. I'd like to know what you think about this...I actually think it's brilliant, which I can never say for anything I write. If you feel compelled, please repost this. Enough talk though, time to open your mind.
What is left? That’s all I ask. It’s a very simple question. I really want to know what’s left for us as a people. The general consensus is extinction. Now let that marinate for a second. Extinction. Ex-tinc-tion. Do you understand the magnitude of that? The sheer scope of that? That would mean that our entire race would be gone, vanished from the earth. Mixed people would be the remnants of our existence. But, to that effect, we would only be remembered for violence. We would be forever known as the first and last race to self-destruct. And there would be one word synonymous with our race: why. Why would we go down that path. Why would we not try to change things. Why did it come to that. So many questions, all with the same answer.
Desensitization. But to understand this, we must go back to the beginning. Slavery was an abrupt change in the lifestyle of Africans, but the White man was far too powerful for them to resist. After awhile, they became desensitized to it; they began to accept what was going on and simply just lived the day-to-day life of a slave. But, there were those like Harriet Tubman; those who did not and could not accept such an existence. People like Frederick Douglass who took to the soapbox to speak out against injustices. Then many years later, slavery is ended. However, a subtle schism had taken place; there were those who accepted the status quo, and those that didn’t. And so, post-slavery life began. The so-called rights of Blacks in America were stripped and mitigated at every turn. Voters were either put through ‘tests,’ or just simply intimidated away. And then you had groups like the KKK, making life as a law-abiding citizen seem like the wrong thing to do. Again, you had those that accepted such, and those that didn’t. Men like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malik El-Shabazz could not live like secondhand people…they wanted equality, and for it until the met death. But, as with slavery, you had those that didn’t mind being niggers. Those that thought, ‘Hey. I have more than my parents did, and I am nearly equal. I’m not gonna get greedy here. Just gon take these here rights I do have and make due. I’m not getting sprayed down and bitten by dogs. I’m straight.’ Now, common sense would say, “My rights are in the U.S. Constitution, but I’m still getting subjugated…that should be impossible. That is THE highest authority in this country.” However, desensitization is a strong and blinding occurrence. Even so, the Civil Rights Acts of ’60, ’64, and ’68 are all passed, and life begins again for Blacks. As you can see, there is a pattern.
Every time something happens to us that we believe is racially motivated, we are outraged. But, rather than try to fix or prevent it, we just run off at the mouth, expatiating for no reason. This is why we are known to be quite loquacious. Then, when it happens again, we do more talking, but with less fervor. At this point, we expect it to be a trend; one that is incessant, but not ineffable. Typically, something that is incessant is ipso facto unchangeable. And this is why you have those that accept the status quo. But beyond that, there are those that accept the status quo because there is overwhelming pressure to do so, which makes it the easy way out. No one wants to get beaten, bitten, sprayed, etc. No one wants to be a social pariah either…especially since we are already outcasts by skin color in some eyes. A good example of this is police brutality. When Rodney King’s beating took place, there were riots, speeches, you name it. We were outraged, livid, everything in the book. Next thing you know, it happened to another man, another man, another man, and another man. After awhile, it didn’t mean as much to us. We just chalked it up as a remnant of racism and kept it moving. We again became desensitized, which again was the easy way out. And from this stems our largest problem: lack of fathers.
As crack and crack cocaine exploded onto the scene, Black people started hitting (and staying) on the streets. It was such a rush…such a good feeling that it brought to us. No matter the price, we just had to have it. Soon enough, it started taking its toll; sickness, addiction, death. And who was the most affected? Black men. All of the oppression, all of the fighting, all of the struggling, all of it could be taken away by smoking or injecting a substance. They just couldn’t resist it. But, drug users began to disappear as the drugs took their tolls. Black men began to die, which meant that fathers were dying. Then, as gangs appeared to take control of (and police) the drug trade, more Black men were slain. As appalling as that was, desensitization slowly took place. After awhile Black men were expected to be drug addicts, murderers and murder victims, drug dealers. This subtly implied that Black men weren’t expected to be fathers, which crept into and ingrained itself into the mind of the Black man. Black men didn’t expect to live long, didn’t expect much of themselves, and didn’t care about anything but money, power, and pleasure. A child definitely did not fit into the equation…especially when the mother was nothing but an object of pleasure. And so, Black men began to simply walk away from children. They were already being taken away (death, jail, addiction), so the next step was voluntary departure. Money, power, pleasure, and respect were more important. This was almost immediately accepted, as like I said, they were already being taken away from their children. Now, in the present, we still are outraged at absentee dads, but we are too far desensitized to believe it can be changed. From this stemmed another problem: the corruption of the Black female psyche.
This change in our men weighed heavily on Black women. They could not believe that the strong, passionate men they knew during the 60’s, the cool, fun-loving men of the 70’s had turned into such. But, in accord with the aforementioned rule of “taking the easy way out,” they didn’t fight it; they instead searched for ways to adjust to what was quickly becoming the status quo. Carnal sex scenes and frank deaths in moves expedited the corruption of the Black woman’s mind. She was already trying to find a way to cope with Black men wanting everything but her, and now she kept seeing herself shown as a woman that just wanted what a man had, being used for sex, then being killed. She’s also hearing songs about love yet hearing songs about drugs and gangs. It is important to note that the Black mind has always played sheep to the dog of music, thus being led anywhere music would take it. When every guy is talking about anything but you, you’re going to think you need to make some changes. What change was made? Black women began to accentuate their curves. They are naturally voluptuous, and began putting it to use, to take men’s minds off of money, power, pleasure, and respect. A pair of tight, high-waisted jeans in the 80s is akin to leggings or skinny jeans now; they showed off what a woman had going on. At this point, Black women captivated Black men…to the point that Black men felt the need to show them off to get one of those desires, respect. If the money and power I have can bring me a woman, I can use her for pleasure and gain respect, thus having all that I need. With such a manifesto, the objectification of the Black woman begins. Of course it was met with a lot of dissent, but as with anything in the Black community, desensitization slowly made it copacetic. It did not help that we were already accepting so much…once the Black woman had accepted being made into an object, we had basically had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. And we are now beginning to see just how ill we are.
The death of Derrion Albert is tragic. Of that there is no doubt. But, do you notice that no one in the video cared until the melee was over? Did you know that he was a good student and was simply trying to help someone else? Have you heard any Black “leaders” speak on it? The pattern continues. There are those that accept the fact that we kill ourselves, and those who don’t. We are being desensitized to Black-on-Black violence. But this is worse: those who don’t accept this violence are afraid to have kids because they are outnumbered by those who accept the status quo. Those who don’t accept this violence don’t really want to speak out because they know the status quo is changed by a majority, not a minority. Most importantly, Blacks who accept the status quo look down on (and put down) those who don’t. A Black woman on WIC that lives in government housing looks at a young lady like my sister, who’s in college with a job, as though she’s doing too much and is wrong. I’ve been ridiculed plenty of times for being a ‘smart ass nigga’ or ‘acting white’ or whatever else. We have become so desensitized to failing and not achieving much that we believe it is acceptable and commonplace, which we have basically believed into existence.
Remember, who wants to be a pariah? Well, no one. So more and more people live the acceptable life. Those boys in that video are likely children borne of this near irreparably flawed psyche. I believe that we are not products of our environments; rather, our environments are products of us. Black people live in slums because they accept them. Many “hoods” are unsafe because we make them that way and allow them to stay as such. Sure, there’s the Malcolm X argument that liquor stores and Laundromats are strategically ‘placed’ in Black neighborhoods. But, we accept this. We’ll take a liquor store since dying of a bad liver is acceptable. We’ll take a Laundromat since it’s ‘White’ to move out of the ‘hood’ and get your own washer and dryer. The underlying pattern here is that we have been desensitized to the subjugation and dilapidation of our race. That majority that accepts the status quo has been oblivious to the fact that the status quo has been getting worse and worse. The status quo at this point is the constant vilification of Black people. We are constantly making ourselves look bad. And we don’t even know it. Because we are known to speak our minds, everything we say is scrutinized (i.e. rap music). Because we always need leaders to step in and speak for us (i.e. Frederick Douglass, MLK, Malcolm X), Black men that we listen to are now considered leaders, and thus are our assumed spokesmen (i.e. Tavis Smiley, Michael Eric Dyson, Kanye West, Plies).
All of the patterns of the past are now shaping a bleak future. And this is why I ask, what is left? I really do wonder what is left for us. Unless the status quo becomes one of change and the aggrandizement of our race, it seems as though we are headed for self-destruction, or something along those lines. The more we accept things like what happened to Derrion Albert, the more prevalent they will become (which the already are), and the more they will affect. There will be more Black-on-Black crime…more random rob-and-shoot deals. More 35 year old grandmothers that don’t know anything other than scorn, Jordans, and food stamps. More young men in caskets that aren’t at least covered In American flags. More trepidation and a dying out effect in the Black Intellectual Community. More Black men that don’t see retirement. More Black women that don’t see a good 5 years of matrimony. I could go on and on about what can happen; but I won’t, because that’s like saying it will happen. I won’t say it will, as I hope reading (or hearing) this will help you understand and want to change things. No one person can be the catalyst for change in the Black community; it will take an across-the-board effort. However, your support could be one of the first steps in making the difference. Barack Obama, in years from now, could be an aberration, or he could be the door-opener. With your help, a youth could be inspired that makes him the latter and not the former. But that’s enough about all of this desensitization stuff; you probably didn’t want to know about all of dire situations that lie ahead of us if changes aren’t made…wait, that would make you a part of that majority, now wouldn’t it. I rest my case.
- A. Lewis
What is left? That’s all I ask. It’s a very simple question. I really want to know what’s left for us as a people. The general consensus is extinction. Now let that marinate for a second. Extinction. Ex-tinc-tion. Do you understand the magnitude of that? The sheer scope of that? That would mean that our entire race would be gone, vanished from the earth. Mixed people would be the remnants of our existence. But, to that effect, we would only be remembered for violence. We would be forever known as the first and last race to self-destruct. And there would be one word synonymous with our race: why. Why would we go down that path. Why would we not try to change things. Why did it come to that. So many questions, all with the same answer.
Desensitization. But to understand this, we must go back to the beginning. Slavery was an abrupt change in the lifestyle of Africans, but the White man was far too powerful for them to resist. After awhile, they became desensitized to it; they began to accept what was going on and simply just lived the day-to-day life of a slave. But, there were those like Harriet Tubman; those who did not and could not accept such an existence. People like Frederick Douglass who took to the soapbox to speak out against injustices. Then many years later, slavery is ended. However, a subtle schism had taken place; there were those who accepted the status quo, and those that didn’t. And so, post-slavery life began. The so-called rights of Blacks in America were stripped and mitigated at every turn. Voters were either put through ‘tests,’ or just simply intimidated away. And then you had groups like the KKK, making life as a law-abiding citizen seem like the wrong thing to do. Again, you had those that accepted such, and those that didn’t. Men like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malik El-Shabazz could not live like secondhand people…they wanted equality, and for it until the met death. But, as with slavery, you had those that didn’t mind being niggers. Those that thought, ‘Hey. I have more than my parents did, and I am nearly equal. I’m not gonna get greedy here. Just gon take these here rights I do have and make due. I’m not getting sprayed down and bitten by dogs. I’m straight.’ Now, common sense would say, “My rights are in the U.S. Constitution, but I’m still getting subjugated…that should be impossible. That is THE highest authority in this country.” However, desensitization is a strong and blinding occurrence. Even so, the Civil Rights Acts of ’60, ’64, and ’68 are all passed, and life begins again for Blacks. As you can see, there is a pattern.
Every time something happens to us that we believe is racially motivated, we are outraged. But, rather than try to fix or prevent it, we just run off at the mouth, expatiating for no reason. This is why we are known to be quite loquacious. Then, when it happens again, we do more talking, but with less fervor. At this point, we expect it to be a trend; one that is incessant, but not ineffable. Typically, something that is incessant is ipso facto unchangeable. And this is why you have those that accept the status quo. But beyond that, there are those that accept the status quo because there is overwhelming pressure to do so, which makes it the easy way out. No one wants to get beaten, bitten, sprayed, etc. No one wants to be a social pariah either…especially since we are already outcasts by skin color in some eyes. A good example of this is police brutality. When Rodney King’s beating took place, there were riots, speeches, you name it. We were outraged, livid, everything in the book. Next thing you know, it happened to another man, another man, another man, and another man. After awhile, it didn’t mean as much to us. We just chalked it up as a remnant of racism and kept it moving. We again became desensitized, which again was the easy way out. And from this stems our largest problem: lack of fathers.
As crack and crack cocaine exploded onto the scene, Black people started hitting (and staying) on the streets. It was such a rush…such a good feeling that it brought to us. No matter the price, we just had to have it. Soon enough, it started taking its toll; sickness, addiction, death. And who was the most affected? Black men. All of the oppression, all of the fighting, all of the struggling, all of it could be taken away by smoking or injecting a substance. They just couldn’t resist it. But, drug users began to disappear as the drugs took their tolls. Black men began to die, which meant that fathers were dying. Then, as gangs appeared to take control of (and police) the drug trade, more Black men were slain. As appalling as that was, desensitization slowly took place. After awhile Black men were expected to be drug addicts, murderers and murder victims, drug dealers. This subtly implied that Black men weren’t expected to be fathers, which crept into and ingrained itself into the mind of the Black man. Black men didn’t expect to live long, didn’t expect much of themselves, and didn’t care about anything but money, power, and pleasure. A child definitely did not fit into the equation…especially when the mother was nothing but an object of pleasure. And so, Black men began to simply walk away from children. They were already being taken away (death, jail, addiction), so the next step was voluntary departure. Money, power, pleasure, and respect were more important. This was almost immediately accepted, as like I said, they were already being taken away from their children. Now, in the present, we still are outraged at absentee dads, but we are too far desensitized to believe it can be changed. From this stemmed another problem: the corruption of the Black female psyche.
This change in our men weighed heavily on Black women. They could not believe that the strong, passionate men they knew during the 60’s, the cool, fun-loving men of the 70’s had turned into such. But, in accord with the aforementioned rule of “taking the easy way out,” they didn’t fight it; they instead searched for ways to adjust to what was quickly becoming the status quo. Carnal sex scenes and frank deaths in moves expedited the corruption of the Black woman’s mind. She was already trying to find a way to cope with Black men wanting everything but her, and now she kept seeing herself shown as a woman that just wanted what a man had, being used for sex, then being killed. She’s also hearing songs about love yet hearing songs about drugs and gangs. It is important to note that the Black mind has always played sheep to the dog of music, thus being led anywhere music would take it. When every guy is talking about anything but you, you’re going to think you need to make some changes. What change was made? Black women began to accentuate their curves. They are naturally voluptuous, and began putting it to use, to take men’s minds off of money, power, pleasure, and respect. A pair of tight, high-waisted jeans in the 80s is akin to leggings or skinny jeans now; they showed off what a woman had going on. At this point, Black women captivated Black men…to the point that Black men felt the need to show them off to get one of those desires, respect. If the money and power I have can bring me a woman, I can use her for pleasure and gain respect, thus having all that I need. With such a manifesto, the objectification of the Black woman begins. Of course it was met with a lot of dissent, but as with anything in the Black community, desensitization slowly made it copacetic. It did not help that we were already accepting so much…once the Black woman had accepted being made into an object, we had basically had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. And we are now beginning to see just how ill we are.
The death of Derrion Albert is tragic. Of that there is no doubt. But, do you notice that no one in the video cared until the melee was over? Did you know that he was a good student and was simply trying to help someone else? Have you heard any Black “leaders” speak on it? The pattern continues. There are those that accept the fact that we kill ourselves, and those who don’t. We are being desensitized to Black-on-Black violence. But this is worse: those who don’t accept this violence are afraid to have kids because they are outnumbered by those who accept the status quo. Those who don’t accept this violence don’t really want to speak out because they know the status quo is changed by a majority, not a minority. Most importantly, Blacks who accept the status quo look down on (and put down) those who don’t. A Black woman on WIC that lives in government housing looks at a young lady like my sister, who’s in college with a job, as though she’s doing too much and is wrong. I’ve been ridiculed plenty of times for being a ‘smart ass nigga’ or ‘acting white’ or whatever else. We have become so desensitized to failing and not achieving much that we believe it is acceptable and commonplace, which we have basically believed into existence.
Remember, who wants to be a pariah? Well, no one. So more and more people live the acceptable life. Those boys in that video are likely children borne of this near irreparably flawed psyche. I believe that we are not products of our environments; rather, our environments are products of us. Black people live in slums because they accept them. Many “hoods” are unsafe because we make them that way and allow them to stay as such. Sure, there’s the Malcolm X argument that liquor stores and Laundromats are strategically ‘placed’ in Black neighborhoods. But, we accept this. We’ll take a liquor store since dying of a bad liver is acceptable. We’ll take a Laundromat since it’s ‘White’ to move out of the ‘hood’ and get your own washer and dryer. The underlying pattern here is that we have been desensitized to the subjugation and dilapidation of our race. That majority that accepts the status quo has been oblivious to the fact that the status quo has been getting worse and worse. The status quo at this point is the constant vilification of Black people. We are constantly making ourselves look bad. And we don’t even know it. Because we are known to speak our minds, everything we say is scrutinized (i.e. rap music). Because we always need leaders to step in and speak for us (i.e. Frederick Douglass, MLK, Malcolm X), Black men that we listen to are now considered leaders, and thus are our assumed spokesmen (i.e. Tavis Smiley, Michael Eric Dyson, Kanye West, Plies).
All of the patterns of the past are now shaping a bleak future. And this is why I ask, what is left? I really do wonder what is left for us. Unless the status quo becomes one of change and the aggrandizement of our race, it seems as though we are headed for self-destruction, or something along those lines. The more we accept things like what happened to Derrion Albert, the more prevalent they will become (which the already are), and the more they will affect. There will be more Black-on-Black crime…more random rob-and-shoot deals. More 35 year old grandmothers that don’t know anything other than scorn, Jordans, and food stamps. More young men in caskets that aren’t at least covered In American flags. More trepidation and a dying out effect in the Black Intellectual Community. More Black men that don’t see retirement. More Black women that don’t see a good 5 years of matrimony. I could go on and on about what can happen; but I won’t, because that’s like saying it will happen. I won’t say it will, as I hope reading (or hearing) this will help you understand and want to change things. No one person can be the catalyst for change in the Black community; it will take an across-the-board effort. However, your support could be one of the first steps in making the difference. Barack Obama, in years from now, could be an aberration, or he could be the door-opener. With your help, a youth could be inspired that makes him the latter and not the former. But that’s enough about all of this desensitization stuff; you probably didn’t want to know about all of dire situations that lie ahead of us if changes aren’t made…wait, that would make you a part of that majority, now wouldn’t it. I rest my case.
- A. Lewis
An Essay: The Burden or the Beast, A Modern Take On "The Ballot or the Bullet" - 7/4/10 (from 5/19/10)
I'd just like to say thank you for reading this, if you really do read it. I appreciate it so greatly...these are just my thoughts, and for you to take your own time and read them means so much. I do hope you enjoy!
Allow me to preface this by saying that I am NOT the end all be all. I am not issuing, nor am I attempting to issue the quietus on this subject. I do not intend to garner any amount of fame, love, attention, or anything of that nature. This is but a young man’s feelings, strewn out into words and sentences. If it doth interest you to read beyond this, please do so. If it does not, then may you take away that I am only one man, one mind. If I should represent anything greater, it would only be the hearts and minds of those who sympathize with my views; that will only happen if they decide on their own to support me. Any use of collective pronouns such as “us” and “we” are in reference to myself and my supporters; I assume that I shall have some, or at least one. All of this being said, I’ll begin.
I speak to you coolly, as I emerge from the shadows of martyrs. Their inexorable tree-like places in my mind have helped to block the searing rays of ignorance, and house the songbirds I call morals. These songbirds sing the euphonies of righteousness, love, truth, justice, and reality. Morals are nothing more than once sedimentary ideals that have become ingrained in the parts of our minds that hold the perception of ‘good,’ ‘just,’ and ‘right.’ And that is where I would like to begin this. There is a dearth of morals not only in the world, but specifically in the Black community. Such paucity can be appalling for a bevy of reasons, but the most pertinent one is this: if a moralistic individual is one that tries his or her best to do ‘right,’ and to be religious or pious is to be a devout doer and believer of what is ‘right,’ does this not show that there is a scarcity of truly religious individuals in the Black community? I would definitely posture that to be true, on the shoulders of this definition of a religious individual: someone whose belief in a god is tied not words, but to actions. By THAT definition, the Black community is clearly lacking religious individuals. But this is not an attack on religion. This is not about who believes in God and who doesn’t. This is about the lack of morals themselves. And that introduces us to the crux of this piece, the burden or the beast. Now you may ask yourselves, ‘What is he getting at? Sounds like a rock and a hard place.’ You would be correct in that observation, but it is not so concise. The burden or the beast offers a glimpse into the main issue of the Black community: either face the [perceived] burden of parenthood, or tangle with the beast of socialized children. So many of our brothers and sisters have chosen the beast, without knowing what that entails. Yet, they complain when they see young brothers killing brothers, young brothers killing mothers, young brothers killing others. That is but the beast in action.
The beast is a creation of the White man. I love White people, and I have nothing against them; however, it is well known that some of the most evil men in this country and in this world are White. This is also not to say that men of color are not evil as well, but the diabolical evil I speak of is solely of White parts. When our brothers and sisters choose the beast, they are essentially choosing not to be parents, but sperm and egg donors. This leaves the child with no father figure, which means a boy has no viable role model, and a girl has no sense of what a man is. If the child is left motherless, the boy has no idea of what a woman is, and the girl has no role model. This means that two of THE most crucial parts of development, emulation and recognition, are relegated from the family out to the outside world. This ipso facto is horrible, for the simple fact that the family is supposed to be the hand that strokes a child’s innocence, which is its bastion from the ills of the world until it is ready to understand and face them. So now you have children exposed to things they cannot HOPE to quantify, all while still trying to grasp the concept of maturation, or while still learning to respect elders, or while learning any other major concept. No longer are they being raised by parents. They are now being raised by television, music, and the Internet.
The White man tends to control what’s on TV, he’s usually the bigwig behind what you hear, and we all know he has his hands all over the Internet. As a Black child, it is important that you understand your particular situation…you must know where you come from, where you are, and where you need to be. TV, music, and the Internet aren’t going to tell you that. The Internet might, but that’s only when you’re not on uploading pictures to Facebook, not posting your life away on Twitter, and not uploading songs on Myspace. A Black child that does not know its heritage is like a lion that does not know to hunt; it is capable of excelling, but does not understand the point in doing so. As we all know, a mind is most malleable in its early years. By the time someone is in puberty or beyond, it is basically impossible to change that person’s beliefs. Even if you were to take one of the misguided youths off of the street, and present said youth with a slew of reasons why they should turn their life around, it wouldn’t mean a thing. WHAT they know is ALL they know, which is the ‘hood’ that the beast is under.
The dearth of Black fathers has created a black hole in the Black child, which is THE main home of the beast. I have no father to love me, but I bet this gang will. I have no home, so these streets will be my home. My mother slept around, so I might as well. I don’t need a dad, men ain’t sh*t. The father figure represents the rock, the stability. History shows that Black men are strong and family-oriented. He has been supplanted by the forms of entertainment that the White man feeds our children. Lil Wayne saying Birdman is his father is fairly harmful by itself. But, when you have young men out here looking to emulate that by entering the tutelage of some OG gangster or whatever, you have a huge problem. That only exacerbates the current issues, and guarantees that they’ll be passed down to the son of that boy, should he choose to be a father. (Note: the issue of Black men “choosing” to father children, is directly related to Black men not being responsible or accountable for their actions. Being wanted by all races as well as FEELING as though they’re wanted by all races has given them an inflated ego, which has combined with the desire for instant gratification as well as the lack of fathers to create this irresponsibility.)
Let’s not be too one-sided: the beast is not discriminate. Young ladies are just as affected. With no father, they don’t have a true sense of a man’s love…and they run around for a lifetime trying to find it. Be it prostitution, allowing men to treat them any type of way, treating themselves any type of way, or just looking to find love in sex. They are just as lost as the young men. The greatest difference is that while men join gangs, women take up materialism. They draw all of their confidence from being vain and love whatever they can buy. They don’t have love, so they try to have everything else. Possession makes them feel important like a “you’re daddy’s little princess” would have done when they were younger. Even more so, they feel like success replaces anything a man could do for them. We hear enough about this from the media, so we won’t delve into it.
The beast is just that. A beast. It is a monster that seems impossible to contain, yet all we do is talk about containing it. At least once every six weeks, if not more often, we have discussions about what’s wrong with the Black race, or at least what’s wrong with dating in the Black race. Allow me to tell you: a discussion is like a plan: it sounds good, and it reads well, but it is nothing without action. And it just so happens that NONE of these discussions speak on action. Why? Because the people that speak are just that. People that speak. They don’t actually care. Their purpose is to remind you of how dire your situation is, so that you feel as though you can’t change it. So far, it’s been working. It would all change if you chose the burden though.
Stop letting the White man and others who have been influenced by the White man raise your children, and do it yourself. It is a very arduous thing to do, but beside it being your JOB since you did what it took to make the child, it is the best thing you can do for your people. If young men had fathers, they wouldn’t need gangs to feel special. They wouldn’t use women to feel like men. They wouldn’t depend on sports to have stability. Young women wouldn’t be so materialistic; dad would tell them that TV is just TV, not where they should be getting their values from. They wouldn’t open their legs as quickly. They would have more self-esteem. This may not be true for all young men and women, but with all of the Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brother Big Sister movements, and the like, it’s obvious that these children are crying out for something. And that something is guidance. If you set someone on a path, and that path leads to their destination, they aren’t likely to stray; and if they do, it won’t be far. They need guidance, and they need stability, which parents provide. I’ll stop short of preaching to you though. Hearkening to one of the most powerless heroes in the history of cartoons, Captain Planet, I must say that the choice is yours.
You must choose: the burden or the beast. The burden offers gratification later in life, the beast offers instant gratification. We are accustomed to getting what we want when we want it; however, we often forget that our desires must be checked, or we run the risk of putting them ahead of something important. In assimilating…ahem…integrating, we have taken that trait from the White culture. We as a people have been known to work laboriously for anything that was a need. Now, we just want what comes fastest. Money and sex fill that ticket, though money is corruptive and sex is flat out emotionally hurtful. If you desire to make a change you must be that change. Gandhi did not say that for his health. You and your friends and your relatives must all choose the burden. If not, you risk the complete evisceration of our race. Brother Malcolm once said that the Black vote is the most important bloc; that it was THE deciding factor in politics. If our children aren’t educated on any type of politics or government, how can ever hope to be represented? If you don’t put a politician in office that cares about you, nothing will happen. Point blank. I conclude this to say: we have been lulled to sleep by the status quo. Black men are athletes, black women are successful. This is only further increasing the schism between the two. Black men don’t feel like they have to work for anything, and Black women feel like they have to work for everything. If the two don’t see eye to eye, they can’t be together. The race will suffer greatly, and you will see many more interracial relationships, as well as single Black mothers with either no kids or adopted kids. Seek to understand one another, and offer unconditional love. Without ample cooperation, our race will fall from relevance, and become just a minority, not the descendants of the first and greatest civilizations. Do make haste my brothers and sisters; our ills grow with every day, and must be stopped by any means necessary.
-A. Lewis
Allow me to preface this by saying that I am NOT the end all be all. I am not issuing, nor am I attempting to issue the quietus on this subject. I do not intend to garner any amount of fame, love, attention, or anything of that nature. This is but a young man’s feelings, strewn out into words and sentences. If it doth interest you to read beyond this, please do so. If it does not, then may you take away that I am only one man, one mind. If I should represent anything greater, it would only be the hearts and minds of those who sympathize with my views; that will only happen if they decide on their own to support me. Any use of collective pronouns such as “us” and “we” are in reference to myself and my supporters; I assume that I shall have some, or at least one. All of this being said, I’ll begin.
I speak to you coolly, as I emerge from the shadows of martyrs. Their inexorable tree-like places in my mind have helped to block the searing rays of ignorance, and house the songbirds I call morals. These songbirds sing the euphonies of righteousness, love, truth, justice, and reality. Morals are nothing more than once sedimentary ideals that have become ingrained in the parts of our minds that hold the perception of ‘good,’ ‘just,’ and ‘right.’ And that is where I would like to begin this. There is a dearth of morals not only in the world, but specifically in the Black community. Such paucity can be appalling for a bevy of reasons, but the most pertinent one is this: if a moralistic individual is one that tries his or her best to do ‘right,’ and to be religious or pious is to be a devout doer and believer of what is ‘right,’ does this not show that there is a scarcity of truly religious individuals in the Black community? I would definitely posture that to be true, on the shoulders of this definition of a religious individual: someone whose belief in a god is tied not words, but to actions. By THAT definition, the Black community is clearly lacking religious individuals. But this is not an attack on religion. This is not about who believes in God and who doesn’t. This is about the lack of morals themselves. And that introduces us to the crux of this piece, the burden or the beast. Now you may ask yourselves, ‘What is he getting at? Sounds like a rock and a hard place.’ You would be correct in that observation, but it is not so concise. The burden or the beast offers a glimpse into the main issue of the Black community: either face the [perceived] burden of parenthood, or tangle with the beast of socialized children. So many of our brothers and sisters have chosen the beast, without knowing what that entails. Yet, they complain when they see young brothers killing brothers, young brothers killing mothers, young brothers killing others. That is but the beast in action.
The beast is a creation of the White man. I love White people, and I have nothing against them; however, it is well known that some of the most evil men in this country and in this world are White. This is also not to say that men of color are not evil as well, but the diabolical evil I speak of is solely of White parts. When our brothers and sisters choose the beast, they are essentially choosing not to be parents, but sperm and egg donors. This leaves the child with no father figure, which means a boy has no viable role model, and a girl has no sense of what a man is. If the child is left motherless, the boy has no idea of what a woman is, and the girl has no role model. This means that two of THE most crucial parts of development, emulation and recognition, are relegated from the family out to the outside world. This ipso facto is horrible, for the simple fact that the family is supposed to be the hand that strokes a child’s innocence, which is its bastion from the ills of the world until it is ready to understand and face them. So now you have children exposed to things they cannot HOPE to quantify, all while still trying to grasp the concept of maturation, or while still learning to respect elders, or while learning any other major concept. No longer are they being raised by parents. They are now being raised by television, music, and the Internet.
The White man tends to control what’s on TV, he’s usually the bigwig behind what you hear, and we all know he has his hands all over the Internet. As a Black child, it is important that you understand your particular situation…you must know where you come from, where you are, and where you need to be. TV, music, and the Internet aren’t going to tell you that. The Internet might, but that’s only when you’re not on uploading pictures to Facebook, not posting your life away on Twitter, and not uploading songs on Myspace. A Black child that does not know its heritage is like a lion that does not know to hunt; it is capable of excelling, but does not understand the point in doing so. As we all know, a mind is most malleable in its early years. By the time someone is in puberty or beyond, it is basically impossible to change that person’s beliefs. Even if you were to take one of the misguided youths off of the street, and present said youth with a slew of reasons why they should turn their life around, it wouldn’t mean a thing. WHAT they know is ALL they know, which is the ‘hood’ that the beast is under.
The dearth of Black fathers has created a black hole in the Black child, which is THE main home of the beast. I have no father to love me, but I bet this gang will. I have no home, so these streets will be my home. My mother slept around, so I might as well. I don’t need a dad, men ain’t sh*t. The father figure represents the rock, the stability. History shows that Black men are strong and family-oriented. He has been supplanted by the forms of entertainment that the White man feeds our children. Lil Wayne saying Birdman is his father is fairly harmful by itself. But, when you have young men out here looking to emulate that by entering the tutelage of some OG gangster or whatever, you have a huge problem. That only exacerbates the current issues, and guarantees that they’ll be passed down to the son of that boy, should he choose to be a father. (Note: the issue of Black men “choosing” to father children, is directly related to Black men not being responsible or accountable for their actions. Being wanted by all races as well as FEELING as though they’re wanted by all races has given them an inflated ego, which has combined with the desire for instant gratification as well as the lack of fathers to create this irresponsibility.)
Let’s not be too one-sided: the beast is not discriminate. Young ladies are just as affected. With no father, they don’t have a true sense of a man’s love…and they run around for a lifetime trying to find it. Be it prostitution, allowing men to treat them any type of way, treating themselves any type of way, or just looking to find love in sex. They are just as lost as the young men. The greatest difference is that while men join gangs, women take up materialism. They draw all of their confidence from being vain and love whatever they can buy. They don’t have love, so they try to have everything else. Possession makes them feel important like a “you’re daddy’s little princess” would have done when they were younger. Even more so, they feel like success replaces anything a man could do for them. We hear enough about this from the media, so we won’t delve into it.
The beast is just that. A beast. It is a monster that seems impossible to contain, yet all we do is talk about containing it. At least once every six weeks, if not more often, we have discussions about what’s wrong with the Black race, or at least what’s wrong with dating in the Black race. Allow me to tell you: a discussion is like a plan: it sounds good, and it reads well, but it is nothing without action. And it just so happens that NONE of these discussions speak on action. Why? Because the people that speak are just that. People that speak. They don’t actually care. Their purpose is to remind you of how dire your situation is, so that you feel as though you can’t change it. So far, it’s been working. It would all change if you chose the burden though.
Stop letting the White man and others who have been influenced by the White man raise your children, and do it yourself. It is a very arduous thing to do, but beside it being your JOB since you did what it took to make the child, it is the best thing you can do for your people. If young men had fathers, they wouldn’t need gangs to feel special. They wouldn’t use women to feel like men. They wouldn’t depend on sports to have stability. Young women wouldn’t be so materialistic; dad would tell them that TV is just TV, not where they should be getting their values from. They wouldn’t open their legs as quickly. They would have more self-esteem. This may not be true for all young men and women, but with all of the Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brother Big Sister movements, and the like, it’s obvious that these children are crying out for something. And that something is guidance. If you set someone on a path, and that path leads to their destination, they aren’t likely to stray; and if they do, it won’t be far. They need guidance, and they need stability, which parents provide. I’ll stop short of preaching to you though. Hearkening to one of the most powerless heroes in the history of cartoons, Captain Planet, I must say that the choice is yours.
You must choose: the burden or the beast. The burden offers gratification later in life, the beast offers instant gratification. We are accustomed to getting what we want when we want it; however, we often forget that our desires must be checked, or we run the risk of putting them ahead of something important. In assimilating…ahem…integrat
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: Fighting For Peace - 7/4/10
"Those that choose to fight for peace forget that any type of fight has an aftermath, has consequences, has ramifications. The only peace that can come of war is the solemn silence of crippling defeat; that silence speaks volumes of the force it takes to debilitate a nation, or even a peoples. It stands as a tombstone for the fighting spirit, and for the beliefs of those that 'lost.' It is the mark of helplessness."
-A. Lewis
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: The Ultimate Problem With War - 7/4/10
"The ultimate problem with war is that it puts men in the most troubling position: us or them. To choose them is to be righteous, peaceful; yet in that choice you open yourself to injury or death. To choose us is to be selfish, inhumane; yet to do so is to act under self-preservation, the law of the land. In short, it's either take a life or lose yours...and the enemy could make the choice quicker than you."
-A. Lewis
-A. Lewis
A Freestyle Piece: Too Many Women Have Issues - 7/4/10 (from 6/28/10)
"Too many young ladies have issues, let's face it...they use you like alcohol, to heal scars and get wasted...so you get to make her feel better and show her a good time...until she sees another woman doing better, then she's green and sour, like a good lime...that's when you get benched, hitting the wood, pine...left to wonder if that's the only type of woman you would find..."
-A. Lewis
A Freestyle Piece: Not Like Most Guys - 7/4/10 (from 6/28/10)
I'm a martyr for originality...blending charisma with gallantry...painting pictures with poetic prowess proficiently...engendering erudite entertainment most efficiently...style is standard, fashion is expected...intelligence is requisite, ignorance neglected...a passion must be had for compassion...and don't forget a penchant for positive action...done out of a love for the Most High...trust, I'm not like most guys.
-A. Lewis
Just Some Thoughts: How To Treat A Woman - 7/4/10 (from 6/28/10)
I believe that when dealing with women, one must listen through patience, and speak through listening. I think that will help me be not only a good young man, but a good boyfriend as well...I always seek patience, and aim to listen so I'll know what to say.
I believe that you have to be mindful and accepting of a woman's past, loving and careful with a woman's present, and hopeful and supportive of her future, if you want "I care about you" to have any weight when you say it.
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: The Problem With Profanity - 7/4/10 (from 6/30/10)
"The problem with profanity is not the obscene nature of the words. The true danger lies in two areas: meaning and usage. Profane words do not have 'set' meanings. They vary, which directly affects usage: the words become omnifarious, taking the place of any word you can think of. And when a word can be used in any way, it takes away from the possibility of learning the appropriate word, leaving the user ignorant."
-A. Lewis
A Brief Philosophy: That One Blade of Grass - 7/4/10 (from 7/1/10)
"Every time you put someone down, you build yourself up. That being said, be careful when you choose to do this...on whatever issue you put someone down on, you will become high, like that one blade of grass that's taller than the rest. Protruding beyond the rest makes you a target...and if the issue is rehashed, you'll be the first to be cut if your transgressions don't fit your height."
-A. Lewis
A Freestyle Piece: One Night Stand - 7/3/10
"Not every man that passes by you will eye you, and if he does try you, it's only so he can drive you, not fly you, to a bar where he can pry you, learn whatever he tries to, and make you easier to tell lies to; he wants to have sex, and after he sees it in your eyes too, he'll take you home, an occasion alcohol makes you rise to, then leave your pride out to dry after he gets inside you."
-A. Lewis
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