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Thank You.
You are a brave individual and I can only imagine the hate mail you get every day. Your statement on the homepage is something I have been saying for years and for years my friends (white and black) have called me a bigot and a racist. I’m a white guy who has lived in black neighborhoods and always wondered why - if the black community hates the stereotypes - do they perpetuate them and why don’t the community leaders come out and try and change such behavior? For once I’d like to see Al Sharpton march against littering or wearing your sweat pants BELOW your buttocks. The Million Man March was a start, but what’s happened since? Where’s the follow through? Bill Cosby started speaking up last year and was immediately derided by his own people.We’ve had 40 years of patronizing social programs and still the ignorance and the poverty and the paralyzing behavior continues. Government can’t help. You look at Chinese immigrants, who start with the crappy poker hand of not knowing English, not having citizenship and working 80 hours a week in many cases and by the second generation their kids are valedictorian of their class at Harvard. On the second deal they’re holding a straight flush, ace high. Chinese parents teach one lesson: education is the key to advancement. I haven’t heard this message from any black leader since James Brown sang “Don’t Be a Dropout” (we’ll miss you, JB).
So, if there’s one thing I would add to your site, it would be a form for letters and emails imploring black congressional and community leaders to come together and promote self improvement. To have a single voice and a clear message. Berate them for not creating programs on starting a small business, how to become a homeowner, the importance of a two parent family, how crucial education is to future earnings, etc. The message and the change MUST come from within the black community and MUST have a single voice, becase we saw what happend to ‘Cos when a single man or woman has had enough and starts blowing the whistle. The Japanese have a saying: “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down”. Unity is the key.
I wish you all the best on your mission and your remarks about helping others has struck a chord. You got me thinking and self examining. Thanks.
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grt msg…i wish every1 read it
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Thanx, for your input brother Its time for us to wake up and see the potential that we have. People wont respect us if we dont respect ourselves. We have got to do better.
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Wow! the truth needs no proof either it is or isn’t “India Arie”!
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i will say this…the media has a lot to do with it..there are plenty of programs and organizations that do these things but the media is not going to cover it or even let you know about it…its more than just the black community that perpetuates negative images of the black community…thanks for your message…in some cases it is the truth…i (being black) sometimes feel that we as a people are entirely too sensitive to certain things that we should let go of…take that energy and apply it to something more productive:)
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The author of this letter is fixated on African-American community leaders. Change doesn’t start with the actions of community leaders…change starts at home. With all due respect, I am literally sick and tired of caucasian people making mention of Al Sharpton as though he is the savior for the African-American race. The last time I checked, Sharpton was unable to cast anyone into heaven or hell! Sharpton is NOT God! Community leaders are not responsible for the actions of out of control youth…the parents are! There is nothing that Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, Bill Cosby nor the NAACP can do if THE PARENTS aren’t pro-active in assuming responsibility and controlling their children.
The author of the letter was also quick to point out that Bill Cosby was chastised by the Black community last year. While this is true it’s unfortunate that he didn’t make mention of the reason for this. Since he obviously does not know the reason i’ll elaborate. Even the poor and impoverished can see through a smoke screen. As I tell my staff at work, don’t blow smoke up my ass. If Cosby truly cared about African-Americans he would have addressed African-Americans instead of making this speech before an audience that was 90% caucasian. In conjunction with this, Cosby enabled his message to be relayed by the media. This isn’t someone who cares about the African-American community. Your rebuttle? Cosby’s many donations to Black colleges? Not so fast! It’s called a tax-write off…something he NEEDS annually.
I’m baffled by the many references about “the Chinese”. Yes, many do work 80 hours per week…but you never stated why they do that…it’s to pay back the quarter of a million dollar loan the government issued to them as soon as their plane landed in this country! Maybe this will help the author of the letter understand why the Chinese have better educations than most. Our tax dollars fund the loans for them.
One last concern. The United States is comprised of 13% African-Americans…that’s right only 13%. This means that 87% are NON-BLACK and committing crimes as well…do the math. If you need me to do the math for you…in my home state of Florida there are more WHITE men on death row than Black. So perhaps you’re addressing the WRONG race.
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Ajalyn…. what the author is saying is, we as black people need to wake up and take our destinies in our own hands. Not until that is dont there will be no progress except the blame game….!
Blacks should take education seriously. Nothing positive can be achieved without knowledge.
The issue of one family is also important. The black family has lost its values, kids these days feel they grown up and know more than the adults and the family is no longer united. There needs to be a wake up call for the Black Family.
It is a fact that the Chinese are very hardworking thats why the author uses them as reference point and the issue of ‘pay back - the quater of a million dollar loan the government issued’…. you need to get your facts right, No such thing! WHY DONT WE AS BLACKS GO FOR THESE LOANS SO WE CAN BETTER OURSELVES. If thats the case do you know any black family that works 80 hours to survive?????
One last concern why do you have to compare yourself with the 87% non-black that commit crime. Why didnt you compare yourself with the other law abiding citizens and those who genuinely want to make it in this tough world?
Its time to wake up and take education more seriously….Nothing else will emancipate the black community…. Thank you! -
I think what we and mainly Ajalyn should do … Is take responsibility for what we do and don’t do as far as our children’s education concerned. Granted the author of the letter made mention to black leaders in our community standing up to make change; what you should remember is; that no (you’re right in that aspect) black leaders can’t control what our children do, we can. However I believe the author’s point was; given the fact that ignorance has run amuck in our community… It wouldn’t hurt for someone like Al Sharpton to speak out more often on the issue black people have. Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are two respected men in our community; I’ve heard thug drug dealers from the street quote things or mentioned things that both men have said. If there is a voice that the majority of our people will listen too, why not have them speak out and put something in our minds; use them to the best of our ability and get on the path to change. Furthermore, the author reference to Asian people and their ability to advance in education has little to do with million dollar loans. I went to High School and was friends with a girl who is Chinese, both of our mothers worked for the same company in the same department. We attended a public high school and basically both came from middle class families, as far as her family was concerned getting anything below a B- was unacceptable(Same as my house, although me mother cut me some slack if it was a C lol). The point I’m making is; it makes no difference whether a loan was given or not, an appreciation for learning starts in the home. If we raised our kids to want to learn and be educated and have a better quality of life, we need to stop pointing fingers and take responsibility for our own.
Some times the truth hurts, but we need to hear it.
Thank you!
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First, so many of us would like to dismiss those leaders who are attempting to get a message out. The leaders are saying get an education, a job, and take care of your kids. But there needs to be MORE than a message, it needs to start early, it needs to be an interactive message and it needs to start at HOME. When we have 70% of fathers NOT in the home who are you talking to when you say our children need the message? You are talking to a large number of unmarried uneducated mothers and just giving them A MESSAGE is not enough. Alternative methods of reaching the children stuck in homes with no window to the outside world as an alternative lifestyle perpetuates a cycle. It also needs to come from young men–the only people that youth respect. They must become effective early. They must see their power early. How many 20 something fortunate youth are giving back? How many of those that graduate and become successful and move on up and move on OUT! This is a deadly combination: uneducated parenting, the lost art and interest in mentoring, an apathetic community, and traditional methodology. Different times calls for new and innovative approaches.
What are YOU doing? How many children have YOU invited to your home and interested them in the internet, taught them a new game, took on a field trip? Get creative. Stop pointing fingers. The answer is YOU not THEM!
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The author of the letter sent a beautiful message of self-sufficiency and accountability, and all of the responses I have read so far have valid points, whether or not you and I agree with them.
First off, reading is fundamental. Everyone here already has the right idea. We are curious about something other than instant gratification since reading and comprehending takes a bit more work than watching videos and reciting constantly repeated, valueless (for the most part) “music”. Now, what we need to is reach out and pass these messages on to those that are not as inclined to curiousity as we are. We all know someone who “doesn’t read” or just doesn’t have time for “this kind of stuff”. We cannot be afraid to denounce ignorance and degrading behavior displayed by our own people and in our own communities for fear of expulsion or riducule. We cannot make it out of the communities that we wore born into and refuse to reach out or even look back to those less fortunate for fear that we will be called a sell-out. We have to remember that in order to do better one must know better. We didn’t just wake up one morning with the knowledge that we have. We were either taught or exposed to something that struck curiousity within us to want to learn to do better. The popular adage of today seems to be, “To each his own”, I think that “Each One Teach One” is more appropriate and a recipe of success for our community. -
I would like to say that I liked the letter by the author. I also would like to add that the feedback given by all those before my comment are legit, informative and hold absolute truth. No one is right or wrong here. We all recognize the need for the African American race to stand up and make ourselves seen and known in a positively influential way. No matter what the percentage is for our race, (yes, I am a African American too), it doesn’t mean that we cannot arise and arrive to the next level. We were first identified as ignorant by those who were assumed to be “our superiors”. But times have changed. Just because someone calls you a loser, does that mean that you allow them to define you and you transform yourself into something less than what it is that God has for you? NO! Call me ignorant, and I am going to prove you wrong.
The thing is that we as Black people do need to rise to the occasion. It is not to say that there isn’t anyone who isn’t doing so because that is false. We have plenty of people fighting to make a difference and change in society and especially with our young people. IT STARTS FIRST IN THE HOME!!! I 100% AGREE!!!
If a young girl sees her mom bopping around and having men coming in and out of her house…how do you think her mentality is going to shape in relation to her comfortability with strange men? what about relationships? We as parents have to lead by example. There are those who do reform to do the opposite of their parents careless ways, but for the most part…it doesn’t happen like that.
I have a daughter myself that I am trying to raise the right way and educate her on things that will not be taught in the school, such as how to carry herself like a lady, and how her actions and behavior can define herself in society’s eyes. I do not watch music videos because I do not want my child to watch them. I sacrificed certain forms of entertainment or enjoy in moderation without the company of a child due to the impressions that they have. i don’t want my daughter thinking that it is cute, acceptable and the norm to walk around damn near naked and shaking ya ass in front of men all day. It isn’t!! I am a very attractive woman and I can say that I have gotten just as much attention with clothes on than those without. The only thing is that my attention is more respectful than that of Miss I-Want-it-All-to-Hang-Out. I am more apt to get a man to listen to the intelligent words coming out of my mouth than to be completely tuned out because he is mesmerized by every jiggle and bounce of my tits or butt.I welcome healthy debates on important issues as this. I would rather discuss issues like this than to go back and forth about nonsense. Perhaps this will spark a bigger debate that would reach and affect more people to inspire them to speak up and out. EVERYONE’S COMMENTS are respectful, educated and obviously for COMMON SENSE, SELF AWARENESS, SELF RESPECT FOR OUR PEOPLE AS A WHOLE. We as a whole need to stop and look at ourselves and begin respecting ourselves more. But until that happens, there is going to always be a downfall.
As far as the Chinese comparison, the comments were dead on. Regardless of government loans and funding, EDUCATION IS KEY is stressed in all Chinese households. Immigrants flee here to allow their children to have a chance at a “Free” education. They take advantage of it, but we don’t. We as AMERICANS (regardless of race) do not know or appreciate the “freedom of education”. Not examining the overall education system, just know it is available. Just know that it needs to be maximized. We are looked up to as a nation. So as a nation, we all need to realize our role as a leader and tighten up in every realm. Damn shame we (as a nation) are considered spoiled, greedy and bratty. Sad, but it is true. Born a US Citizen, I grew up in another country and when I moved back here permanently as a teenager, even I AGREED with the statement!!! As I teenager, I could see the difference between the US and other countries.
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