i’m thinking about making this either a 3 or 5 part series.. maybe i’m on my R. Kelly ish right now, but i’m inspired to blog again.. to blog with purpose.. please check part 1 for an understanding of how we got to this point..
i’m having more and more philosophical conversations.. i love them, but i’m saddened after a lot of them.. just because of how we allow the media to be our education.. i recently said in a conversation that placing blame is the American way.. from Bush on down to the Imus situation.. when we can’t own up to something, we place blame elsewhere.. we can’t find Osama, let’s go to Iraq.. we make racist statements, let’s blame hip-hop.. we use the n-word 6 times during a taped recording to our son, and we respond by going on a show no Black people watch and claim that we are Black too.. come on now.. we find excuses.. and the society allows it to go clean.. Imus got off big time, just by blaming hip-hop.. from a man that doesn’t even listen to hip-hop.. blame hip-hop if you’re truly influenced by it.. and influence is not hearsay.. blame hip-hop when you have all of Snoop’s albums and a copy of any NWA album.. i’ll start buying your story a bit more..
but this doesn’t surprise me.. i look at this country, my place of residence, as a nation of followers.. we go where the wind blows us.. we are educated by the “idiot” box.. not by publications such as The Economist, Hidden Agenda (R.I.P.), TROUBL, but nah, CW11 and MSNBC.. that’s our reference point.. beginning and end.. and it’s sad.. a nation of followers.. a minority of leaders..
let that marinate.. a minority of leaders.. double edged sword.. a mouth full of marbles.. call it what you want, but that’s where my head is at in this country.. we are a minority of leaders.. meaning, our leaders are minorities.. both in the sense of far and few between as well as in the sense of our community..
i’m cool with both sides of that coin that i just flipped.. seriously.. there shouldn’t be a gang of leaders running around.. but there should be a team of them.. and i think we can make it happen.. self-reflection.. reflection eternal.. look in the mirror people.. some of us are chosen.. it’s time for us to accept that calling, instead of waiting for others to take or make a step.. if you’re not a leader, it’s not a bad thing.. all leaders need a team to help carry them to the promised land.. i played on a squad that had a few, but i was the point.. it was my job to lead other talented cats.. they believed in me, and i believed in them, and we made some nice memories.. put the ego to the side.. i ain’t pressed.. we ain’t pressed.. together we pressed on to make a difference..
as minorities, we are leaders.. think about it.. we’re placed at the bottom, and it takes a leader to climb out of that.. so look around, and see how many of us have made it out.. that’s not by coincidence.. it’s innate.. it’s what we do.. for every 1000 of us, it’s 1 of them.. i made that up.. but it feels right.. maybe i’m off by a few more 0’s.. who knows.. but it can’t be far from the truth.. we can do this if we want to.. we have to..
just the other day another kid was shot in BK.. for having a hair brush in his hand that was assumed to be a gun.. i don’t know the whole story, cuz i’m waiting for someone i trust to cover it.. it’s all over the news, but i ain’t buying any of it just yet.. the fact remains that an unarmed child got killed.. point blank.. not a man.. a child.. by individuals who are trained to assess the situation and act accordingly.. why are we continuing to get killed by cops? why are we shooting to kill? can we at least aim for a knee cap or something? or maybe it is about there being so many cops shooting, that one will eventually be a kill shot? them dudes doing the shooting are followers, though.. they followed their colleagues.. doing what their colleagues did decades before them..
i’m going to stop promising getting moving on some of these town hall meetings and just make them happen.. what do i have to lose? my business? come on, i have people coming for that every day.. and they are doing a good job of stopping my business.. i remain resilient, even during times of weakness.. i’m strengthened by my sense of self-worth.. so again, what do i have to lose? my sanity?? nah, never that.. the strong survive, and i’m built strong.. trust me on that.. i’ll lose my sanity by remaining the status quo.. i know that for a fact.. i have family members who are a testament to that.. there are dudes from the South Side of Chicago, that i no longer can call my friends because they remained with and amongst the status quo until they met their demise..
our community is a community of mirrors.. that’s just real talk.. i walk down the streets and see the same thing.. if that ain’t a mirror, i don’t know what is.. i see my reflection in a bunch of them.. in dang near all of them.. pieces of myself.. cuz i refuse to see what others see.. what others feel.. i don’t see drug dealers and ball players.. i see business men and talent.. call me naive if you want, but that’s what i see.. i see the good in us.. i just deal with the bad.. but i’ma stop dealing with that nonsense.. i’m going to influence the nonsense.. so i’m writing these words to be my own line in the sand.. my own reflection point.. it’s out there, so i gotta follow up on it..
we have the anatomy to be a leader.. we sit on the graves of hundreds of them.. we walk alongside hundreds more.. self-reflection.. we gotta start from within..
our community.. our friends.. our families.. ourselves..
let that marinate..
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