Questions on Blackness

Do you ever find yourself answering questions without thinking? It is as if you're so used to the same conversation that the answers spill from your lips unconsciously. I have, on many occasions, been involved in these mindless situations. The catch to it is the person asking the question is genuine and rightly concerned but the answer, to myself, is generic. There are so many people who don't know and have to be told where to start and have the same thoughts. There is a serious brainwashing that happened and becoming aware has been the new thing to do.

Questions on Blackness are the new fad. As if people in Black skin are reaching a tipping point and wanting to be in the know. Books have been written for years on this subject and only a few have been putting eyes to words. I am finding people who know enough to carry a valid opinion and those who need to re-learn because of their school taught education. I've been brushing up on new facts and details just so my answers can seem less regurgitated. We're an opinion based society but one should not doubt proven fact. The point of learning is to be open-minded and question what you need to be understood. Lately people have been depending on the interpretation of others rather than reading the same source and forming their own conclusions. But there has also been people just searching for a debate that may not end with them understanding the point.

There are those who have compiled a list of reading materials for those who are looking for answers to their questions on Blackness. For those who tend to deter from reading books, the Internet is a tremendous resource in learning anything. Some examples of what I have read so far:

1. They Came Before Columbus
2. Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey
3. The Fire Next Time
4. Stolen Legacy
5. The Destruction of Black Civilization
6. Images of Color, Images of Crime

I have people ask me what I feel once I have read books about the history of black people and I do have an answer. I am upset with my educators (my general education teachers and professors). I would have liked for my educators to at least share the extensive knowledge that I am now obtaining. Is it that they didn't genuinely know these details or they didn't feel the need to share information?

Recently I have stopped lumping every single Black American in the same category and come to the realization it is quite impossible for one race to be cohesive. The human aspect of it all has damaged that thought. While we're lumping every Black person in our statements of helping the race we have failed to realize the human aspect. Not everyone will be on the same page but we must do the work for those that are.

My Killing Rage

Elementary school teachers drilled the importance of Martin Luther King Jr. and his philosophy of nonviolence in my impressionable mind. Middle and high school teachers introduced the “by any means necessary” ode of Malcolm El-Hajj Shabazz (Malcolm X). Undergrad abandoned me and forced me to survive on my own through the autobiography of Assata Shakur. Life opened a grave new spectrum, filled with anger, inequality, injustice and a fading history. Day to day activities held police brutality, racism and sexism. Each aspect of my growth enhanced my killing rage.

Yes, we have come a long way from slavery but blacks are still looked at as three-fifths human. We have proven time and time again our capabilities of being seen as equal but there is embedded hatred for our uprising. bell hooks' essay “Killing Rage” has inspired me to express my own rage toward the white male patriarchal system and its continued oppression. Black men have the "John Henry" effect where even the scrawny are seen to have the ability to beat the machine. The sharp number of ignorant whites and blacks have fed the system of what we are living today. The education system is the first wave of artillery.

The implementation of the federal “No Child Left Behind Act” has started the destruction of an importance of creativity and the wonderment of imagination. The average parent is now forced to work an eight hour shift and fill-in the massive blanks that the education system is starting to leave out. After-school programs are getting cut, the arts are being excess from the budget and passing a test is more important than a real history lesson. Everything is systematic if we like it or not. There is always a means to an end. The powers that be are creating efforts to change and modify education are not doing it with a kind heart. There are no lessons that teach real world experiences and the ability to create your own.

Our past heroes had the right idea pertaining to integration but we had to succumb to the education system that omitted our history. We had to assimilate into a society that didn't care about the outcome of our intelligence. Years passed by of continued brainwashing and subliminal messages, clouding the judgment and leaving an impression on our youth. I have noticed that the disconnection between society and those in charge is unreal. People want us to see things as colorless but blackness is reminded in every negative way possible. Our positive images are infiltrated and the chosen few have become brainwashed.

Why does every day have to be a fight when it comes to embracing culture?

What exactly is the right way?

Every individual has a unique definition of normal and shouldn't be afraid to embrace their existence. The poor neighborhoods are ransacked with patrol cars and beat cops. The search for every infraction is magnetized in the “slums.” Rich crime is overlooked and to the masses seems as if crime can be paid off.

Why is the poor under attack from those who are supposed to protect and serve?

To be poor in the United States is to be criminalized and condemned by the powers that be. I wonder how can an officer of the law who may have been born in a poor neighborhood and environment surrender to persecuting their people. We are being taught to fend for self and to leave the community behind.

Where did we lose our humanity?

Where is the pay it forward attitude of the past?

Civil rights leaders were not thinking standards during their fight. They were focused on changing the future. Within changing the future something went awry and we’re faced with this present police nation. The thing that perplexes me the most is the people who don’t want to see the connection with race. They are the people who side with happenstance when the numbers show facts and coincidence.

There will always be questions with so many and no answers. We have to prepare for the future and the ones will obtain the power of change. My killing rage may or may not be justified but I, like the community of Ferguson, am tired of the injustice and inequality. Embrace your killing rage, be the change you want to see and pay it forward.

What I Am Made Of

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, W.I.

I have been told that I'm neglecting a part of me. I have been neglecting something "that I am made of." I was born to an immigrant mother and father making me first generation American. My biological father wasn't around while I was growing up. I had a father figure who wasn't the best but did just enough to leave an impression. My mother flew from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, West Indies in 1977 embarking on something different. I was born 10 years later to her and my two older brothers. Her background is my heritage. My grandmother was born in Saint Vincent and her grandmother hailed from Calcutta, India.

I always have been enticed for fighting for the equal treatment of my race, gender and to all inequality. Most of my essays are about fighting the good fight and living as a cohesive unity of people. A good friend of mine, who is of Indian descent via the South American country of Guyana, always seems to point out my non-acknowledgment of my Indian heritage. Maybe I have been a little shortsighted and only focused on my Blackness but I know that in order for me to know my truth I must fight for all of me.

Calcutta (Kolkata), India

Calcutta or Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal in India. It is a world in itself. It is the center of East India and home to 4.5 million people. The first record of the history of Calcutta is from 1690. Calcutta seemed to always have been the business center of East Indian because it is where most trading went on. The richness of the city has rooted it as a metropolis.With the rise of invasions and occupying of land in the 1850's, Calcutta was split in two: Black Town and White Town. Black Town housed Indians and of course Blacks while White Town consisted of the invader British. Already industrious and business-centered, there was a boom in industrial growth and natural resource causing the British to invest in the city's continued growth. Eventually Calcutta became the center of the fight for independence from any type of foreign rule. 

After the city's victory of it's independence it began to flourish and maintain on its own. During World War II the city was bombed by the Japanese causing grave damage to the city's infrastructure. This lead to the downhill factors of living during the time. Millions of people starved to death and thousands killed from the tug-of-war of power between people who craved solitary rule. Calcutta was dubbed, "the dying city," during its time of despair. The people there were resilient though. The city would become a base for Indian communism and build from within its walls. 

I don't know when my great-great grandmother left Calcutta and ventured to the West Indian island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Her family had a reason for the move and so is life. In Saint Vincent a young woman of Indian descent started her life and had children. One of her daughters will eventually give birth to my mother. My mother spent her childhood and part of her adulthood around contact of her lineage. She was able to listen to the stories and the wisdom that comes with age. I have passed down tales and actual moments from vague memories. Even with the little information, I wouldn't trade knowing something for anything in the world. 

One day while working, an Ethiopian woman asked me if was Ethiopian and of course I said no. Coincidence is a crazy thing and that moment stuck on my mind. I told my mother of the incident and she would go on to tell me Indians migrated to Ethiopia. This new information made me wonder just what else is my truth. There will always be so much to learn when it comes to an individual's history, we just have to accept that we didn't get here alone. Our ancestors went through worse conditions than we did because of the lack of technology and advanced knowledge but they knew how to survive and maintain.       

Here I am writing about what I am made of. This is me writing about a part of me that I have neglected over time. It isn't to appease my friend but to come to terms with my truth. In order to know who you are truly you must embrace every part of you. I'm sure there is more to the lineage but this is one that is still with me to this day. Eventually the blood will dilute, the lineage would get further away and each new generation will forget.

Never be afraid to embrace who you are. It is important to know your history. Be the representative of "what you are made of."

My Brief Opinion on Women's History Month

Women’s history isn’t taught as a part of history in our general education endeavors. There are the few women we have stumbled across like, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and maybe a little of Joan of Ark. Although there is a plethora of history propagated to women, we haven’t heard the whole story.

Women’s rights were always to be fought for regardless of time. As stated on Wikipedia, in regards to Women’s History, “History was written mainly by men and about men's activities in the public sphere—war, politics, diplomacy and administration. Women are usually excluded and, when mentioned, are usually portrayed in sex-stereotypical roles, such as wives, mothers, daughters and mistresses.” In the Bible, the Old Testament, we have the book of Ruth where Ruth is shown to be submissive and playing the role a woman should. Her sister is seen as a rebel to the traditional role of a woman and is shunned by the men.

There aren’t many advertisements honoring Women’s History in the month of March. It’s as though women gracing the cover of magazines and being the main characters, besides the product, in commercials is enough and their isn’t a need for just a bit more for the month. We need better education on the history of women and more motivation to create history for future women to thrive better. The majority of people don’t know about the existence of Women’s History Month. I know, as individuals, we have our own personal problems to worry about but we are affected by social issues as a whole.

Action needs to be taken. We spend our downtime complaining about the pitfalls of our day but don’t think of a solution. What will be your solution when women are no longer able to be seen as equal counterparts? As a woman, know your history. You must know the victories as to how you arrived where you are today. Know the history of how women gained acknowledgement in male-dominated workplaces. Know the history of the women that endured the worst parts of the movement so the women we are today is the best woman we can be or even better.

I’m still learning about everything that I possibly can, especially on women. I know enough to know that I don’t know everything but I have some type of knowledge. This is my brief opinion on Women’s History Month and my continued call to women to uplift each other and become a collective. Knowing your history will give one the ability to forge a greater future. “I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.” –Audre Lorde

My Mind on Music

Music is a universal language. The way we conceptualize music as individuals can show a great deal of our character. The mood from the type of music sets off feeling whether dealing with low-self esteem or uplifting their target audience. The choice of music lies in the power of our own ears. The variety of genres allow for free will, (yes we consider music a godly entity) and predestination. Music can be broken down into parts to create a song. Lyrics tend to persuade the listener to continue to listen to a particular genre. Words construct buildings of imagination and lay a foundation of thought. When rhythm, melody and words are infused, it’s a form of hypnotism and influence. Although we have the choice of which music to listen, we cannot hide from the words entailed. Thus our choice of music has some control over our everyday lives. The lyrics may give a day to day account of the listener.

For the youth, whose mind is very impressionable, the lyrics need to be censored. I am not asking for censorship from freedom of speech, I am asking for stronger vigilance against derogatory and inappropriate language. The creators of the lyrics seem to dismiss their importance of being an influence. What appropriates such carefree attitudes among artists whose voice may be the only constant in the life of a youth? What is the reason behind glorifying the negatives when the positives are somewhat attainable? Who as music lovers are we to hold accountable for the lyrical content without losing the integrity of free speech?

Many questions arise from the struggle to regain the integrity and essence of the art form of music. My focus is music’s impressionable control over the youth. From recent experience with a group of suspended seventh graders, who the majority was black, in the New York City Board of Education system, lyrical content shaped their everyday thinking. The students’ main choice of music was Hip Hop and their favorite artist was a teenager with their same mind state, Chief Keef. The artist’s lyrical content was filled with the glorification of being rich and defying their social norms. The students seemed to think drugs, sex and money is the gateway to successful and comfortable lifestyle. Although once upon a time, Hip Hop music was deeply frowned upon with the emergence of Gangsta Rap , that focused more on societal issues, these days it is more “monkey see, monkey do:” effect. Of course instead of showing true talent, those who are impressionable are more exposed.

The genre of Hip Hop/Rap seems to stray away from talented and well thought out lyrics to focus on the individual with the most exposure. It seems the lines between talent and influence have become gravely separated. There are positive lyrics from the Hip Hop/Rap culture but that has the lowest exposure, if any. These seventh graders were exposed to the genres of R&B, Soul and Pop but Hip Hop/Rap of which they listened to failed to have emotion. “Hate Being Sober” by Chief Keef, a song they replayed over and over glorified the effects of drinking alcohol and the feel better of being inebriated.

As an adolescent we all went through the phase of rebellion and going against the wishes of our parents but in the times of social media, it is magnified. The fruits of labor are shown in abundance but in reality it doesn’t equate to the musician’s finances, especially in Hip-Hop/Rap. The form started as an expression, which it still is, but now there seems to be less art to it. Adding in the country’s state of economy and the rush to preserve wealth or make easy, fast money, many of the urban youth choose the path of becoming rappers because of the glorification they are shown. Instead of being taught to work hard and accumulate wealth the youth would rather live beyond their means just to keep up with the images plastered before them. Ultimately it is their choice; their environments have influenced them in some way.

Being a product of their environment is what has been the underlying reason behind the influx of Hip-Hop’s wealthy lifestyle influence. We just have to wait out the phase and hope that the urban youth understands that there is more than just one type of music and the world has a vast wealth of knowledge. A mentor is always the key to having a positive influence. Exposure to more than one genre of music can lead to exploring many different levels of knowledge. Life itself is a constant learning process and the generation after is always different from the one before. The mistakes made may remain the same and so will the hope of a better future. Ultimately I want the music culture as whole to produce scholars, thinkers and positive influences. We all have emotions and forms of expression, I hope for improvement even if it is slow. Slow and steady does win the race.