Friday, October 8, 2010

Going in Circles




I mentioned in my last post that their are many programs built for us by us (no fubu lmao) that our own people don't take advantage of. I found this increasingly true when I did Supplied for Success, Beyond Today, Inc's first event. A simple school drive to donate backpacks full of the school supplies to less fortunate kids. I want to say that Supplied for Success was a success as you can see here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyond-TodayInc/393687023474 and Y.O.U.R Community center was instrumental in helping me partner with West Education Center in D.C. to get these supplies into that hands of their students. The end product was great but getting there was a struggle. We contacted countless schools by email,mail,and phone through out Baltimore, P.G County, and D.C. We also reached out to several churches. No luck with any of that. We were told to just drop it off (yeah so it can just sit in some broom closet). We were told by many administrations that they would have to check with someone else. We were told that they have already partnered with another organization (as if more than one is a bad thing). In most cases we never spoke to the "decision maker" and when we did we found that these leaders were really not in the lead. These people really were not chiefs but really just Indians dressed to play the part. I dare not mention which schools and churches were unwilling to work with us for a greater good because maybe they will see the error in their ways and work on being better. The lack of leadership and partnership is disgusting. We have more than one problem in our community therefor it requires many working partnerships to reach a common goal. In this particular situation those in charge drag their feet and while they keep moving at a snail like pace its the kids who get stuck. If you have someone willing to help it is your duty to take advantage of it. Just because I'm not your frat brother, I don't attend your church, or we didn't grow up together doesn't mean we shouldn't share a circle. It appears to me by not letting an outsider in you just keep going in circles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gveKzSOalRY&feature=channel.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

20/20 Doesn't always mean you can see everything!




I was listening to the Russ Parr Show this morning and he spoke about blacks not taking full advantage of the resources in America like foreigners do. He acknowledge that racism exist and their are things in place to hold us back but we shouldn't use that as an excuse. I kind of agree. I totally agree that their are things such as grants, scholarships, even programs created for us by us (no fubu lmao) to build up our community we don't seek out. What Russ failed to mention is how much our government helps immigrants. Some come here without formal education, yet they get degrees rather quickly. They come here without credit yet receive funds to start businesses. Hell, even some come here without a pot to piss in yet in just a short time have automatic flushing toilets! Make no mistake this has little to do with an immigrant. By all means take advantage of the opportunities given to you. The issue is with our country and a system that was designed to keep blacks behind. I think you can view how rapidly the Hispanic population has grown and how much power they are gaining. The people who created this system and the ones who maintain it have spent all their time focusing on us (blacks) that they left the back door open and a whole lot of people crept in. Washington, Jefferson, and Adams didn't view other races as a threat on American soil when they were building...well actually we (blacks) were building, and they (European Whites) were stealing form the Indians. Other races come to America without having to deal with the 500 year old elephant in the room called slavery. They also don't deal with underfunded schools, imprisoned fathers, and mothers who are left to pick up the pieces of shattered dreams. They also don't have to deal with their leaders being assassinated (MX &MLK) or even their sports hero's being targeted by he media (Vick,Kobe,Tiger,OJ). The paint hasn't even dried on the images from the Jim Crow era. Now when "opportunity" is discussed we must dissect it accordingly because we just don't compete with whites. In a lot of companies diversity doesn't mean more blacks it means more Asians and Hispanics. Don't be fooled by a companies "diversity initiative". If they operate in areas the serve a large number of blacks why is the board of directors always made up of men that look like the father from different strokes? This isn't diversity. I'm not blind to the fact that we have a lot of self inflicted hard. We must improve our standard and way of life. We (blacks) must do better TOGETHER but it seems like were stuck between a rock and a hard place. White America (the rock) who refuses to acknowledge as a whole, that this system holds us back, and foreigners/immigrants (the hard place) who don't understand why we struggle and feel the way we do.
 

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