There are so many beautiful things about the African American race, like our beautiful skin tones, our amazing skills and talents, our aggressive competitive nature, our strong spirituality, our dedication to the ones we love, but there is a glaring problem that we must take responsibility for and change!
All violence is wrong and should end, but it is heart wrenching to continue to hear of innocent black people dying at the hands of their brother.
Now I am no fool and I understand the plight of a black man, I understand the conditions under which some black men are forced to live, but does it give them the right to be so angry and to kill? Too many African Americans believe that somehow they were wronged or the system is keeping them down, but that mentality only perpetuates the same situations and circumstances we are already in. So many have come before us to allow us equal rights as our counterparts and we are still making excuses. Our circumstances are only made worse by our perspective. If we can change our perspective we instantaneously change our circumstances. Now this is not to down play our past, instead I write this in hopes to change our future.
Here’s a story…..
I sat on the plane with a man whose father chose not to be in his life. His mother was forced to raise him and his brothers alone, and had difficulties keeping a job and providing for the boys. She did the best she could, but her children were forced to live in rough communities and get jobs at a young age to help keep the family afloat. The gentleman I sat next to, went to school, did well enough to earn a scholarship, and eventually became a doctor. He was headed to India to do research and provide free medical care! Now after reading this story you may think it was an African American man, but it wasn’t! It was a Caucasian man that believed that his situation was only temporary. He believed that it was only a matter of time before he would be doing something that would change his financial situation and forever bring him out of poverty!
Now why is this? Why did this man KNOW that things would change? We could say a lot of things……but the number one reason was his perspective!
Too many of us believe that our current situation is a definite indicator of our future. We don’t see it as a temporary place from which we WILL grow! If we continue to believe that we must live in the ghettos because our parents lived there, or because that’s where we belong, we will forever be an angry race blaming others for our situations.
A.J Jewell and Derrion Albert did not have to die, and even though I wasn’t at either scene, I already know what happened! I’ve seen it over and over again. Black men that care more about their shoes than the value of another human life! They care more about their reputation of being a thug than taking the high road and doing what’s right. We also must stop robbing one another for personal advancement. There are so many ways to make money in America and none of us have an excuse to steal or kill to provide for our families or for ourselves.
We must unite on this issue and change our perspective. Now I understand this is a major issue and I don’t want to simplify it by saying that we all can just change our circumstances in a day, but we are a beautiful race full of potential. When we all truly believe that, then and only then, will we reach our goals. We must realize that as we kill or steal from our brothers we essentially kill the spirit of our entire race!
