Originally posted in September 2018
“Black male” as described here are the lower class Americans with “Minority Mind States”. This definition is adjusted to all men of lower class America that are unwittingly suffering from this complex. I, personally, do not blame others for our current circumstances in life. Yet, I would be a fool to not admit to residual effect that the past has left on our curt behavior and thought process. After (18) generations, we as a culture are still dealing with the psychological wounds that have conditioned our way of life. To be oppressed and treated as less than men, taught to act as such and being the victims of the most brutal and diabolical forms of slavery in history, has given birth to America’s “Black Male.”
There are fundamental delusions that we have been blackmailed into accepting. There are stereotypical beliefs that we as a people are unable to rise above our station in life without nefarious means. Believing that to be recognized as men we must be physically tough and strong displaying no signs of weakness or any emotion outside of anger. That obtaining money (by any means necessary), having an abundance of females, and running the streets is truly living life. These fixed beliefs have drastically infected our culture to the point that we are willingly destroying our hope in the future for this ever-elusive “Better Life”. I tell you that these accepted beliefs are killing our loved ones and us. We have been Black Mailed; we have not become Black Males.
If you show any signs of weakness, you become an outcast, a loner, a victim to the “strong”. You’re considered weak or attempting to be white. As black men, there is no room for weakness, we’ve been coerced into becoming non-emotional, stiff, aggressors in all that we do. We talk aggressively, walk aggressively, even our music is aggressive. Is there any reason why our actions wouldn’t also be aggressive, that violence is prevalent in our culture, neighborhoods and homes? To be stiff is to eventually break to some stressors in life. Strength is not in the physical alone. It is found in the righteous actions of true men. Strength is being able to understand one’s weakness and stay disciplined for those that we love.
Do away with these illusions that we are ruthless, that we are these animals, that a “gorilla or beast” best describes our characters. If this lie is continually accepted, then we Black Males will continue to be caged and put down as the untamed beast we claim to be.
“You’ll never be S*#T!” Ever heard this expression while growing up in the hood, projects, slums, trailer parks, or ghettoes? Ever watched your big homie drive up in a nice car, fine looking girl in the passenger seat, smoking on a fat blunt, with a bottle nestled in his lap? Knowing that he has a pocket full of money, dreaming that one day you’ll have all these things and more? This is what a black man looks like, look at the movies, listen to the music or better yet look out your window. These material things determine what type of prestige a black male has in our world. Prestige, another of the words of illusion and coercion. In our minority mind state we grasped vainly at these instant pleasures. When we truly sought joy, we chased lust while seeking misconceived love. These temporary material things do not create men, nor do they define what a man’s value is.
Men build stable foundations and legacies for their loved ones. Men are present in the lives of those they love, doing what is morally correct to provide for their families. Men are independent, yet responsible enough to know when to ask for assistance, setting aside false pride to say, “I need some help.” Men are leaders standing in the midst of chaos, so that those that they love will not have to. Creating a place of comfort, security and peace for their children to lay their heads is the responsibility of men. We have been blackmailed into believing that we are a lesser people. That our plight in life is eternal and there is no solace for the weary and poor. We have exchanged the chains of slavery for the mental chains of the American minority. In abusing our strength, we demonstrate our underlying fear of change. While coveting material gains, we destroy the moral and spiritual pillars of our homes. While running the streets seeking the ever-elusive “better life”, we rob our loved ones of positive males, freely delivering ourselves to early graves and penal institutions.
When will we end the Blackmail? Better yet, who’s doing the blackmailing? When will we wake up and realize that we are not these personas that have been imbedded into our characters? When shall we truly stop destroying life and build it? Only we can change this, only we black males can restore ourselves as true Black men in this blackmailed culture.
