Previous Aftermath   

In The Big Deal we spoke about today's twenty year olds, but we all must admit—the children were not created in a vacuum or test tube; many parents had a part in this as well.  As children of parents ourselves, we often second guessed the rearing techniques of our parents—leading too, in many cases—results much to our chagrin,  Many of us resented the fact that we had to ask for everything we wanted—and in many cases—when we did, we had to earn it.  Well, many of us took different routes from our traditional families, thinking we did not like asking for everything we wanted and began giving our children everything they needed; as a matter of fact, some of us began to anticipate their needs and remedying them.  Instead of letting them struggle with those math problems, some of you all but gave them the answer!  Well, as Isaac Newton states in his Third Law of Motion, “For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Many of the children from these endeavors to remedy our belly wailing and gut grumblings, simply lack ambition. They have become disillusioned by life's adversities, often ill-equipped to surmount the difficulties associated with living life; looking for remedies by somebody else.  Here is another example of throwing out the baby with the bath water:  These parents, through their lack of understanding of  our customs, have produced a bunch of ingrates; who have less understanding  of our ways and culture—with even less of a desire to acquire what has been forsaken.  Finding room for these sort of decisions, has fostered a world in which, many of the coping skills are simply unavailable for the brick walls they are inevitably running into.  Depression has been defined as a feeling of worthlessness; often associated when two worlds in conflict collide—with persons looking for compassion and understanding; and this typifies a lot of our youth.

I remember once asking a local community Black newspaper man, why he printed 25 cents on a newspaper which he provided to the community for free: To this, he replied, "Everything is accessed according to value.”  “Though people may want to receive free stuff, and even say Thank you [as a sign of appreciation]; these types will never regard such things with respect.  As a matter of fact—the act depreciates, the moment you extended your hand; unless your can make them see the act as a needed jester of goodwill.  When a customer looks at the price on my newspaper, subliminally, they will examine the paper—if only to find out whether they would pay that much for such a paper.  Of course, in my case, I endear to make my paper worth much, much more; only to prove to doubters, they're getting more than they thought they would: A bargain; And by that means, I make my value stick in their minds—rather than something given that depreciates, simply because it has so little value in their minds. . ."

Nothing builds appreciation, more than the things you earned.  Look around your place: How many of the things you currently own, were free things you got in the past?  You probably don't remember where half of your free stuff is.  You seem to have forgotten how those things got away from you: That's because it has no value to you; But now, stuff you had to earn, in order to have. . .  Same thing goes for women who push up on you, instead of your challenges; They don't usually last too long in your life, do they?

Without exception—the most skilled rich men or women, are the ones who helped build the company from the ground up.  That said person has encountered all the aspects of the business or trade that one needs to know about. So when their parents give them advice, it sticks—because experience teaches them the value of such things—they know just where to put it; They know when they hear sound advice!   The laziest, obnoxious, and most insensitive rich children come from the households whose children inherited their fortunes without working hard for it.  My dear old wellspring once said to my persons, "Son, you can't do nothing with spoiled food, except throw it away; Therefore, If you raise a bunch of spoiled children, that's what they’ll be: The throwaways of society."

Some of us followed in the ways of the West; but we chose many of those things on face value or blindly followed the example: Many of us  chose the ways of the affluent, on how it appeared to be, as opposed to critical analysis.  Many of us thought, the way we were reared was too hard—so we took it a little easier on our offsprings—and that became their undoing.  They never wanted for anything: Soon as your child needed something—there you were—giving it to them.  They never had to struggle to obtain anything: And by doing so, you knocked ambition right out of the children.    

Many of these children come to expect everything and don't want to work for nothing.  They don't appreciate what is given to them, because they don't know what sweat equity is.  They expect those things to just be there!   

In the art of body building, there is a saying: No pain, no gain!  J. Paul Getty never gave his son a cent that he didn't work for.  When his son entered the business, he gave him a small part of his massive gas business to manage.  Then when his son proved himself to be successful, he gave him another.  Paul Getty followed this pattern, until he made his son a tycoon.  Paul Getty started his oil business in 1964.  In 1971, The Getty Realty Division was formed to manage the real estate needs of the Getty stations.  The division was later spun off, but now owns the rights to the Getty brand.  Everything was evolved off of the labor of something else.  Nelson Rockefeller, and his Standard Oil company, was founded on a similar, "Pull yourself up by your own bootstrap" mentality.  When I was in my twenties, I used to walk by a mural created by a pan-Africanist, which read: "Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win."  It used to be at the corner of Chew & Chelten Avenues.  I never forgot that advice.

Many of today's youth may want to do things their way, but they lack social skills and refuse to utilize the wisdom of their families of natural birth.  They want to create their own way, without any influence but their own; yet they want to rely on the rest of society to remain a static constant while they do opposing things—which is mathematically impossible.  All society's change; for better or for worst: Sometimes societies change in unison or spirit—other times for growth and development; And it will progress, regress, and/or reject, on the basis of what the new thrusts (such as the new generations) will bring to them!  What our twenty-year old generation [from the date of this writing] are requiring of  society; is a secure backdrop to rely on (for food, clothing, shelter, and country), while they experiment and become unreliable while they explore; and in some cases contributing little or nothing to the society for it.  Many of them—during such times—cannot be relied upon, to vote, hold office, protect any previous values, learn about anything foreign to their point of view, or fight on behalf of them or hold down any decent means of securing an income; because they are not following any traditional ways so their actions will not be stable: Besides that, they can't be relied upon to return to the status quo or fold.  In other words, they believe: "All you old farts stay dependable and supportive, while I criticize and go flake-out."

First of all, there's nothing new under the sun!  Someone has thought the same things; maybe even carried it out—the difference maybe who, the way it was done, and at what ratios.  All creation—after creation—is based upon something else!  That is the rule of thumb.  It is the basis of education; learning is based upon the most common knowledge and added onto by relative things, acquired by others [the community], and tested thoroughly;  throughout the course of time—brought on by experiences.  This is also the basis of tradition and child-rearing.  People trust in what helped their parents through.  Tradition also brings taboos; based upon several wicked experiences, experienced by the community; throughout the passing of time.  This knowledge or belief is handed down until it becomes customary, through love, a concern for the protection of the family, the safe-guard of its members—and the preservation of social harmony.  The inexperienced wants to tackle the "Bear," without being taught on how to take down the animal, or follow the tradition of hunters.  And worst of all, they want to do it, while living under your roof; disrespecting your methods and way of living!  

No course in college is ever taught without its history, yet these young thundercats want to "do it or have it their way," and go their own way; while using your money and the resources of others to do so: Why, this is ridiculous!  If you are not open to suggestions by those who know, you certainly shouldn't be looking for those folks to dump money into an obviously bad investment.  It is unwise, inexperienced thoughts like these, which makeup the number one reason why young women get tricked into working at strip clubs by their jaded buddy—only to become repulsed by men's gropings, and finally get turned out by lesbian players; without any chance of reprieve.  It truly is ill-conceived contempt on the part of the perpetrator to slow-walk a greenie like that!  Not having prior knowledge, leaves you open to predators and opportunists; who can spot a greenie a mile away. . .      

What surprises me, however, is that while these new twenty-year olds want to do things their way, they don't want to take over managing the world they're living in.  Despite your sentiments, the young will be the one whom the baton is passed to.  If our young Black males are not considering ways to maintain their liberties, I am certain there are others on the opposite side who would like to take those liberties away; that's why, in the past, our people remained being involved in the political process.  But many of these young guns don't want to start their own jobs, run for political office, protest and hold rallies; or anything of that nature.  They want supplied resources a stable environment; so they can tweak the things they're not pleased with—within the things you do for them.  They want to come work for established elders, who just so happen to get the things they got, by embracing the old ways of doing things.  These young guns want to come into your place of work and tell you how to run it; so they can be happy with the way things are going: They want the harvest, but they don't want the responsibility of tilling the soil. 

A lot of this behavior is like coming in someone's house, without wiping your feet on the rug: Its like drinking the juice, without paying for the jug.  You got to punch your own ticket; just wanting to—won't do it.  You have to pay the cost to be boss!  This rule applies to Black people who live in America as well: Make your own help; you need it!  We cannot expect others to bankroll plans they don't have any belief in.  To others, it's untried, untested and unproven.  At some point, we all didn't believe in our parent's ways, but most of us kept our parent's philosophy like a hypothesis—that we kept in our rear view mirrors—because we also didn't want to fail or fall.  We knew they gained an understanding, they could take care of us with.  Growing up, I wanted the philosophy of ideas that I couldn't lose with, so I had to learn to be reasonable and observant; if I was going to find it.

When I say philosophy, I truly mean a love of wisdom.  To be wise, you have to see the interrelationship of all things around you.  Man is a social creature and belongs to a community.  Your love of your community is demonstrated by what you do for your community.  Believe it or not, you will inherit the position of being the ones who represent us as a people.  You have to want to grow, develop and change into a bigger and better you, or else you will stagnate.  "In order to grow, you got to know what you're looking at." And, those who came before, had the best chance to take a good look at what you might more than likely be encountering.  After all, didn't they teach you how to read and write?  

But I guess, "Some won't believe there's a ditch there, until they fall in it."  Nonetheless, we have to stop raising children by "trying to keep them happy," because it's destroying their sense of ambition and social responsibility.  Happiness is an allowed condition; built upon what we allow ourselves to associate our sense of happiness with!  Happiness does not come from the things we acquire: What you think makes you happy, will not make the next person happy (unless he or she is under the same proclivities or delusion).  You allow yourself to associate your sense of happiness to a particular thing, but you can train yourself to be happy with something else. 

Most people hold their happiness hostage, by fixing an attachment to something, then saying: "I won't be happy, until I get this."  Having a philosophy like this, is the dumbest thing you can ever do to yourself.  You're going to make yourself miserable.  A bum on the street can be happy, with anything to be happy about!  You are the maker of your own happiness.  Stop pursuing happiness and trying to make other people happy.  Happiness is an allowed condition: learn to associate your happiness to the right things to pursue. 

I don't mean to just complain and talk negative about you, young world, but I do want you to learn of your chronology, talk to your family, involve yourself in community activities, and start giving a damn about the world around you; instead of shrinking into a small group of free-agents—acting out chapters or scenes in Lord of the Flies.

But enough of this posturing; Things will never change, until the folks get tired of it.  I guess, that's the way of the world, especially in the land of the ignorant: "Easy to be led in the wrong direction, but hard to led in the right."  For further, man vs. society in a multicultural world check out the documentary: American Experience—The Amish: Shunned on YouTube;  (I know its not us, but the math exists in parallel issues). 

And as far as the Michael Brown incident is concerned, I know Whites are upset at the looting (as I am not an advocate of such behavior), but it seems as though we can't get their attention unless we act up and hit them in the wallet.  Now that we've got the attention of America, we need to put an end to White police officers patrolling Black communities.  There is now enough training of Black officers in supervisory positions to police our own areas.  The reverse of this policy (Black police--en masse--in White neighborhoods) is totally unheard of; making White police more of a military presence in Black areas.  I know that police are for surveillance and a matter of national security, but this policy only reinforces the idea that White America believes Blacks in America are potential enemies to the state; and their presence in Black communities, is nothing more than espionage.  WE ARE TIRED OF WHITE OFFICERS MISUNDERSTANDING OF BLACK PEOPLE [PARTICULARLY OUR YOUTH], ENDING UP IN OUR DEATHS WITHIN OUR OWN COMMUNITIES.  How can we ever feel that police are in our areas for our protection, when they are not only not part of our community, but know very little of our ethnicity?  This should be the first thing that should be addressed, once this civil unrest is handled by the appropriate authorities.

Once again, I leave you with a song.

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace.                                    

  

     Tribute To The Martyrs

I don't know why it takes death to galvanize us; but it does.  The sad thing about it is, its now taking several deaths.  My heart goes out to the Brown family for the lost of their son, and the subsequent death of others--in other cities--to help us understand this thing is real; and what they do to us in one place, will be done to the rest of us; no matter where we live.   

I have been talking about the need of a sense of belonging and a real Black community within America; and their sacrifice is our moment of truth and our shining hour: What are we going to do?

In the past, James Brown would have spoken to the multitude, like he did when Martin Luther King was gunned down, like a thug and a trouble maker.  Jim Kelly would have met with Kareem Abdul Jabar and several other athletes, to decide what the athletes were going to do about this travesty, like Lebron James did on the Trayvon Martin case.  But, so far--nothing.  Or Richard Pryor, Dick Gregory and George Carlin would have laid down the truth in comedic satire.  As Harry Belafonte would have made some public addresses, and spoke to many others  in the guild concerning taking more roles for social change--but these are different times now.  

As a dynamic young Blackman, Rashon, recently pointed out to me, "Dr. Martin Luther King did quite a radical thing by galvanizing a group of Southern ministers for civil rights and mobilizing Christians from around the nation to non-violently protest against inequality and social injustice."  Yet Dr King and his followers were met with the violence of racism, by the ones who claim to be Americans, in every city that they marched peacefully through.  The world watched, as the media projected the gruesome scene, which lay bear the actual fact: That even though the protest was carried out non-violently, there was not going to be any peace among the two groups.

Most of the members were jailed several times, and Dr. Martin Luther King lost his life, non-violently attempting to get the same liberties and rights as any person in America should have; as the world watched the dominant culture's reply.  John Coltrane told us about it, in a powerful piece called Alabama.  Billy Holiday wept in a piece called Strange Fruit.

The message White America sent, was very embarrassing to this country--world wide--yet it was still sent by those who felt violence properly identified their sentiments.  It was a bloody, ill-spirited message; but the press covered it.  It was ugly, hateful and violent; as the world watched in horror.  Police dogs were violently released on innocent people.  Troops were called in, as large numbers of White Americans reacted to the non-violent protests.  Firemen shot powerful surges of water into crowds of non-violent protesters, marching for many of the rights and liberties, we Blacks have in America today.  Before this time, America was a segregated society.  There were places where Blacks in America could not go: Restaurants that Blacks could not frequent; movie theaters, dance halls, and arenas that Blacks would never enter--even though many of their own people performed in them; to entertain Whites. 

There were two, segregated, unequal societies in America at the time, but America claimed to represent "Freedom in the New World."  Somehow, we want to believe that a uniform "magically" transforms a person; that a man can put on black robes, transform, and suddenly judge another man--without bias or prejudice; or that a police officer can uphold the law, without letting his personal sentiments override and abuse his position of authority; Just because a law is written in the books, that there will be someone within the dominant culture to enforce it.  Surely, Black people have seen enough of those contradictions. 

I often ask myself, "Why does their have to be sacrifices like these, before we, as a people, respond?"  It must have to do with what we believe in.  Back then, it was a promise.  Not all Whites were behind what happened during the Civil Rights era, but it wasn't enough to stop segregation from occurring in this country decades before.  The way I see it (as Rashon intimated), is credit and creditability: America lost all of its creditability around the world, when the media saw what happened to Dr. Martin Luther King and his followers during the peaceful protest.  She was embarrassed by the way she looked and unable to handle our ethnicity--our Blackness--so she promised us she would honor our Civil Rights, threw in laws such as Affirmative Action, an end to Red-lining, and gave us better paying jobs alongside Whites, and access to credit; and we went for it, hook, line and sinker.  

  Credit?     

Yes, a chance to get credit cards straight from White-owned banks.  Remember, during Segregation, you could only use "Colored Banks," and only live in "Colored Neighborhoods."  Now you could get a better paying job, a loan and credit cards, and move right next to White people.  The effect was two-fold: the Black banks lost many of their customers to the false hopes of racial equality, while our savings went into "somebody else's hands"--which gave us the impression; If we could be guaranteed to be hired by them, live next to them, and get loans and credit to buy what they have--that we were equal to them.  The effect of pulling our money away from Black banks, Black enterprises and Black neighborhoods, had the same effect as when Jackie Robinson left the Negro League for Major League Baseball; a whole institution crumbled, breaking the spirit of many.  Some of our people got a good job, and a home in the suburbs; and forgot all about their social, political and economic responsibility to our own Black people living in America.

  What's wrong with individuals securing a fortune for themselves?   

First of all, anytime one's progress and freedom is being bankrolled by someone else, you are in trouble.  When somebody gives you something on credit or loan, there's always the possibility of it being repossessed.  Secondly, "If you dance to the music, you have to pay to the piper."  In other words, none of these things were granted, without strings attached; and nobody wants to be a puppet on a string.  The Civil Rights struggle is a serious multi-prong struggle for our destiny as human beings in America.  I use the word, "Is," because the struggle is ongoing in America.  Our people were tired of our lives being controlled by another group of people, who made themselves rich from our labor.  The Civil Rights Movement consisted of non-violent  and defensive, protective elements.  The Civil Rights struggle also included legal battles, educational battles, political battles aimed at creating legislation to support social change, etc.  All of these things required funding.  Those who were without, sacrificed to make it so, and those who had, didn't have as much as their White counterparts--so they too were willing to fight to improve their lot; but all of that changed with the illusion of integration; when it made more sense to work on autonomy or self-determination.

There were some Blacks who wanted to integrate into the society at large or White society, and those who knew, by the violent reactions of Whites to the Civil Rights Movement, that true racial equality would never happen in this country.  Certainly we can see which numbers believed in the promise of integration on the part of Whites because we--like the South Africans--attempted to go along with the government's proposal towards integration; but all the means of navigating that integrative process was still controlled by the dominant culture.   

Since most of the lasting changes towards the illusion of integration, was done through the legal system; in order to preclude these gains from reverting back to segregation and inequality or chaos, each generation of Black people would have to insert Black politicians into the system or government; whose sole purpose would be to serve as vanguards to safeguard our newly gained rights within the American power structure.  Since America's motivation towards negotiation was to change the world's image and perception, as soon as the image was in place, and written laws of Affirmative Action were on "the books"--several of the Civil Rights leaders [particularly the integrationists] received good jobs and/or positions of power; the opiate was complete.  

Andrew Young, Ralph Abernathy, and Julian Bond are perfect examples of the types of jobs obtained by Civil Rights leaders during our struggle for freedom.  As a matter of fact, some of our Black activists, drunk from power, position, and individual accomplishments--became lavish, lazy and like the Queen and many members of England nobility--they became just figure heads and remnants of their former selves.  It is easier to appease a handful, than to serve a multitude.  Svengali is in full affect, y'all.  

Funny, but every time the economy goes awry in this country, or money gets tight for the dominant culture in this society, America has frequently had outburst of several acts of violence perpetrated by White America on Blacks throughout the country--often carried by the ones who are uniformed to uphold the law or city and state officials; thus creating travesties of various kinds, while using the press to distort the image; often by blaming the victim or making our people look-like criminals. Thus, making it appear as though being a criminal, thief, or thug is justification for White officers to kill unarmed young men, rather than arrest them; because the officers claim to be scared [maybe the government shouldn't hire so many cowards to be law enforcement officers].  By doing this, the bigot, ethnocentric racial element hopes to dissuade the liberal element within White society not to take action on behalf of the slain Black persons; like Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown.

My central concern, however, is the posture and attitude of our youth today in such trying times.  I spoke of opiates earlier: one should really investigate The Opium Wars in China--perpetrated by the English--to really get a clear mental picture of the effect.  Let's suffice to say, "America has a habit of giving firewater to the natives to ease their pain, rather than giving real assistance."  Drugs always find a way of waffling its way into Black communities in America, even though we do not own ships, submarines, etc., large enough to supply such a huge volume.  This last drug, "Crack," has devastated many Black communities.  The target group were primarily of the age synonymous to the age of someone who could be a parent of the so-called, Generation X children.  This being so, many of these parents gave up on their children, and many of these children gave up on going to their parents to discuss anything.  This led to the so called, Generation Y children, who seem to have a total disregard for tradition or wisdom that came before them; typified by making up life as they go along.  Most of our youth are totally unaware of everything above this paragraph; and only the wisest of them will even read this! 

Traditionally, younger Blacks have often been taught by older Blacks of "how to navigate through White America, while being Black"--but our new Back youth have also interfaced with White youth, who seemingly do not have all the bigotry and racial hangups that their parents have--and are, therefore, rebelling against their parents as well.  Manners, social graces are being compromised, partially because of rebellion and partially because many are of the computer generation; which consists of staying in the house, playing video games, and communication through Facebook, Twitter, and being generally oblivious to what is going on in the world around them--since they generally do not watch the news, read the newspapers or receive much intellectual stimulus past the few short lines that can be texted or tweeted. 

  So, what's wrong with that?   

What this has done is create a generation gap, where the knowledge of how to deal with hidden and blatant racism--perpetrated by elder Whites--is not perceived appropriately, nor handled in the appropriate manner; since following tradition is not a strong point of anyone under 50 these days.  This coupled with "keeping it one hundred" [a slang used to describe frankness which borders rudeness and lacking in social grace] is often being employed.  In the past, American media--particularly blaxploitation films--often descended down to depicting all Black people (especially in the inner-cities) as seedy characters, violent characters, pimps, prostitutes, rapists, looters, murderers, and thieves.  This propaganda often created fear in White people and White communities; particularly where there is little to no multi-cultural interaction.  So you take a White person like this, dress him in a uniform and send him out to patrol in Black areas; and you have a cop whose half-cocked to react inappropriately to anything that resembles any stereotype that might be in his psyche; needless to mention those Whites who are bigots and racists who hide behind uniforms and sheets.  Now you combine this type of officer of the law with the naiveté of many of our youth to what came before their era, and this spells a recipe for disaster:  One wrong word could set it off; and both could be totally unaware of any wrong doing in their approaches.

The problem is, the deck is uneven right from the start.  We are black people living in a White world called America, which operates by regurgitated European values and Western ways; which has nothing to do with Black ethnicity or a full understanding of so-called African-American ways.  Generally speaking, we are treated as an inconvenience; tolerated--at best.  We have had to cope with this position for centuries; longer than America has been a free nation, to be right and exact.  "You cannot go up against an army with a handgun" [LL Cool J].  

Once a White man puts on a uniform, he is believed to be a sworn officer of the law, knowledgeable of how American law works and is supported by the judicial system--way overtop of how the judicial system protects the rights of Black people in America who believe they are equal citizens.  As they say in many southern states: "I am the law."  Those who were raised by Black family tradition know to try to get past any situation (even being "pulled over") without incident or "accident."  Naive ones walk where "Angels fear to tread."  Is this right?  No.  Is this real?  Yes it is, each and everyday of a Blackman's life.  It is important, young brothers, to be politically correct, or face being a martyr--and most of them are dead: Best we can do is defend your honor after you are gone. 

.  Conclusion?   .

The captions on the above pictures are "mad real."  But instead of pushing this feeling of being disconnected to the back of our minds, we need to work at building communities where we are the number one citizens and the officers protect our own self-interests and ways of governing ourselves.  Exodus.  Do your own thing; in the long run, it reaps better rewards. Remember, all these things start with a thought: Sovereignty, the real tribute.

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace.                                    

The Big Deal

I have a concern here today, and its sort of like REM's [the group called Rapid Eye Movement], “Losing My Religion,” but on a grander scale.  Today, we are losing our mores and values as a culture of people, living in a multicultural society.  Now, this might not sound like much to some of you—but if you were a little older, you would know the benefits of having an older brother or sister, or talking to a father or mother about significant things.  Top on the list of benefits, is the familiarity with customs (or ways of doing things) and/or procedures; aka, the knack of things: "Doing this sort of thing will get you that, this will get you in trouble, etc."  Second on that list, is heritage and traditions which were passed down through generations—aka, the Myers family has always done things this way, the Johnsons have always done things this way—Black people in America have always done things this way; that type of stuff.

The primary reason for being concerned, is that today many children are not finding this type of stuff valuable.  There is a growing urge for many of today's youth, to come up with their own way of doing things.  Yes, every generation, in their youth, were a little rebellious—however, generations which came before seem to know that, "There's nothing new under the sun" or that which is considered "innovative," is really a new twist on old things.  However, today's youth seem so very unaware of this phenomena—either that, or they just don't want to believe in it.  Everyone knows man is composed of past, present, and future phases; societies and civilizations have them as well.  Simply put, you can't know where you are going, if you don't know where you've been; the future is built upon such concepts: It is called improvements.  If you don't have any prior knowledge of things, then you are encountering things with a certain naiveté.  True, experience is the best teacher, but wise advice can save you considerable time and bruises.  That's where the benefit of having parents and siblings come into play; this is where extended family and community come into play—to provide you with the accumulated experiences of your whole family.  Family customs often contain extracted knowledge and wisdom from the underlying significances of their encounters; it's basically a knowledge of what came before, to better equip you for life's little "surprises."

Nevertheless, our youth aren't willing to take advice from the generation before them; they seem far too willing to be ambushed, by the "hidden dragons" that surround making decisions.  They seem to be unaware that there are predators out there, who will take advantage of a person's inexperience with the art of persuasion.  Many are sexually ambivalent.  They enter into their adult life, with less coping skills than the child who accepted the rearing provided by their parents, their community and their siblings; no wonder there are record numbers of depression among younger generations.  They are not sure of what their social responsibility is to each other as members of a generation, relationship, or family.  They are far-too willing to disregard the social taboos of a given society, but far less willing to take the backlash that comes along with it.  It would seem as though, they are waiting for the world to admit it was wrong and adjust the stigma and attitude, so they can feel comfortable for violating the mores and values of that society (as absurd as that might seem).  In short, today's youth are simply ill-equipped for the world they're living in—subsisting mainly in a pseudo-fantasy world of Facebook, Twitter, video games, and smartphones--viewing adult movies made about retro-super heroes and high-tech special effects; having no recognition of who created these worlds, their ulterior motive was in doing so, or the consequence of their habitual participation in such things.

Every man (and woman), has a right to decide their own destiny; and in this judgment there is no fascist posturing.  Bob Marley said something to that effect, when he wrote the lyrics to his song about the liberation of the so-called African country of Zimbabwe.  As a matter of fact, all cultures may have different or varying approaches to a great number of things, we believe to be true—and that is perfectly normal.  We do not have to argue about that; Each person or nation should be able to consider, put their theories to the test, and see what the results bring about; and if it is not too crucial—we may even learn to live with the fact that others (people, cultures, etc.) don't see or do things the way that we do.  However, in terms of a culture versus an individual or group of individuals—should the persons be problematic to that culture or should it present too many issues in which the culture or society finds that those type of views uproots the society's core values—then, ipso facto [by the facts themselves], those views are detrimental to that society; and therefore has no place within that structure.  Even within the United States, political heretics are often put to death or banished from the country [Assata Shakur is one such example].  Man is not an animal or automaton (although some Whites believe otherwise); he is not a slave to instinct: he can chose to do otherwise: However, culture is a structural confine, built off of the consensus and experiences of group of people; and when these experiences are socially accepted—they become tradition.  It is all right to challenge that tradition for its veracity; to keep things upright, but the results must be a more appropriate finding—one we can all live with; one more in keeping with the truth.

There has always been ethnocentrism in the world; an ethnocentric view, is a view based upon the ideas and beliefs of one culture; often used to judge other cultures.  In some aspects, it's a little like how a person views his or her self-esteem: Everyone believes in their mind, what they are doing is right or the most appropriate thing; under the circumstances—however, the reality may be far from it.  Now, really, everybody has the right to believe what they want to believe, and none can stop this process from occurring in other people’s thought processes.  This idea, however, does not become a problem, until we interact with each other and therefore have to come to some consensus or agreement, as to what works between the two of us; then, that is when we find out who is who and what is what—and/or run into conflicts in philosophy.

When we look at what is happening in America—in terms of its sexual revolution—a lot of it has European/Viking traditional behavior and Western class structure overtones (which should come as no surprise since it's ruling class originates from European caucasian stock).  No one can question the influence of France upon the total outcome, because they have been liberal in that regard.  Anyone who has ever viewed the movies Victor/Victoria or Liza Minnelli's Cabaret, knows England and Germany has had its share.  In the movie, Midnight Express, there's evidence of a Scandinavian encounter with such values.  Although I can't say much about Russia, or the Slavic Nations, because I grew up amongst the "Iron Curtain" era and forced to a certain amount of naiveté.  Nonetheless America's sexual revolution is a revolt, and certainly, there can be no war without financial backing—and to this point, the rich is definitely culpable; in terms of both proclivity and financing of such causes.  One has only the personage of former Vice-President Chaney's daughter and Rock Star Cher's daughter, to consider the possibility.
   

In the creative fields, there has always been a proclivity for those of the alternative sexual persuasion, to flock to its outlets; particularly in the area of fashion, interior design, theater and movie making, dance, architecture, etc.; Therefore as numbers increase, more product will be produced, which will reflect such values (or lack thereof); given adequate resources (such as financial backing, desire, etc.).  The same goes for literary and scholarly pursuits, as a means of promotion.  These things appear to be making so much leeway, simply because it involves Whites, which make up the majority of Americans, along with the rich—which has the most influence in American politics; Why even minority of Whites is greater than the whole Black population in America. . .  However, just because more movies and sitcoms are made on the subject, by those who have the financial backing, does not mean or translate into, social acceptance of the part of members of that society.  In some cases, it can merely mean that something is being constantly “shoved down our throats” by the more affluent, simply because they have the resources to do so.  

There's a large number of people in America who recognize that every person has a choice to believe or choose what they want, however, if understanding is what those who choose differently are looking for—I seriously doubt if they will ever get it; There are too many social, political, religious, cultural, scientific, economic and ethnocentric reasons why it won't.   Most will agree to disagree and be politically correct—but this will not translate into social acceptance—just silence on the subject.  But in this case silence does not mean acquiescence.

We can never lose track of the fact that Blacks in America and Western or White America are two entirely different people.  We are two different people, and since slavery, American society has been dictating and altering our destiny with Western values.  However, our ethnicity is neither tacit or fluently understood in this country—despite our long sojourn here [since 1555].  All our struggles in this country, has been struggles trying to get the Western man to be fair and just to our people, while considering our point of view.  Whites in America have their own heritage, customs, and traditions, and this ideology or philosophy is not like our own; in many cases—these differences might be diametrically opposed to our way of considering things.  Not that there's any thing wrong with that; each can have their own point of view—but tolerance, acceptance and understanding are wholly different topics.  Just the fact that we have French speaking neighbors to one border, and Spanish speaking neighbors to the other—and yet, most Americans only speak one language, says volumes about American understanding.  Grouping a destiny of one of it's ethnic groups (Blacks), along with issues concerning America's opinions on gender and sexual preference (all being labeled Minority), is another.  This act shows a gross lack of sensitivity on the subject, on the part of the American government.  But the reason why more consideration can be given to the topic of alternative lifestyles, lies in the fact that it has always been included in Western culture, socially, politically, and economically—what we are experiencing is the American explosion.

The way that Europe looks at alternative lifestyles, has never been the way that Central Asia and the Middle East views the same subject.  In a movie called, Little Big Man, the Cheyenne people [a particular sect or tribe of Native Americans], upon experiencing a man who felt womanly intimacy towards another of the same sex—simply chose not to give the act a name, nor accommodate him in the sexual considerations; just considered his spirituality!  The Cheyenne did not deny that the phenomena existed within their society, nor were there major repercussions from this male not undergoing their rights of passage; they simply did not label his proclivities, because it had no place in their society structure.  He was free to pursue life as he saw fit, but his actions were not absorbed into their cultural structure.  However, this is not the case in terms of Germany, England, France, Switzerland and Nordic or Viking culture—nor was this the way of ancient Greece or Rome.   As a matter of fact, all Europe has a different perspective than the Cheyenne people concerning this subject of alternative lifestyles.  To me, Europe displays a lot of sexual ambiguity, where this topic is concerned—but that’s their prerogative: different from mine—but definitely their prerogative.

Ever hear the statement, "It's my world, you're just visiting?"  This is essentially Black people's role in America: The problem is, we go through identity crises on a continual basis, as a people: we keep forgetting to behave like bystanders to American activity.  Most foreigners never lose track of that fact.  They come to America, committed to the hustle—not the wantonness that Americans call freedom.  Most Chinese do not seek to integrate.  So called Africans migrate here for the earning potential to support their extended families.  Most Eastern Indians are committed to firm mercantile practices.  For these people, learning American practices are a part of navigating; not assimilation.  Neither Europeans or White Americans are in the practice of amalgamation; only utilization of other indigenous peoples to further their own interests.  Whites are quite different and most of the world knows this.  They set the trends, they follow their own path—and most of the unsuspecting get sucked in for the ride.  Our Black ancestors who were adults during Segregation knew better.  They were not being feed promises of amalgamation during the segregation period, they were being punished for wanting to be free, as opposed to working for nothing.  Racism and bigotry was not hidden, it was down right blatant!  Most of the time, Whites took advantage of Blacks because of their ignorance or inability to ask the right questions or be circumspect enough.   Some of elders are still leery of hospitals and White doctors operating on them. . .  Many of our ancestors remember what happened to Charles Drew, as well as the Tuskegee 626 project. They live during that time.  They know what happened before.  Do they know something that you don't?  The glitches in American society are destroying its own people, and many of us are also going down in the flames; thinking themselves too, as being Americans.

If following my line of reasoning in this article has become more difficult for some you, let's view this from another angle: Each human being on earth is composed from 46 chromosomes; 23 chromosomes  are derived from the male sex cells (sperm) and the other 23 are derived from the females sex cells (ovum/egg) during sex.  Despite popular belief, the real purpose of sex is for reproduction; and in this regard, spit cannot make babies.  Ones chromosomes are composed of DNA and RNA strands which are known as the instructional code for all the cells within the human body!  When it comes down to the brain cells, those chromosomes are the gene pool through which tendencies are drawn; to carry on with continuity of the family and the people.  The responsibility of the parents is to acquaint the off-spring with what came before; that is, before the child got here; the times before and the chronicles of what led up to such things.  The nature of a scientist, or one who knows, is to make predications based upon an extrapolation of the known.  Parents prepare us by teaching us how to speak, write, acquaint us nursery rhymes, philosophy, antidotes and coping skills, how to behave and keep continuity with the society we are incarnated into; in other words, general civilization.  Each parent—themselves—is an off-springs from their different families and philosophical perspectives.  And If done properly, if the union endures; both the father and mother will be the linchpin which unites two families—making the child is the product of such a union. 

If family lineage is a lineal descent from an ancestor (and it is), then all it’s off-springs are a progression, a sentence or line from the "statement" that the ancestor is or represents.  It stands to reason that the ancestor should guide us, since the family line is his statement; and he knows what came before which composes what we see here.  And the two lineal statements, which the families represent—are united—through the child; by means of both parents. . .  Our parents and our older siblings are more inclined to have encountered what we are destined to meet, than our resourcefulness to efficiently handle something we have no previous knowledge of:  In other words, if we don't get guidance from our family, we are walking through life and various ambushes, blindfolded, and wondering why we keep tripping!

Today's twenty-year-olders are stumbling through life, tripping, trying to make it up as they go along; without a clue as to how these things are constructed, or will be the impact of their decisions in the future.  Generally, today's young will not take the advice of a person or sibling four years their elder; often screaming out, "I know, I know!"  Well, if you know better, then why don't your results reflect it or why don't you do better? After all, if you don't want the effects, don't produce the cause of the problem or issue.  But that's just it; no one wants to take responsibility for being the cause of what happens in their lives; often lying to themselves and blaming it on someone else.  Civilization is knowledge of what came before, being passed onto the youth to improve upon and make better ways for their children.  Most youth are not thinking about forming families, which is further cause of concern because families are what signals civilization—and without it we plunge into savagery.  And this doesn't exclude you thirty-something year olds. . .   At least, when we were experimenting, we had our parent's advice in our rear view mirror. 

  

I am concerned, because this "make it up as we go along" attitude leaves our youth open to predators who take advantage of naiveté.  Half of the things they are experimenting with, they won't find out until much later why it was so taboo to us "old heads."  Compounding this problem, is we live amongst caucasians in a world where they rule and we are subjected to their trends and madness.  Many of our youth take on their folly, as though the White world includes them and will protect them, but it doesn't.  Their world is dying and many of us are going right along with it, because we are not prepared to take on our own weight as a Black nation living in America.  The coast is not clear.  There is still prejudices, racism, bigotry and discrimination for you—just because you're Black; minus your naiveté that you will be protected by your American rights.  Our youth are relying on the world to be run by others, while they take advantage of all the advantages; without ever having to work for it.  Maybe that's the new parents fault for giving them too much without their children earning it; or the children's fault for being so ungrateful.  But they are certainly acting as though the world will co-sign their ignorance and foolishness by picking them up when they fall.  They are certainly in for a rude awakening.  But by then, it might be too late.  Some may even die, because of refusal to plug into their resources and heed warnings—due to their opinions, oppositional defiant disorders, and feelings of wanting to do things their way.

Here's my new word for today: 

ignoble |igˈnōbəl|adjective (ignobler, ignoblest)1 not honorable in character or purpose: ignoble feelings of intense jealousy.2 of humble origin or social status:ignoble savages.DERIVATIVESignobility |ˌignōˈbilitē| noun.ignobly |-blē| adverb



Hope you benefit from my acknowledging my new word and wisdom  

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace.