Bittersweet Memories

I remember way back when….

When the phrase was “Excuse me” and not “Excuse you”

When did the tables turn? If I am not mistaken, if you need to get by, you are the one that needs to be excused…

So much has changed since the days when I was a youngster popping gum like fireworks and exploring my old neighborhood..freely…safely….

So much has changed since children rode bicycles in packs and parents knew who their children played with because they talked over the fence, in the driveways, at the supermarket, at the schools and as they sat out on front porches sipping something light and watching their children play.

….so much has changed

I would never imagine that people would make horrendous remarks about the President of this country and nothing be done about it. Growing up I felt that it must be a crime to down talk the president because no one dared get on national television and call the president out of his name and no one definitely had the nerve or audacity to point their finger in his face….

….but I remember the time also when having a black president was only a dream….

So much has changed…I don’t like it

Dear Black Man

   Dear Black Man….

Recently as I walked around a local, historically black college I felt good…I mean truly good. After I left I realized that the reason I had been feeling so good was because I had seen so many black men on campus who were educated, charismatic, good-humored and even though I didn’t know them I was proud of them.

I was proud of them not just because they were attending college, but I was proud of them for choosing something other than the streets and  for possessing something other than a negative attitude that reflects what many people would like to believe about them.

I sat down today to continue my segment on black men and stereotypes however as I began to jot down my thoughts about how black men are profiled, stereotyped and given the title of “bad” my thoughts swayed to something black men need which is inspiration.

In a day and time when the daily news broadcast stories of black men being handcuffed, hunted down and jailed day in and day out it is good to know that not all black men are buying in to the widespread belief that black men have nothing,w ant nothing and have a future that dead ends at nothing. Black men need to realize that this world is not for them….the odds are not in their favor and the law is not their friend.

As I thought about the black men in my family and reflected back on the many stories I have heard from them of how difficult it often is just being a black man. I thought about their many stories of being pulled over by the police and harassed for no reason at all, how they have been discriminated against because their shade of black is just a little too black and how many times they just didn’t understand why being a black man seemed to come with extra baggage, a storm cloud looming overhead and a stumbling block around every corner.

I realize how hard it is being black being that I have faced my own share of discriminatory acts and outright racist actions from persons of other races, but it never even dawned on me how much harder it must be being a black man. Wow…. I never even imagined how hard it must be for the strongest to be depicted as the weakest or how incredibly disappointing it must be to see yourself labeled as the bad guy over and over again and sadly there seems to be nothing you can do about it.