Why Me: Black Men Murdering Each Other

Ice Cube's 'Why Me' Lyrics

Yeay.
Wassup Crip Loco
Yeah, uh, ya niggas shot me last night
Smoked a nigga for nuttin'
What the fuck.

Why the fuck you wanna murder me? Your punk ass never heard of me
I never did nothin' to your family Still you wanna kill a young nigger randomly, You wanna take the life God handed to me Send it back to him, coz you ain't a fan to me
Scary bitch with a gun that ain't a man to me
That's an animal, a fucking cannibal
I'm Jeronimo and Hannibal, we international
Gangsta bull I'm a bull in Barcelona
With a karona
You's a fake ass nigger, where's ya owner?
I'm real live man, you a persona,
Now I'm a goner, call ma momma in the corner
Mister gun man, your plan is working
Coz niggers is dying and mommas is hurting

Why you wanna murder me?
You never ever heard of me
You don't know who I am
I could be part of your family tree, now
Sent by G.O.D
To save the word you and me
You never know who you facin'
Who ya chasin' The life you wastin'

I was made by the one and only G.O.D
To take my life to the T.O.P
Now here comes a motherfuckin' D.O.G
Who ain't happy til a nigger is R.I.P
Tryin' to be som'in' you saw on BET
Either T.I.P or B.I.G
I don't give a fuck what you saw on TV
But a 187 don't make a O.G.
I'm a O.G, never had to fake it
God gave me this, how you goin' take it
What you goin' tell 'em, when you get to heaven
When he asks you why did you send back his present.
Who the fuck are you, you motherf**king peasant
Even got the nerve to ask the man for a blessin'
Send his ass to Hades with his big Mercedes
Nigger, hell on earth is being stuck in the 80's

Why you wanna murder me?
You never ever heard of me
You don't know who I am
I could be part of your family tree, now
Sent by G.O.D
To save the word you and me
You never know who you facin'
Who ya chasin' The life you wastin'

Before you shoot me man think about it
lets go have a drink about it
Before you make a stink about it
man lets talk about it, maybe we can walk about it
But just don't be a coward
And take my life 'cause you got the power
Of the white mans gun powder
Coz you might face a gun tower
And time never run out
They take the fun out, til your life run out
So don't pull the gun out
If you ever want a house, just like Run's house
It's better than a big house
Less four-five some woman we can dig out
Find a place we can pig out
Party all night, til the owner say 'get out'

Why you wanna murder me?
You never ever heard of me
You don't know who I am
I could be part of your family tree, now
Sent by G.O.D
To save the word you and me
You never know who you facin'
Who ya chasin' The life you wastin'

Dedicated to all the niggers, thats dead and don't know why.
Who wanna look at the nigger that shot 'em
And ask these questions.

Why me homie? Why me?

Nipsey Hussle and Black-on-Black Male Murders

by Kenny Anderson

Let me begin by stating anytime an innocent Black man dies by murderous Black-on-Black male violence in America it’s tragic whether he works at a minimum wage job or is a rapper celebrity like Nipsey Hussle. 

For me Nipsey’s murder was tragic in this regard, he was a redemptive ex-CRIP gangbanger with Black consciousness and rare in the sense that he had recently opened up a store to revitalize his South-Central Los Angeles neighborhood to offset white gentrification. More importantly Nipsey over the years was instrumental in trying to bring BLOOD and CRIP gangs together.

Moreover Nipsey promoted STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for Black children and donated funds to various youth activities. Before his murder Nipsey revealed he was making a documentary profiling the life of Dr. Sebi a world known prominent Black male natural healer. 

Many Black folks will say Nipsey’s murder is another graphic example of senseless violence. The truth is Black-on-Black male murders make plenty of sense, yes there are factors and reasons for it. One of the primary psychological factors that internally drives Black-on-Black male murders is self-hatred! Stanley “Tookie” Williams, co-founder of the Los Angeles street gang the CRIPS stated:

“I believe the core of why so many young Black men harm and kill each other is the embedded sense of self-hate. What I mean by that is, an individual who has been spoon fed so many derogatory images of his race will, after a period of time, start to believe those images. The images I’m talking about are the stereotypes that depict the majority of Blacks as being buffoons, functional illiterates, violent and promiscuous, welfare recipients, and indolent criminals. Unfortunately, too many Black people have been brainwashed into believing these racist stereotypes. And when an individual gets to believing, ‘Well, hell, if it’s true, then I must be just as disgusting as those images that are being depicted.’ So you end up lashing out at the individual, other gang members that you consider to be part of those stereotypes. In desperation, you’re trying to obliterate that negative image to rid yourself of this self-hate monster that subconsciously stalks you. In a sense, you’re trying to purify yourself, your environment, your race.”

Black male self-hatred is compounded by a sense of powerlessness, inside Black neighborhoods most of the businesses are controlled by the economic power of foreign merchant men (Arabs, Chinese, Koreans, East Indians, etc.) and the white man’s power dominates everything else. According to Sociologist Robert Staples:

“Since institutional power and other symbols of masculinity have been denied to the majority of Black men by White racist oppression and economic exclusion. Too many Black males, especially young Black males, have compensated masculinity based on fighting, violence, and exaggerated bravado.”

Unfortunately for too many Black men in America gangs and violence is fratricidal compensatory power. Also violence becomes misplaced aggression stress release from the tremendous distress of Black male powerlessness. Too many Black males use violence to discharge accumulated internal pressure to relieve tension of recurrent feelings of rage. In a self-destructive convoluted way engaging in violence makes them feel good providing ‘catharsis relief’ and gives them a sense of power and accomplishment: ’I’m successful I killed that nigga'! 

A sense of powerlessness causes Black men to feel ‘invisible’ thus they use compensatory violence to be seen - gain ‘visibility’. For example when Black male murderers of Black men commit murders they become visible on the six o-clock news getting some news-shot fame, they finally get exposure. Eric Holder the suspected murderer of Nipsey Hussle was invisible now his visibility has gone viral. Murderous Black men like Holder finally get their recognition in a headline, momentarily they’re no longer as Ralph Ellison said the ‘invisible man’.

Furthermore powerlessness drives Black Males to be obsessed in obtaining compensated superficial symbolic power to be visible ‘all that’; constantly ‘playa-hating’ each other, rivaling and murdering each other over money, clothes, shoes, glasses, jewelry, and cars.

To just tell it like it is, Black on Black male violence has been non-stop in the post-Civil Rights and Black Power era. Indeed Black-on-Black male murders has been a normal every day way of life - a cemetery culture; as Nipsey Hussle stated: “We dealt with death, with murder; it was like living in a war zone, where people die on these blocks and everybody is a little bit immune to it."

Until we as a Black community sincerely address Black males self-hatred and powerlessness ‘internalized oppression’, something all Black folks are affected by, then Black-on-Black male murders will continue whether it’s a Black male murdered leaving his job at Burger King or a celebrity rapper like Nipsey Hussle gunned-down at his store. 

The Aggressive Emasculation of the Black Man: The Latest Assault on Our Race

by Liberty Writers Africa

There is no gain saying that there is a malicious campaign against the consciousness and self-awareness of the Black (African-Diaspora, African-American) man. There is an urgent need by some forces to rid him of his power and glory, and reduce him to a joke of his ancestry.

You see, the Black Man remains the strongest willed man on the face of the earth. He is strong in character, discipline, physic and moral. His abode has been termed the cradle of creation and the last stronghold for the survival of humanity. 

This divine attributed of the Black Man has made him a target for hundreds of years by the other races of this world (both indigenous and alien). They say to themselves: “If we can defeat the Black man subconsciously and consciously, then we can defeat him physical and spiritually.” For no race ever survives a physical battle once defeated spiritually. 

We have been attacked from all angles. We have been killed, maimed, deceived and sold. We have been shipped out to build other civilizations against our will. We have been brain washed to believe that our ancestors were murderous. And so, we abandoned their ways to hold unto the ways of the European, who has killed more humans than our ancestors ever did.

And when we thought the Black Man had seen the worst, these Vermin from the pits of hell found a way to convince our young men that masculinity can be thrown away for femininity; and that this femininity of a man with full male hormones and body parts is acceptable. 

We always swallow everything hook, line and sinker, without considering the effect on our people now and the generations to come. Now we are at the cross roads of history. What would this generation be remembered for?

Over the years, through the media and calculated campaigns, the Black children, have been thought that it is okay for a man to appear weak and behave like a sissy. 

These days, there is hardly a movie without a Black man dressed shabbily and gesticulating like a woman. It is a calculated move. Some say, there is an agenda to control world population. But we strongly think that is purely a psychological battle on the Black man. 

Now when the average 5-10 year old Black repeatedly sees these images on TV, without any rebuke from parents or elderly ones, his mind automatically says: “Oh this is cool. Everyone in the movie loves and appreciate him for behaving like a woman. And since he is a star, I would love to grow and become like him.” That is programming of the highest order and it works like magic. 

Asides the movie industry, one other industry that has been used to target the minds of the Black man, is the fashion industry. A man is supposed to dress and look a certain way. But we have seen fashion trends that removes the masculinity in men’s clothing, and replaces them with feminine attributes. And then, a Black celebrity is paid heavily to wear these cloths and make them look cool. 

Psychiatrist Dr. Frances Cress-Welsing argues that white people are threatened by Black male masculinity. History tells that initially, Black men were depicted by whites, as ultra-aggressive, dominant, rampant animals. Animals that needed “white civilization to tame them.” 

This was some of the ideologies that strengthened the Europeans and Americans consciences during slavery, and much after. To quench the threat the Black man posed, he had to be enslaved in the body and the mind. This has always been a conscious effort, and it has taken a new more aggressive form in this era. 

Although this emasculation has led many to homosexuality, this post is not focusing on homosexuality. Even those in clean suits and tie with firm muscles can be homosexuals. What we are shedding light on is the calculated attack on the self-awareness of the Black Man, to make him see himself as a man who has more feminine features and tendencies.

We, the Black race, owe it to ourselves, our children, and their unborn children, to resist this attack on our pride as a people. Over 30% of African-American men are in prison or have been spent some time in prison. 

These are fathers and husbands who have been absent in the upbringing of their children. Now imagine if another 30% begins to behave like women, and are emasculated. What do you think would be the effect on African-American society? 

Our task is a divine one, and it must be taken with all seriousness. We have a psychological war to fight. And the way it seems, we are losing already. Our first target, as a race, should be the younger generation. 

Those between 1 day of age, to 18 years are the future, and if we don’t catch them young and coach them of their noble and masculine ancestry, soon we will have men who can’t lift a hand to defend our children and women.

One other challenge, we have, is that many of our women treat this with kid gloves. When the issues are raised on social media and in communities, you would find women who say “Let them live their lives. I find nothing wrong with these men dressing like women and acting like women. It is actually cute.” 

Some other women have gone ahead to pamper and defend their boys who pick up these feminine traits. We believe their love for the boys blinds them to the real dangers of emasculation. If anyone should be crying out about this genocide on the consciousness of the Black man, it should be our mothers, wives, aunties, and sisters.

For if they don’t speak up, in the future there will be no real men to provide for and defend the family. And of course, there would be less men to get married to our women. And that would create an imbalance in our society. 

Many African tribes and nations back home, are in the fight against this odd behavior. Many governments have placed stringent laws to checkmate, the excesses of such un-African tendencies. We can say that Africa remains the last hope for the Black man’s consciousness. 

Although we can’t deny the fact that foreign governments and bodies, provide funds for the spread of these alien ideologies and behavior. They will try but they will fail. The pride, self-awareness and attributes of the negro man remains the foundation of his WILL POWER. And without will power, we are doomed.

Black History Month: Indeed We Stand on the Shoulders of Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors – Ashe!

by Kenray Sunyaru

In the Memory of All of Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors both known and unknown; who dared all, sacrificed all, shouldered all, and died for our struggle for freedom and self-determination we venerate and salute all of you! 

Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors Shouldered:

*Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors ‘shouldered’ carried the burden of our oppression ‘white supremacy’.

*Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors ‘shouldered’ the weight during slavery and afterwards of making a way out of no way; their shoulders were the bridge that helped us cross over the daily turbulent white waters of persecution.

*Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors ‘shouldered’ took on the massive challenge to struggle against racial oppression.

*Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors ‘shouldered’ pushed forward ‘striving toward freedom’ against all odds of racial oppression.

*Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors ‘shouldered’ applied themselves vigorously for self-determination; made consistent concentrated resistance efforts for freedom.

*Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors ‘shouldered’ cooperated with each other shoulder to shoulder in mutual aid.

*Our Freedom-Fighting Ancestors ‘shouldered' speaking truth to power; frankly exposing the oppressors and talking to us candidly - telling it like it is ‘straight from the shoulder’.

Let us take time this Black History Month to honor our Freedom Fighting Ancestors ‘Shoulders’, let them inspire us to strengthen our own shoulders to continue their legacy of shouldering. 

Let us daily remember our Freedom Fighting Ancestors and our responsibility to them by touching our shoulders throughout the day to be mindful of our purpose.

MLK Holiday Reflection: Majority of Whites Don’t Want to Discuss – Deal With Racism

by Kenny Anderson

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was racially murdered - politically assassinated over 50 years ago (4/4/68), King’s birthday became a U.S. national holiday in 1983 thirty-six years ago and racial equality for most Blacks in America today still remains just a romantic dream.

I believe racial equality is elusive in one aspect because the definition of racism remains unclear and narrow as a major ongoing topic of discussion. The problem is most whites define racism as prejudiced attitudes toward Blacks or having a hateful attitude like a Klansman; this definition is simplistic and limited in scope.

The scope of racism has several attitudinal expressions beyond discrimination and hate: condescending, paternalistic, indifference, pseudo-benignness, victim blaming, and paranoia (Negrophobia). Most importantly racism is ‘power privilege’, not only do whites receive exalted ego gratification or ‘psychic income’, they received the benefits of ‘material income’ as well. Thus racism becomes the reactionary ideas and attitudes that justify white-skin privilege.

Based on the expanded definition that I have presented, it would be very naive on the part of Blacks to think most whites want to honestly discuss racial equality. How can there be racially equality when white power privilege causes racial inequality? In my estimation racism boils down to the covert and overt disrespectful attitude that most whites have toward Blacks due to their dominant advantage.

From my perspective, as long as Blacks continue to appeal for racial equality by attempting to change the racist attitudes of whites through dialogue then the focus of our struggle will continue to only produce the creation of human relations workshops, classes on racism, commissions to study racism or maybe some temporary social programs. 

“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn. The reality of substantial investment to assist Negroes into the twentieth century, adjusting to Negro neighbors and genuine school integration, is still a nightmare for all too many white Americans. These are the deepest causes for contemporary abrasions between the races. Loose and easy language about equality, resonant resolutions about brotherhood fall pleasantly on the ear, but for the Negro there is a credibility gap he cannot overlook. He remembers that with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that the Negro has come far enough. Each step forward accents an ever-present tendency to backlash." – Martin Luther King, Jr.

There's always room for sincere dialogue between Blacks and whites concerning racial equality. However, according to white sociologist Robin Di’Angelo it’s hard for whites to have honest conversations with Blacks regarding racism due to whites’ thin-skinned defensive reactions.

In her new book ‘White Fragility’ Di’Angelo argues that most white people consider having a frank conversation about racism would be a challenge to their racial worldview - as a challenge to their identities as good moral people. 

Yes, truthfully discussing racism makes most whites uncomfortable, so they avoid genuine conversations about racism; they view it as making them feel guilty, they take it personal - they feel attacked. 

For most whites if you don’t talk about racism then it doesn’t exist and many more of them are tired of talking about racism - it’s annoying! Furthermore there is a racial divide when in it comes to defining racism, as Dr. King stated: 

“There's not even a common language when the term equality is used. Negro and white have a fundamental different definition. Negroes have proceeded from the premise that equality means what it says and have taken white Americans at their word when they talked of it as an objective. But most whites in America, including many person of goodwill proceed from a premise that equality is a loose expression for improvement. White Americans are not even psychologically organized to close the gap; essentially it seeks only to make it less painful and less obvious but in most respects to retain it. Jobs are harder and costlier to create than voting rolls. Eradication of slum housing million is complex far beyond integrating buses and lunch counters.”  

From my perspective, trying to convince whites about racism and waiting to get them to agree on a common definition of racism is a road to nowhere. As Blacks our primary focus should be on self-determination developing our own equality.

Even if a miracle occurred and all whites stop being racist today most Blacks will still be faced with the same political, economic, and sociocultural crisis that racial oppression caused yesterday.

Blacks Can’t Wait on Whites for Racial Equality

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “Why We Can't Wait.” King’s declaration reflected his deep disappointment and impatience with this country's slow pace of progress toward eradicating racial inequality and segregation.

King realize that Blacks in 1963 had made little progress declaring “Why We Can't Wait.” King affirmed the politics of Black self-reliance and the tactical use of nonviolent direct action to end segregation in southern cities.

King wanted to emphasize to Blacks that political inactivity and neglecting our self-responsibility will only postpone our progress in the struggle against racial oppression.

Moreover, King understood that the Civil Rights Movement was relative, that Civil Rights legislation was no panacea, and that the Civil Rights struggle was not a total victory, as King stated: 

“In assessing the results of the Negro Revolution so far, it can be concluded that Negroes have established a foothold, no more. Negroes have fought and won, but our engagements were skirmishes, not climactic battles. Negroes have not yet paid the full price for freedom.” 

I believe King’s declarative statement why we can't wait, is more relative today than when it was stated over 55 years ago. The crisis of most Blacks in the post-Civil Rights era is a result of the assumption ‘false expectation’ that after the Civil Rights struggle Black progress would be on a continual basis.

As Blacks continually waited on white liberalism and the democratic party for dependent progress to occur we left unattended the growing unprecedented socioeconomic problems that were emerging internally in our communities due to our unfounded belief that external aid would be coming. 

In the process of depending on government agencies and private employers for intervention progress, federal affirmative action policies were being eliminated and social services funds were being slashed; while corporations were downsizing massive jobs disproportionately affecting Blacks.

Indeed, the socioeconomic problems have been in full bloom in most Black communities engulfing our people in an unending cycle of joblessness, poverty, welfare, broken homes, homelessness, drugs, sickness, violence, and mass imprisonment.

Due to our self-determination neglect especially under the Black president ‘Obama’ who manipulated, pacified, and neglected Black folks; unrealisitcally depending on him for a ‘change we could believe in’; we responded negatively ‘hope only’ resultantly our challenges grew seemingly to be insurmountable. 

Our challenge now under ‘Trumpism’ white nationalism backlash and beyond is to transform our negative inactions into positive actions. Yes, there is an extreme emergency in so many Black communities; with urgency we must develop intervention strategies and some Black Panther Party like survival programs to assist millions of Black folks who are at-risk.

A sudden change is needed to improve our perilous situation; if we don't act now too many of our communities will continue on a downgrading cycle of deterioration, despair, and deaths. 

Black Police Are Just as Likely as White Officers to Kill Black Men

by Kenray Sunyaru 

New research shows that Black police are just as likely as white police to kill Black suspects concludes research led by Charles Menifield, dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark titled "The killing of Black suspects is a police problem, not a white police problem."

Black Police Contribute to Black-on-Black Male Deaths

The research reports that while some officers may by driven by personal prejudice, the bias that can serve as a catalyst for killings is more institutional than individual. Menifield and his colleagues constructed a database of all confirmed incidents in which deadly force was used by police in the United States during 2014 and 2015. 

The research includes detailed information on both the officer and victim. They found a huge racial disparity when it comes to who gets killed by officers. While only about 13 percent of the American population is Black, 28 percent of people killed by police are Black.

The victims were overwhelmingly male (95.5 percent), the majority of officers in these situations were white. They report this reflects the fact that America's police forces are disproportionately made up of whites, who account for approximately three-quarters of all officers.

Crunching the numbers, the researchers report white police officers actually kill Black and other minority suspects at lower rates than we would expect if killings were randomly distributed among officers of all races. 

They found that nonwhite officers kill both Black and Latino suspects at significantly higher rates than white officers. This is likely due to the fact that minority police officers tend to be assigned to minority neighborhoods, and therefore have more contact with minority suspects."

Researchers believes that the disproportionate killing of Black suspects is a downstream effect of institutionalized racism within many police departments. Disproportionate killing is a function of disproportionate police contact among members of the Black community.

According to them if a certain percentage of such encounters between the police and public end in tragedy, and police are more likely to come into contact with Black citizens (for instance, ordering Black drivers to pull over at higher rates than whites), it stands to reason that Black civilians are at greater risk of ending up dead.

From this writer’s angel - perspective it’s not surprising that Black police officers kill Black men more often than white officers; No, it’s not shocking that many Black police officers kill Black men no different than Black overseers killed Black male slaves on the plantation; no different than Black gang-bangers killing each other. Black male victims of racism internalize racial oppression and become Black victimizers. 

Many Black police officers harbor both conscious and unconscious disdain for Black men; Black officers shooting Black men shows white officers they are loyal to ‘Blue over Black’. 

Many Black police officers knows it’s acceptable to kill Black men - it’s an intregal aspect of policing culture in America. Black police officers know Black men’s lives are less valuable because they too face racism on the job; some of them have been killed by their fellow white police officers. 

Black men are a soft target for Black police officers power-tripping superiority (badge and gun), frustration, and stress. These Black officers rarely kill white men because know that’s not acceptable and if they did kill a white man in the line of duty they will be scrutinize more. 

Many Black police officers like many Blacks in general under white supremacy have been programmed as H. Rap Brown said to have an anti-Black attitude of 'Die Nigger Die' toward Black men. 

********************************************************

“When you are filled with self-hate your mind is reversed. Meaning you will love the things that destroy you, and you will hate the things that advance your growth." – Dr. Amos Wilson

The Miseducation of a Black American Boy

by Justin Patton

Question Everything!!

I never questioned the information because I didn’t know that I had to. The fact that I could be taught something that was wrong was not even a thought in my mind. 

I figured if it was in a history book it must be true. As a kid, never was I given the impression that everything needed to be questioned.

History

As a black boy, I knew my history started with slavery. Then after Abraham Lincoln set us free, it was civil rights. I took pride in my history because I always felt that my people were fighters. We were always the underdogs and had to fight for everything we wanted and deserved.

On the other hand, was my school force feeding me slavery like that was all black people are known for? Whether slavery or civil rights, do we always have to be looked down upon?

Let’s talk slavery in the context of how discrimination based on race laid the foundation for many under-served black and brown communities today. The Civil Rights Act was just signed 54 years ago. Our Society is not so far removed from that type of prejudice.

From my history, Africa was a big, poor country. It’s where most other black people resided and where I came from, but it’s full of poverty and corruption. That’s why it’s so important for you to call the 1–800 number and sponsor an impoverished African child for 10¢/day.

The story was never that Africa was the largest continent with the most natural resources of any land. The story was never about how exploitation of ‘the Motherland’ for those same resources has led to even more corruption and war. The same thing continues to this day.

“Taught no self-worth just the blood of slave.”

American history in school always left me feeling 3/5 human. Thankfully, my family instilled a history in me that made me proud of the lineage in which I came. 

Having parents who lived through the height of the civil rights era in the south gave me a firsthand account of how life was, and an appreciation for the people before me who fought for my freedom.

It was not until I was older that I realized Columbus didn’t discover America, and that the Pilgrims didn’t necessarily make friends with the Natives. 

It was not until I was older that I realized how history from a European point of view had shaped not only how I viewed my ancestors, but how I viewed myself.

Religion

Growing up Catholic, religion was given to me at an early age. Before I could comprehend what I was talking about, I could recite a ‘Hail Mary’ at any time. In school, we would attend mass every Friday, and we went as a family on Sundays.

While I understood the values that my religion was teaching, I didn’t understand why no one in the depictions looked like me? Not Jesus, not Mary and Joseph, nor the disciples or even the modern day popes had skin like mine. 

In religion class, the workbooks contained people with mostly fair skin. Depictions of Jesus in the church was a man with European features including white skin.

Not seeing myself in my place of worship made me feel like I wasn’t good enough at times, because it seemed like we weren’t good enough to be represented. 

Seeing images of white people (and white people only) as the most righteous people in my church and Catholic school played a part in me not appreciating my own features. 

I wanted hair like white boys because their hair moved when we played soccer. I thought having blue or green eyes was so much cooler than just plain old brown.

While the faith gave me a moral compass as a child, the miseducation came through the images which seem to reinforce the old saying that “white is right”, and since I wasn’t white, was I wrong?

Survival Tactics

If it was not for the love and belief that my family instilled in me, I’m not sure that I would be able to say today that I love the skin that I’m in. 

As a black boy in America, it is made clear that you’re at a disadvantage due to the color of your skin by the survival tactics that you’re taught early.

I was taught an early age that if I was going to succeed in life, then I had to be twice as good as other people simply because I was black. This may be the reality of our country, but it reinforced a notion that this outlook was okay. 

Like I should just accept this because that’s just the way it is. As if because of my color, I’m not good enough, therefore I must work harder.

I was taught at an early age that if I was going to survive an encounter with the police, then I need to act in the most respectable manner possible, regardless of how the cop is acting. 

Even if the cop is the aggressor, I am to obey by any mean necessary. While this is probably the best course of action, what message does that send to a young black boy when he is told to respect the cops because there’s a good chance that you could get killed for NOTHING!

“What one does realize is that when you try to stand up and look the world in the face like you had a right to be here, without knowing that this is the result of it, you have attacked the entire power structure of the Western world.” -James Baldwin

The most important survival tactic that America taught me was to know my place. My American heroes were the ones who had the audacity to speak out against injustices regarding black people, a crime obviously punishable by death as it related to Martin and Malcolm. 

I learned from Ali that no matter how hard my right hook was, standing up for a cause being black could get me thrown in jail. How could America treat these people so bad while alive, but idolize them upon their death?

The Miseducation Continues

If it was not for having a family who took pride in their skin color, and the struggles of being black in America, I’m sure that my sense of self would lack what it is today. 

Juggling a dual life of being myself around family, but tucking in my culture to fit white America’s mold created an internal conflict within me. However, it was through seeking true knowledge and self-awareness that I was able to counter (and still countering) this conflict within.

Having gone through America’s educational system up to the point of receiving advanced degrees, I have spent much of my adult life unlearning much of the information, and seeking different perspectives rather than just American perspectives on events throughout history. 

I’ve tried my best to erase images in mind that make black Americans feel less than, and replace them with knowing the impact black people have had on American culture. I combat the negative notions of black people by creating content that uplifts not only the black race, but the human race.

What’s most disappointing about my miseducation, is that I can still see how the cycle continue. Politicians make slavery references, and speak in code as if we do not hear them. The media shows images of black men being gunned down by police over and over again, and cops getting away with it. 

We are still taught Columbus discovered America, like he didn’t kill off many natives. We celebrate Thanksgiving like it’s a time of joy, when it was a actually a time of suffering for black and brown people.

Imagine how these images and stories shape the psyche of a black American boy?

While there are a lot more positive images of black people in America in the media, as executives, and as leaders in public policy, we still have a ways to go. 

Until we can address deep rooted race issues in America that keep black and brown people at a disadvantage economically, financially, educationally, and even mentally, race relations will continue being an issue. 

Until black American boys like myself can understand their power and get a sense of self-worth through American institutions, the miseducation of who they truly are will continue.