Ongoing Crisis of Black Men in America (Quotes)

"Regarding Black men in America, this racist system don't give a fuck about us!" - Rapper

"To be male, poor, and African-American is to confront on a daily basis a deeply held racism that exists in every social institution. No other demographic group has fared as badly, so persistently and for so long.” - Camille Busette

"Black men in America have faced a far more dire situation than is portrayed by current common socioeconomic statistics; far more dire than the brutal racist murder portraits of George Floyd. Since the end of slavery, from the Reconstruction era to the Post Civil-Rights era up to this present day a period of 157 years, massive numbers of Black men have been repressed, attacked, murdered, marginalized, criminalized, jailed, neglected, excluded, sickened, distressed, and died prematurely." - Kenny Anderson

"Provisional life expectancy estimates from February 2021 suggest that Black men had the greatest decline in life expectancy from 2019 to 2020 (3.0 years). This decline is more than half of a year greater than the next closest groups—Hispanic men (−2.4 years) and Black women (−2.3 years). In 2019, Black men already had the shortest life expectancy of any racial/ethnic and sex group (71.3 years). If this difference holds for the full year, Black men’s life expectancy in 2020 will have dropped to be almost as low as it was in 2000 (68.2 years1). And yet, these findings have not warranted explicit programmatic or policy intervention. Black men’s health and mortality remain hidden in plain sight." - Derek M. Griffith, PhD, Christopher S. Holliday, PhD, MPH, Okechuku K. Enyia, MPH

Check out Black T-shirts like these and more at https://www.teepublic.com/user/black-expressions

Black Men Be Strong It's A Beautiful Thing

Black History Month Thoughts on the COVID-19 Pandemic

 by Kenny Anderson

To Black men and Black Folks in general the COVID-19 Pandemic has been tragic for us; many premature deaths have occurred and many more will be occurring; too many Black Lives Mattered love ones lives have been lost. This Pandemic has brought out and amplified emotional distress particularly depression and anxiety in us; yes too many of us have become 'uninspired'.

Since this is Black History Month let us take out some serious time for self-reflection to reflect on our enslaved Ancestors who had to daily endure a white supremacy slave pandemic for 246 years; this viral pandemic we are experiencing now is in no way a comparison whatsoever to what our Ancestors faced, don't get it twisted!

What surprises me is that when I talk to some unrealistic Black folks who assume they should have struggle-free lives; that they should not have to be dealing with a virus pandemic. However things haven't been that way for our people since we were forcibly brought here.

Under white supremacy it aint worked that way for us; suffering and struggle has from past to present been our lives in America until we take the collective responsibility and end our oppression!

Indeed this COVID-19 Pandemic has shook many of us to our core, it has shook many of us to insanely deny the virus even exists or is deadly. Though we've been shook by the Pandemic there are lessons from it too:

*Life is unpredictable

*You can't take Life for Granted

*Don't put your Life on hold 'procrastinating'

*Appreciate the people in your Life

*Slowed us down to take a look at 'examine' our Life

*Exposed that we were overlooking our massive bad health

*Our inner weaknesses have been disclosed 'revealed'

*That self-care must become a main priority in our Life

*We have to find our inner Strength and Courage

*Life requires Patience, Endurance, and Resilience

Through the Spirit of 'Sankofa' during this Black History Month let us engage in 'deep reflective time travel' to fetch our past 'tapping into' the inspiration in our DNA memory that kept our enslaved Ancestors inspired through the very dark days of enslavement: immense separation, suffering, trauma, and deaths; who stayed inspired to "make a way out of no way."

During this month and everyday let us also 'conjure up' Ancestral spirits inspiration by invoking their 'Names' by pouring libations for them to be with us as a lofty inspiring 'uplifting' presence through these difficult days.

Check-Out Black History Month 365 T-shirts and Others at

https://www.teepublic.com/user/black-expressions

 

Sleeping Through A COVID-19 Ill Health Revolution

 by Kenny Anderson

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." - Martin Luther King Jr.

I'm writing this post in remembrance and recognition of the great Black social reformer Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was born today January 15, 1929.

The topic of this post addresses Black folks avoidance behavior 'ducking and dodging' the obvious need to radically change. My topic is based on a quote drawn from King's speech "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution" where he stated:

"There are all too many people who in some great period of social change, fail to achieve the new mental outlooks that the new situation demands. There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution."

In writing this post on Black avoidance behavior I could have addressed 'politically' that we have been sleeping through a racist white right-wing backlash revolution that's been ever increasing since the election of the first Black president Barak Obama in 2008.

Indeed we've been avoiding dealing with the entirety of this racist white backlash and don't have a self-determination preparedness response agenda to deal with the full ramifications of it; by default our agenda is liberal dependency and fatalism.

I decided to address that for the most part as Black folks during a great period of change like the current COVID-19 pandemic we've been sleeping 'avoiding' dealing with the ramification of how COVID has tremendously rocked us super-disproportionately both physically, mentally, and in deadliness.

Black avoidance behavior is mental 'psychological' and it has tremendous ramifications that stifles problem-solving and prevents us from addressing our 'physical' massive chronic diseases medical preconditions that COVID has attacked and glaringly exposed.

When I first read King's words "sleeping through a revolution" years ago I immediately thought of sleeping as an avoidance coping mechanism to escape change. And for many-many of problem avoiding Black folks sleep is unfortunately the only freedom that they know.

In assessing Black avoidance coping it is a maladaptive form of coping in which our folks change their behavior to avoid thinking about our bad health conditions and the challenges of doing something to improve it.

Black avoidance coping is a quick fix but becomes more stressful and exacerbates stress making it chronic without helping us deal with the things 'risk factors' that are causing our bad health stress. Thus stress only piles up becoming problematic 'overwhelming' causing depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and over-religiosity.

Moreover Black avoidance coping causes a behavior of procrastination of constantly delaying to address our critical health issues that perpetuates stress. Regarding procrastination King said essentially waiting means you'll never do what's necessary 'required'; in other words Black folks we get sicker and die in our waiting-game.

Let us remember Black folks that Dr. King was against avoidance coping, King was a proponent of 'direct action' active-behavioral coping addressing problems directly! Yes Black folks regarding our health crisis avoidance coping is extremely 'irresponsible' contributing to enormous self-diseasing and self-mortality.

For sure Black folks our massive health problems require direct action now! We can no longer afford to be sleeping through this current pandemic exposing ill health revolution, lets us wake up and go to work now to heal and save ourselves!