Declaration of Thought 2012

If I sit still enough, above all other sound, I can hear echoes of past lessons. I can choose to review the seemingly insignificant moments lost in each of my days, in frightening color. I can reflect upon a journey that fertilizes the desire to smile from the inside out; to live braver than I believe possible; to force light to shine in darkness. I can elect passengers to take flight from societal bounds. My path is clear. I am a change agent. I am a dream developer. I am community.

Reality has frequently served as an impasse, crushing one’s will to be different and confining thoughts to an ostensibly literal box. Everyday I have the privilege to listen to life stories and marry the moral of each fable to my walk. I hear dialogue suggesting that nothing will ever change; that individual success trumps community growth; and that praise today is sooo much better than preserving praise for tomorrow.

I wake each morning steadfast as a servant leader to the pessimistic … to the defeated.  Subsequently, I have been thoughtful about how voices come to be silenced. I’m perplexed while questioning how more hours are filled completing someone else’s goals while ignoring mines – your passion.  There’s an obvious resound that goals of family, life, and success are now formed from viable possibility and not from the latent dreams you have innocuously suppressed. Clichés supplemented by empty actions keeps status quo, society in line, the oppressed repressed, and Trayvon a movement instead of a philosophy of life.  Leaders have let change become idea and not a guarantee.

Today, I am resigned to smile each day with eyes small enough to clearly see the world. I am resigned to be grateful for small accomplishments and shifts in thought. I assert myself to be the contraceptive for a generation breeding contentment and glorification of attainability versus possibility. I pride myself on being at the helm amplifying understanding for the misunderstood. This is my declaration and re-dedication to pursue passionate happiness and respect for my voice.

With sincerity of heart – this entry is respectfully  dedicated.

Acting White Is The New Black

While making my daily trip to Bossip, I ran across this article by LaShaun Williams on Madame Niore 

http://madamenoire.com/42302/acting-white-is-the-new-black/
 

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.


What is acting white? Or, better yet, what is acting black?
Early generations of African-Americans were determined to become educated in a foreign land that worked so hard to keep them uninformed. They put their lives on the line to learn to read and write to surpass the system that kept them down. Yet today, with all of the freedom in the world, our people choose to walk in ignorance. We choose to mispronounce words and forgo proper grammar and teach our children to do the same. And when anyone pushes against this norm, we tell them they are “acting White.”

It has always amazed me that a person could be ostracized for simply speaking a language in its intended manner or choosing to wear Abercrombie and Fitch over Baby Phat. Why don’t we strive to speak the most grammatically sound English possible? Why not seek to be the most cultured and diverse group of people? Why stay confined within the walls of a ghetto mentality, striving to be less than the standard of superiority?

Being successful in this world requires solid communication skills, visible intellect and regard for physical appearance. At no point in time is the use of Ebonics, also known as self-imposed retardation, acceptable. Subject-verb agreement exists for a reason. Use it. I be doin’ dis and she be doin’ dat is a “dialect” that screams uneducated. Where has uneducated every gotten anyone? To the NBA? Sure, and then bankruptcy court because poor verbal communication skills barely get you a job at McDonald’s, less known a corporate office position. There are so many bright, young black men and women whose behavior reflects the opposite. Instead of making our intellectual value known, we hide behind the self-fulfilled stereotypes imposed on us by mainstream media. We have accepted and, sadly, embraced looking dumb—walking around looking down, mumbling words. Good posture, chin up and eye contact shows confidence…Confidence in your ability to perform.

Would The Cosby Show be an iconic American (not just African-American) television show if Claire was a gum-popping, head-swirling baby mama? Absolutely, not. President Obama did not become the first of his kind “acting black” either. Those who have experienced real, lasting success measure their blackness against standards of excellence. In this world where the global minority rules, some may call it “acting White.” If that is the case, acting White should be the new black. We cannot continue to reduce ourselves to what we see and hear from the likes of Gucci Mane, a grown man with an ice cream cone tattooed on his face.

It can be a little painful, at times, to feel alienated by your own on the basis of doing little things right that go a long way. But, what should be even more painful is spitting on the blood, sweat and tears of pride our forefathers shed to make this country and this world what they are today. If active reverence means one (maybe two) black friends at work, so be it. If it means spending less time around family members who complain you think you’re better than them, who cares.

Your blackness is not defined by mainstream society or, most importantly, mentally captive black women, boys, girls and men. If acting white means acting like a person with high standards and lofty expectations, tap dance your way to the bank. Shuck and jive, shuck and jive…

Has anyone ever told you that you were “acting white?” What were you doing that was so “white?”
Want to know more about LaShaun Williams? Check out her blog Politically Unapologetic, where she shares thoughts on pop culture, love and life. Follow her on Twitter @itsmelashaun.

Value of Competition

“A competitive world offers two possibilities. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.”

I remember the surprise and excitement from each lick of my palm. I remember, when the mood of life depended on the tightness of a knotted plastic bag containing the scientific mixture of “red” Kool-Aid and sugar. These red stained hands would grab the metal chains and lean back and forth … back and forth … trying to kick the clouds with my untied shoes. I remember days, I thought my stomach would burst standing in line being evaluated by neighborhood peers, dying for a chance to show my talents.  (I mean baseball was my sport, and kickball was my game but basketball was a work in progress).

These memory have seemingly died in our communities.

Today, I yearn to see the eyes of an achiever who could fight his best friend and in the next breathe, beg his mother to allow him to sleep-over.  I want to hear the voice of a scholar who believes the sky to limit no one.  I thirst to invest in a community which remembers that stealing Kool-Aid from mom’s container; secretly being scared of leaning back too far and falling out the swing; and the danger of peer ridicule on the court, were all active choices.

I chose to endure.

Through each childish adventure, I sought to be the bestest, most fastest,  most talentedest child alive. My competition recognized me as a competitor and challenged my every attempt of domination. No secrets were held about my desire to be the best. Despite, lackluster performances, I made the choice to continue to compete and cause a spectacle. Through tears, skinned knees, fights and teasing, I continued to show up and taunt the opposition with a new approach.

I made the choice of ingenuity.

False manhood, adulthood and sense of accomplishment have soiled the innocence of the journey towards success and the excitement of competition.  I fear the day that a mirror will reflect a man deprived the joy of a  challenged process. Don’t buy into haters, instead remember your inner child without fears and purchase competition that will force you to be a better you. Today, I charge you with the task of endurance, ingenuity, open competition and love for another. Ask yourself today, with whom are you competing? Who is worthy of your competition?

Welcome to Big Business Tuesday!

Value of Relationship

I am beginning to believe that goals and dreams do not accurately describe journeys of success. Its simply not enough. Today’s heroic stories appear to exist without heroism and leaders have taken the helm ill-equipped, void of leadership skills. To whom should our communities turn? Who should youth aspire to be greater than? These questions help explain the confused existence of mentorship, friendships, relationships, leadership and success. Unfortunately, the accepted current broad definitions of leadership and success are robbing communities of bravery, adulthood, love, and purpose.

Although I wish my thoughts could take a stance of innocuous curiosity, I recognize my contribution to the puzzling questions. I have fought to change ideas of success by creating a tribunal filled with dreamers, change agents and constructionists. I intended to surround myself with those who wanted more; who needed more. Unfortunately, I did not include "teachers," people with the propensity to educate against all odds, contributing greatly to the problem. Subsequently, I have succeeded in dreaming brighter however success still evades me, as the vision of legacy fades.

Over the last four years, I have watched man age without maturity and strive for mediocrity. My campus is filled with people who can articulate their major but cannot find the script to their dreams. My campus buzzes with Black student pride from admission while failing to stay enrolled. The campus climate becomes mute with each misuse of the word friendship; mentor; brother; sister; frat; boyfriend; girlfriend; and partner. The lack of valor entrusted in these sacred relationships allows every coward a space to exist as King.

Every day I watch I-Pods lull unborn dreams to sleep while practiced entitled persistence wins, because competition never shows up. I can’t help but feel that relationships are to blame. People’s Facebook accounts and mirroring classrooms, are filled with weak alliances and scared truth-sayers. Overcrowded with those who are afraid to demand more of each participant, causing an epidemic of dreamless days and uneventful nights. I see this Brown Scare wreaking havoc on a docile culture. Community is success.

I painfully acknowledge that I have yet to find a circle of dreamers, change agents and constructionists, patient enough to teach those impervious to learning. A prince-hood, willing to bleed at the connection of every brick wall. I have yet to influence a caravan of legacy builders who dare to teach someone how to be a better person than they, themselves dream to become. Contritely, I have yet to meet anyone who wanted to succeed as much as they wanted to breathe. Success is community.

The issue cuts both ways – youth (dreamer) and the more seasoned (dream inducer).

Tiredly, I continue to redefine the possibilities of success and I continue to seek youth to help create those requirements. It is important to tell people the missteps, the down falls, the journey, the stress, the anxiety, the worry and endurance needed for change … but some how the abridged versions seem to be told the loudest.
 

Today, I charge you with the task to be brave enough and mature enough, to find purpose in the narrative of your journey. Your story could be the catalyst to the next dream. Force an honest dialogue with someone close to you. Invest in another person's growth.

Welcome to Big Business Tuesday!