The only benefit I get from Father's Day is monetary as an adult but as a child it took a toll on me and thousands of males across our great nation. Is there a reason why Eminem is the only artist who actually records about a dysfunctional mother while there are countless numbers of songs or rap lyrics which speak about absentee daddies or single mother households?
"It's too many black women that can say they mothers but can't say that they wives" - Common
Who is to blame for the disappearance of the black man? The black family was disassembled during the slave trade and our blood was tainted with the raping of our ancestors but we were able to rise against the odds even after that. But America saw the power of the Black family during epics times like the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement and we were yet again dismantled during the 80's and 90's. The U.S. Bureau of the Census statistics showed an increase of single parent homes from 18.5% in the 1970's to 27.7% in 1999. What are some relevant issues in the urban neighborhoods for the past few decades?
We have to open our eyes as African-Americans growing up in a White America. As men we need to start taking pride in our communities, own self-worth and for those around us. The African-American man is smart, powerful especially when in large numbers so this poses a threat to America so many elements have been strategically placed to ensure most niggas stay niggas and don’t rise against the odds. In the "hood" it’s easier to find an army recruiter compared to college recruiter. I had a recruiter who tried to talk to me out of school and to join the Army and I was already half way done with college! I mean these dudes are good...but when I asked him what happens if I get shot in Iraq he has no answer for that. Over the years more and more African-Americans have been making it to higher education but I know a lot of guys who never even got their GED. As a teenager many of my male peers were lost due to void of a male figure in their life so where do they go?? Gangs. It's weird how the government was able to silence the voice of positive movements such as the Black Panther Party but Bloods and Crips are still active nation-wide. We have our males looking for that sense of family, that father figure in the form of violence and robbery.
But it does not stop there folks look at the images we find on TV as a youth compared to now. How do they expect to lower the teenage pregnancy rate when our "role models" the rappers and star athletes are promoting polygamy and the only available birth control are the shitty NYC condoms? It makes more sense to use saran wrap like Tommy Davidson in the movie Booty Call compared to those instant baby condoms. The term baby momma is so cliché now it’s like having wisdom teeth in the hood now.
Why are we surprised that the incarceration rate of black youths is always on the rise?
I can't walk through some hoods without passing 3-4 cops walking the beat. In these same hoods you usually pass 3-4 "hustlers" also. But where do these hustlers get their product? There are not any fields of weed and coke growing in Jamaica, Queens or Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.
We need to know our history. Slavery has never ended it went from the Plantation to the Penitentiary. Read into laws of our great country such as the "Black Codes" and "Rockefeller laws". These were not written in law to make our society better. Just another way to ensure our communities are fatherless, our mothers are left with the duty of two adults in poorly managed ghettos. Truthfully many of the folks who fit into these statistics were not ready to bring life into this world (nowadays these females don't stop at one) so we have the blind leading the blind.
Society unfortunately has been raising our black males to become low-life degenerates and this is why Father's Day celebration is equivalent to Yom Kippur in the hood. We cannot fight the powers that be i.e. the corporations, rappers who are just promoting the glitz and glam and leaves the hood with few options of how to obtain it. Isn't it weird how every hood nigga loves his momma but has no respect for the ladies of his peer group? For example Jay-Z is married to one of the most influential women in show business and he records songs like December 4th and Where Have You Been....but some of his most popular singles nationwide that received radio play are Can I Get A.... and Girls, Girls, Girls. I love Jay-Z not bashing the man he is a great artist and lyricist but it’s not a coincidence which message is stream through our neighborhoods to our young male minds. Every fan of Jay-Z is the not the sharpest knife in the drawer so what is the simplest interpretation you get from his music? Look we cannot blame the forces that be (the media) for the power they have, with TV, Internet, Cell Phones etc. you can't make your son, brother, nephew a nomad by disconnecting him for the world but we need to take responsibility! Your voice is stronger than anything. We know that a child is a sponge from birth to their adolescent years so you make the choice...if he knows all the words to” Cookies and Apple Juice” but does not know his ABC's you need to reevaluate your life. We laugh when we watch movies like "The Cable Guy" but that is a summary of the 21st century black man. They have become a slave of the media. Today Father's Day is not a day of celebration it is more like a day of mourning. I have been looking at Twitter and Facebook status of people not even knowing it is Father's Day, people thinking about cursing out their absentee father or baby mother's male bashing (evidence that our next generation again will be fatherless and hopeless). I ask all of you reading this do not just read this and reflect on the dickhead of father you have but make your responsibility as an African-American to make a difference in one males life, anyone please, friend, brother, cousin etc. I know Father's Day sucks for you but that non-presence has not hindered you but it may hinder another youth so step up to the plate because that difference can make a difference. There is a thin line between College Campuses and Rikers Island.
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