Times Have Changed But The Game Is Still the Same!!

It has been years since blacks were freed from slavery and since that time we as a people have made great progress. My question tonight is how free are we really? As I look at television, listen to music, or even walk the streets of downtown Atlanta it is plain to see that even though we are no longer on the plantation many of us are still enslaved. How could this be possible in 2009 you may ask and I am glad you did! Now I ask you to really think about what I am about to say and let me know if it’s just me that feels this way. On Television we have black reality shows like "Flavor of Love”, “I Love New York", and Other shows that make young black people look like uneducated, money hungry fools. Just recently show called the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" was supposed to give a depiction of the life styles of the wives of some of Atlanta's wealthy. (Before I talk about this show in particular I have to say that I did watch the show for the entire season just because I just had to see how far they were really trying to take this.) My Wife and I currently live in Atlanta and there are some of the wealthiest most positive blacks you ever want to meet here. So, why is it that these folks felt it necessary to cast only wives of sports players or mistresses of music producers? Your telling me the only black that have a little wealth only sing, rap, play sports, or produce music???? When you look at the others shows with the white cast the husbands aren’t sports figures or rappers.

Rap music.....I love it and I listen to it regularly, but the difference between me and May of the other listeners is that I know fact from fiction. Rap to me is entertainment but for many of our youth it is what they are being lead to believe real life is. I often wonder where our youth would be if rap was like it was about 10 or 15 years ago. Would the young guys want to be thugs, would they be wearing the pants past their knees, would the be calling all women b**ches and Hoes, would they be man enough to throw their hands instead of picking up a gun, or would they still prefer a jail cell to a dorm room? The powers that be always have a way of taking something that could possible empower us, turn it around and use that same thing to keep control of us. Let me explain. When I was young I remember guys like LL cool Jay, Kool Moe Dee, Slick Rick, and many other rapping about life in the black community but it always had some kind of message that wasn’t hard to decipher. As hip hop culture grew the whites that owned these large record companies saw that this wasn’t going away and it had the ear of a generation. So they did what they knew would keep them on top. They signed rappers and told them that if they want to sell record they would have to talk about drugs, sex, and pimpin because that’s what sells records. They find young men and woman from the hood with nothing and turn them into stars over night just to continue to push their agenda of keeping our people sucking and jiving while they continue to make the important decisions that affect our lives every day! We must wake up and really see what’s happening.
I try every day to carry myself in a way that sends positive message about you black men and there are many young black men and women that do the same. Unfortunately, those are not the images of us that sell records are get ratings on television.

Regular Black Man!