“Truth, have you noticed that our people have gotten worse in the last 20 years?” I stopped sipping my tea and listened to X, my older, conscious friend. “I mean, we’ve dissolved into debauchery in a way that I’ve never seen before and I grew up in the time of ‘Free Love’!”. I thought carefully about my answer, “In what way?”
“Well, we seem to only care about fame, sex and getting money. Our children are taking pills prescribed by the school principal, our girls are identifying with rappers and strippers and our boys are growing up with no respect for women, no respect for God and no respect for themselves. We’ve got schools where our children can choose to be male or female, we have no fresh produce, a McDonald’s on every corner, we’re fatter than ever and the worst part is…we don’t seem to care. We’re falling fast. And I’m scared…Look, all I’m saying is black people are gonna die if we don’t change quick.”
I was quiet as my friend ranted her anguish at our people slipping gladly into the belly of the beast. I wanted to comfort her but even one comment about how “we’re getting better” would be a boldface lie. I too have seen my fair share of our girls wearing next to nothing in the streets, our boys sporting pants that show off the top of their buttocks, gangsta rap about raping 13 year old children and our resistance to anyone that dares to point us in the right direction.
Once upon a time, at least to my memory, being black stood for something. It meant something:
Black Solidarity
You weren’t just a colour, you were a direct extension of God. An Original Human. The First Human. You were proud. Almost defiant and ready to defend your blackness. You couldn’t explain it, but you sensed being black was almost a purpose.
Now….
Nicki Minaj
Our entire struggle has backslid into a symphony of slackness. And, perhaps the scariest thing for me is…We seem to enjoy it. And we’re teaching our children to enjoy it. And their children will continue that circle of spiritual defeat until we are no more. I wonder what will become of God’s People? Will we magically rise up one day and exclaim, “Oh my gosh! I’ve been living my life all wrong. I see that now. I must begin my journey of self-discovery before it’s too late.” Or will we continue our cycle of infectious indoctrination and slowly perish?
Let me ask my readers, honestly…what happened to us? How did we go from Black Pride to Worship of Mammon?
