America’s Youth: What’s really going on?
October 30, 2007 by
Filed under Inspiration
Question or Topic: “…I’m interested to see some comments on where you think our African American society is currently headed right now. Specifically how a lot of young black people seem to be wasting opportunities for education and advancement while chasing bling bling and trying to live their lives as if they’re in a rap video.” – Kevin
Response: Thank you so much for your compliments regarding the site. I saw that you wanted to open the discussion regarding our culture, kids and education.
Let me first start by clarifying that the current trend that is sweeping the nation is relevant to all kids of all races, ages and gender. Many of today’s youth are looking to capitalize on the music scene as a means to generate wealth. Fortunately for us we live in America, a capitalistic society that gives everyone the opportunity to be successful. By that I mean, no matter what your area of expertise, you have free reign to operate in that area for the purposes of producing income. Many people have taken full advantage of this type of society. Especially in the 21st century which has been referred to as the “”MICROWAVE ” population. Instant gratification rules, gone are the days of sweat equity and working hard to make money. Now everyone wants everything quick, fast, and in a hurry. The hip hop culture is no different than the rest of the world. Not only is this culture successful but there are literally billions of dollars invested in the culture. Every facet of our world has been affected by it and the affects continue to grow. I am sure you are wondering if I agree with the culture, I have to say that I am completely split. On the one side I understand the economic current, the market, and the flow of money. I understand that desire to capitalize on a trendy niche. The hip hop culture was a voice that many found as seemingly their only way to generate wealth. On the other side of the coin, I don’t agree with some of the methods and certainly not with the degradation of women and one another. I think if we could all be honest we really have all bought into the culture in some form or another. It has become so multi-faceted and has touched every area of our consumer market. From clothing, to shoes, to cologne this culture is everywhere and from what I can tell it’s here to stay. We no longer have rap stars we have entire hip hop empires.
We can’t have our cake and eat it too in this situation. It’s very tricky and I think it’s important to look at it from all angles. Keeping with our current trends, money is making our world. We have to encourage kids to find ways to generate positive cash flow, by that I mean teaching them at a young age how to use their gifts and talents to create an empire worth living for.
Feel free to send your comment on my blog…
Quickly addressing the state of the African American youth
Unfortunately, education efforts are not highlighted via our media outlets nor does the majority (be it Black or Other) “buy” into things concerning education. Most members of society are looking to be entertained rather than enlightened. So, we must ask ourselves: What’s the last program I watched on TV? What genre was the last book I read? Did I opt for the local bookstore or the local outlet store? Conclusively, what are my own contributions to the chaos?
Moreover the immediate solution is simple. It’s based on personal choices. Here’s one example. The next time a family member graduates from high school, make a big deal/celebration of it. Now, you’ve done the following: endorsed positive behavior and motivated the onlookers. Let’s carefully choose the efforts we support.
We are, AA, lacking is a pool of effective leadership. There are prominent pillars in the political and religious community. However, I’m not certain that the “runner ups” (our AA youth) are in position. THIS is my concern & to be later discussed.
Being an educated young African American man I believe the issue lies a little deeper than just the lack of support from family and friends. I believe that the youth are confused as to whom to follow and listen to. Some of our suppose “leaders” choose to argue and point the finger at each other to discuss issues and choose sides rather than uniting in a force of action to solve some of the major issues in our communities. I think we need more force like in the Jena 6 event. Instead of seating back and talking and complaining like many of us did during Katrina we could have (and many of us did) come together and begin to get our brothers and sisters out of that situation showing unity. We are looking at our youth as if they have no excuse to feel and act they way they do. As a society we have painted the picture of sex, money, and power. While it is great to see the glitz and glamour what is missing is the picture of the process of success. Some of our youth lack desire or will power to want more. They are given material possessions in excess, because there parents went through a rough time growing up and vowed to provide a better life for their children, but what they forgot to do is provide them the lessons that were learned along the way to success. I am thankful to have parents who taught me about character and showed me how to work hard to get what I needed or desired. A book that I recently read discussed the top Ancestry Groups of American millionaires. One of the top groups was the Scottish-American and they were in the top tier because they knew how to not only pass the wealth down to their generations, but also they values of thrift, discipline, and financial independence which according to this book are key traits among most self-made millionaires. So as a people I think that we need to do a better job of providing mentorship to our youth in all areas not just business even in the hip hop and sports arena teach our youth and expose them early on as to what they can expect and how life really is in those arenas. Our youth are smarter than we were when we were there ages due to advances in technology which provides them a greater opportunity to have early entrepreneur successes!
As a mother of 3 educated, intelligent and successful African American children, I believe that as parents we have to do more to steer our youth in the right direction.
We have to be role models for our own children and set the standard. Each person of that family should raise their standard which will result in more success in the family.
Just last night I watched Larry King Live. He had Bill Cosby and Dr. Pouissant on the show and they were talking about there new book entitled “Come On People”. I have not purchased the book yet but I am definitely going to. Bill Cosby made a statement that is so in line with Hattie says about being good parents. He said that we as African Americans need help on how to be GOOD parents to our children. Because we have failed to the parents to our children they have turned to the sagging pants, the bling bling, the rap videos and everything else. They are confused because we have failed to give them the foundation they need to survive in this world. We as parents have failed to first, plead the blood of Jesus over our children and we have failed to take charge and set examples in our own households. Bill Cosby also gave an interesting analogy. He said on average it takes about $8,000 a year to educate a kid. Then he went on to say but it takes $40,000 a year to incarcerate a kid. He said if the federal government would take the $32,000 and put it back into the education system and provide parenting programs in schools to teach parents how to be parents along with other programs, then there would be no need to cut education and the jail population of our African American kids would decrease. So, where are our African American youth headed right now? I say to prison or to the grave if we as parents don’t get serious and realize that we have a devil to fight. A devil that comes to kill, steal and destroy. A devil who knows that best place to attack us and win is in our home. So I say to parents, “faith without works is dead”. You have been praying long enough, now it is time to get up and take some action.
Amen Sister Trenda, Amen. I would just love to see parents make more of a sacrifice for their children. Just like Christ did for us. Now I know that we are not to get on the cross, but our children are our cross when we are raising them. We have to forget about some things and keep visible. You know, don’t go in the other room when that 16 year old and her boyfriend are in your house. Ask questions, find out who they are and what is on their mind. Ask them about their future, and their plans. If they don’t have any, help them to realize their dreams and goals. Sometime we just need to “help” move people to the right direction. I do this all the time and I have found out that some kids just need someone to believe in them.