Good evening everyone! I hope that you enjoyed tonight's special and more importantly, I hope you find something insightful to take back from this Blog. As always, please feel free to share your comments and viewpoints. Because of all the segments of tonight's show, I'm going to focus on the one issue that is most glaring to me.
The first part of the special was particularly intriguing to me so I'll apologize in advance in focus on it a lot. The staggering marriage/divorce statistics in the United States are only dwarfed by 6 countries (Sweden is #1 with a 54.9% divorce rate) in the entire world! India has the lowest divorce rate in the world with 1.1%. These statistics are courtesy of Americans for Divorce Reform. The United States is in 7th place worldwide with a 45.8% divorce rate. Though divorce is a troubling issue in every community, there is no doubt that the African American community is plagued by this problem. Now, if you were watching Black in America 2, you saw the marriage counselor who was in her second marriage with a husband over 500 miles away. I can't lie...I thought it was RIDICULOUS!!!! If I was in there, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to take her seriously but at the same time, she did make some valid points. She commended the couple for being great parents but did say they miss the mark on the marriage portion.
My view on the whole thing is just this: Playing House isn't married. It seems like more and more people in my generation and community are starting to use those two phrases interchangeably. Eventually, these "play houses" turn into single parent homes (often single mothers) raising children. Leading to a whole slew of problems that we are all very aware of. I'm sure that some of you may think the biggest problem is the incarceration rate of blacks, others may think that it is the education deficiencies in the community but I think the biggest problem leads to the two that I have just mentioned. So here it is...the BIGGEST problem to the African American community is the amount of children being born to unmarried parents. Take this number - 69...as in 69% of ALL BLACK children born are born to unmarried parents! Crazy, right!? Especially when compared to 43% of Hispanic children and 28% of Whites. When you take that and look at a lot of the issues plaguing the community while also considering the percentage of divorces, you can't help but see catalyst of problems to come.
Now, don't get me wrong...I do not think that any situation or environment is too big to overcome. Look at Tyler Perry's portion of Black in America 2 if you need a refresher. At the end of the day, will power, determination, drive, and faith can take a person farther than any letter of recommendation can but it is important that we understand the impact of our decisions. In a era of "Kids having kids", we are all seeing more and more of peers having children at a young age and in situations that are "less than desirable". Before I conclude, I want to shout out ALL the parents out there that are doing what they are supposed to! *applause* You all have more strength that I do because my favorite kind of kids are the ones you can return at the end of the day, lol. Lord knows that my parents weren't ready/prepared for me but they did what they had to do and didn't take the OTHER way out. I appreciate it because I know that having a hard life is better than not having a life at all. So with that said, we have to do a better job of giving our children the opportunities that we never had. That begins with us doing the things that we need to do (go to school, get a good job, etc.) to provide the proper resources that allow our children to thrive.
*Inspired by Black In America 2*
Until next time folks....
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Black in America 2: Part 1
*DISCLAIMER*In Black in America 2 , we saw a lot. I'm not here to tell you how to think but since I have a blog, I can write what I think and you can agree/disagree with me but I am merely doing in words what I would have done if I was able to sit around in a forum session.
"[Community] Service is what you pay for the time that God has allowed you to be on this earth." In the first part of Black in America 2, Malaak Compton - wife of actor/comedian Chris Rock - attempts to teach children the value of service. She takes a group of students from a variety of backgrounds that in one way or another are dealing with issues in their life that we have seen to be fatally tragic for people all over the world (regardless of your race). From the comments that I've seen on Twitter and Facebook, a lot of people are not really big on this part of the show. Some have said, "why are you taking poor kids to Africa? That doesn't make sense." or "So what are the kids actually supposed to get out of this? Their grades still suck." Well, to those two comments and a lot of others, I saw this...when you think of under privileged youth in America, the first thing most of us think of is giving them money or donating clothes. Like Malaak said, money is not going to solve the problem. Once the money is gone, those children's lives are still left unchanged. The experience that HOPE Worldwide provided these children should (and likely will) encourage them to work harder with what few resources THEY DO have. I am a big advocate for community service/service learning. I believe that a lot of times, young people miss the boat on the idea that SOMEONE will have to help you...be it a black person or white person, male or female...people help do help people and pay it forward and at the end of my career, I view success as just this: My success will be defined, not by how big my house is or how much money I make. My success will be defined by the doors that I open for others. The experience that Malaak and her team gave those children will be one that will allow them to appreciate the things that they have in their lives while also instilling the intangibles that are needed more and more to succeed today.
In part 2, (people didn't Tweet/Facebook comment as much, lol) Dr. Steve Perry showed another major part of developing the youth of tomorrow: Education. Regardless of what color your skin is, a lot of us understand that education is the "Great Equalizer". Now before you attack me for that statement and say - "well I, a black man, have a MBA and I didn't get the job but they hired some other guy because his dad knew someone." - I understand that a lot of the time, its not WHAT you know but WHO you know but at the end of the day...if you KNOW NOTHING you can't even get the hook up. As a person who comes from a household that was on government assistance, I can completely relate to the statement, "This is my way out." A lot of the time, a community can be one of the biggest problems plaguing a student on the border of EXCEPTIONAL and UNDERACHIEVING. Dr. Steve Perry is also doing something that a lot of students parents aren't doing: holding them accountable...this is universal for everyone, not just those who are BLACK in AMERICA.
Finally in part 3, John Rice, founder of MLT, incorporates some of the most necessary keys to success in America. Knowledge, Network, and Ability. Rice grew up around successful people, not just black, who taught Rice the essential keys to success that are generally not taught in the classroom. Management Leadership for Tomorrow focuses on the skills that are necessary to yield a high performance in the high pressure atmosphere of business today. If you have ANY aspirations to work for (or hell, even own) a Fortune 500 company, it is highly likely that you will need more than your IVY League MBA and your "Bruhs"/"Sorors". This isn't the only program like this in the country but I encourage you to search for what drives you more than anything. If I could be described in word, 99.9% of the time, I want it to be DRIVEN. I have a friend who is DEFINITELY Driven. I think she is as successful as a person can be 1 year out of undergrad yet she is just as hungry if not MORE SO than some of my friends who are still waiting for the economy to pick up. So that tells me this: She WILL be successful because of her mindset and her hunger. That kind of stuff can't be taught...PERIOD. It may be refined but if you can not muster up the internal drive to do something you are passionate about, then you'll be STUCK in a job that pays you 6 figures that you hate...just some thoughts...
Overall, I liked the special...it made me think of a lot (as you can see)...PLEASE feel free to share your thoughts and comments here or on Facebook/Twitter. I love intelligent debate more than anything so please share your comments...
...part 2 will be up tomorrow night!!!
"[Community] Service is what you pay for the time that God has allowed you to be on this earth." In the first part of Black in America 2, Malaak Compton - wife of actor/comedian Chris Rock - attempts to teach children the value of service. She takes a group of students from a variety of backgrounds that in one way or another are dealing with issues in their life that we have seen to be fatally tragic for people all over the world (regardless of your race). From the comments that I've seen on Twitter and Facebook, a lot of people are not really big on this part of the show. Some have said, "why are you taking poor kids to Africa? That doesn't make sense." or "So what are the kids actually supposed to get out of this? Their grades still suck." Well, to those two comments and a lot of others, I saw this...when you think of under privileged youth in America, the first thing most of us think of is giving them money or donating clothes. Like Malaak said, money is not going to solve the problem. Once the money is gone, those children's lives are still left unchanged. The experience that HOPE Worldwide provided these children should (and likely will) encourage them to work harder with what few resources THEY DO have. I am a big advocate for community service/service learning. I believe that a lot of times, young people miss the boat on the idea that SOMEONE will have to help you...be it a black person or white person, male or female...people help do help people and pay it forward and at the end of my career, I view success as just this: My success will be defined, not by how big my house is or how much money I make. My success will be defined by the doors that I open for others. The experience that Malaak and her team gave those children will be one that will allow them to appreciate the things that they have in their lives while also instilling the intangibles that are needed more and more to succeed today.
In part 2, (people didn't Tweet/Facebook comment as much, lol) Dr. Steve Perry showed another major part of developing the youth of tomorrow: Education. Regardless of what color your skin is, a lot of us understand that education is the "Great Equalizer". Now before you attack me for that statement and say - "well I, a black man, have a MBA and I didn't get the job but they hired some other guy because his dad knew someone." - I understand that a lot of the time, its not WHAT you know but WHO you know but at the end of the day...if you KNOW NOTHING you can't even get the hook up. As a person who comes from a household that was on government assistance, I can completely relate to the statement, "This is my way out." A lot of the time, a community can be one of the biggest problems plaguing a student on the border of EXCEPTIONAL and UNDERACHIEVING. Dr. Steve Perry is also doing something that a lot of students parents aren't doing: holding them accountable...this is universal for everyone, not just those who are BLACK in AMERICA.
Finally in part 3, John Rice, founder of MLT, incorporates some of the most necessary keys to success in America. Knowledge, Network, and Ability. Rice grew up around successful people, not just black, who taught Rice the essential keys to success that are generally not taught in the classroom. Management Leadership for Tomorrow focuses on the skills that are necessary to yield a high performance in the high pressure atmosphere of business today. If you have ANY aspirations to work for (or hell, even own) a Fortune 500 company, it is highly likely that you will need more than your IVY League MBA and your "Bruhs"/"Sorors". This isn't the only program like this in the country but I encourage you to search for what drives you more than anything. If I could be described in word, 99.9% of the time, I want it to be DRIVEN. I have a friend who is DEFINITELY Driven. I think she is as successful as a person can be 1 year out of undergrad yet she is just as hungry if not MORE SO than some of my friends who are still waiting for the economy to pick up. So that tells me this: She WILL be successful because of her mindset and her hunger. That kind of stuff can't be taught...PERIOD. It may be refined but if you can not muster up the internal drive to do something you are passionate about, then you'll be STUCK in a job that pays you 6 figures that you hate...just some thoughts...
Overall, I liked the special...it made me think of a lot (as you can see)...PLEASE feel free to share your thoughts and comments here or on Facebook/Twitter. I love intelligent debate more than anything so please share your comments...
...part 2 will be up tomorrow night!!!
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