Me and my uncle was having a conversation in the car the other day and I told him how I liked Jay-Z's most recent album " 4:44 " and how a lot of the topics he was harping on was gonna get overlooked. My Uncle proceeded to say that him and Kanye West shouldn't say the N-Word on their songs anymore. Honestly I didn't see the issue, I feel like myself personally if you take the emotion out of the word, it's just a word in my eyes. Today, I thought about the convo again and I second my Uncle's opinion and here's why:
The only reason they should re-frame from using the word is because they both have a large audience outside the black community but it's much deeper than those other audiences repeating the word after their lyrics. It's more so about the way they make the black community look. Other nationalities are mortified with interacting with us in our communities, so the only way they know what reflects in the black community is through media. The issue with this is that other nationalities don't keep up with our media like we do, so the only major reflections of us that do reach out to them ( I.E. Jay-Z, Kanye, Kendrick, J. Cole ) should be very precise on how they make the black community seem and look. From what I heard on Jay-Z's album, it sounds like he was trying to " Son " our community and put us on game. In reality, we lose power for this because it seems like we need a higher platform's guidance, rarely did I hear him speaking fondly about our community. Other races listen and views it and opinionates us subjectively on what they heard/seen and in their minds all black people are like that. Give me feedback and comment on what you think.
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Personally, I'm not a big fan of Astrology, I like the idea of it but I see people use it in there lives that aren't in healthy or balanced ways. I'll be honest with you guys it's gotten to a point where it frustrated me a bit and here's why:
I looked at my sign and fire sign and was amused by how it was accurate in some ways and how other ways it's not, and that's fine I was surprised anyway, but I can see how some people with not a lot of self-awareness could read about their signs and make it apart of their lifestyle's, I haven't seen this personally but I know there are people out there living by their signs unconsciously or maybe even consciously and I wouldn't recommend this just because I think living like this can take away from you being a genuine person and takes away from human instincts and makes you more into a robot instilled with traits that didn't apply until you read up on something " supposedly " in reflection of you. Another reason why I've gotten frustrated by it is because it intrudes interacting with others. Humans tend too look at people as people and not judge on anything when they first meet them ( unless necessary ), It's after that 2nd or 3rd interaction ( sometimes longer ) that people start noticing things about other people's traits and this is where Astrology can be a problem. These are the moments where some sort of judgement may happen and Astrology may become this guideline book because that person can do one or two " Bad traits " associated with your sign and now you're labeled as a " fucking psycho Scorpio " or a " boring Cancer " ( To be honest, I do not know nearly any traits associated with signs, just going by example here ) and it's frustrating to see that instead of someone looking at you as a man or woman or just a damn human being, but instead we get these fucking human analytics and it makes me sick a bit. There is someone out there everyday turning someone down or not looking at them eye to eye without even saying a word because they know that other person's sign and don't want to get involved with their " supposed traits ". It's a false reality in my eyes and that's all that comes to me * Lil Wayne voice *. What I think is better to pay attention to about others trait's is their parents, they have a more lasting effect on how we have grown up and our traits versus something we usually don't even read about until we are adolescence. Thank you for reading. Please leave comments and share. Ever got so emotional it gave you a burst of inspiration? Or so emotional that you feel like you don't want to do a thing? Emotion takes over our actions more than what we should allow. We make emotion so imperative that it gets in the way, But the moment you can put reasoning over emotion is the moment you gain power within yourself. Sometimes emotion holds us back but reasoning takes emotion out of the picture and only places rationality in your life. Once you can reason your choices, how you feel becomes useless because REASON isn't placed on how you feel it's placed on what makes sense. Emotional choices aren't always a bad thing, emotion can make the reasoning even stronger. This morning, I overheard my Grand mom talking to my mom on the phone complaining about how I didn't have a job currently. It upset me so much that I followed up with jobs I recently applied to and now I have an interview on Friday. Emotional decisions can bring you closer to where you intend to be but a lot of the time emotion can draw you away, you have to choose when it is appropriate to use emotional choices that won't lead to counter-intuitive actions. Staying close to a friend that doesn't help what you want to be focused on is an emotional decision. You are focused on what that person is going to think about you if you distance yourself, that it keeps you from reasoning and making the choice for yourself. Once you take emotion out of your choices, making them becomes a lot simpler for your life.
Thank you for reading... Today, I was on my way to the library when I ran into my younger cousin. He had lost his phone and wanted me to let him call a number he had written down. I let him call. As he was making the call I remembered the last time I seen him he was asking me to borrow a shirt and now I observe him on the side of Broad Street with a knot of ten dollar bills in his hand and new Jordan's, I told him to stay away from the streets and I wasn't telling him again. After the call, he went on about how him and his associate was going downtown with a weapon and trying to find the dudes who tried to rob him because he was selling weed and blah. At this point I was uninterested in him flaunting about the situation, he told me thanks and went our way. My uncle ( his dad ) complains about him every time his name is mentioned but I think... How can you complain about someone who's in reflection of yourself?
Growing up in a black household isn't always easy, sometimes it's harsh, a very harsh reality. Sometimes we have a lot of dysfunction in our family, so much that we try to take ourselves out of it just to see that it is our reality. If you know you are trying to further yourself sometimes you HAVE to separate yourself from your family and it's hard because you wish you could come to them and be open but you can't. Sometimes it's because of how irrational they are or they just don't see eye to eye with you to respect your thoughts or decisions. Following what your family thinks is best for you isn't always the best thing to do. Notice that I say " sometimes " and " not always " because functional homes don't always apply to this. The points that I am opposing works out in some homes so if following tradition or what your family thinks is best for you works for you, by any means go for it because that's guidance, but I'm speaking to the ones who families don't have much of that or want you to do what's best in the families eye's and not yours. I remember being able to count on both my hands how many words I said to my mom in a week's span. Emotionally, that was hard on me but I'd rather stay to myself versus expressing myself and not getting a thing out of it. Be true to yourself before you sell out on yourself for somebody else.
Thank you for reading. Today, I'm not going to write about my thoughts on society. Like I said in my " Toxicity " post you should always balance what you do. Today, I'm going to see one of my favorite battle rappers Shotgun Suge. He's going to be at this clothing store on South Street and thought it would be pretty cool to meet him. I'm excited for basketball season to start as well too. Can't wait to see those Sixers in action! I play a lot of PS4 and Rainbow Six Siege is my favorite game right now. Contact me if you like Siege as well and would like to play. I'm not anyone out of the ordinary, I have goals in renting out properties and have more beyond it but I'm one of those one step at a time type of people, I'd rather fulfill my goals as I get to each platform of them. Those are just a couple of things about me and as I post more, more will unveil about myself.
Thank you for reading. I wanted to go into further detail about the " playing both sides of the fence " topic on my first excerpt. Educated black men that live in the black community sometimes have to look in the mirror of their previous when they walk out the door. Every man had to make that decision in their life where they had to take a stand and put some of their past in the past and move forward. This feeling resonates more with me and a lot of strong black men who still live in their communities because everyday when we walk out the door we see what we could've settled for. Saying all this to say that educated black men are the best actors ( and British people ). When we go around people outside of our race we have more of an obligation to leave a profound impression because of stereotypes, one's own sense of pride and simply just wanting to be accepted by others. When we go around people of our own ethnicity we sometimes have a dumbed down approach so that they can understand us and we don't look like we are better than the ones in the streets or just settling with life AND IT SHOULD NOT BE LIKE THIS. I feel like a white person can be themselves almost 24/7 because even if you have a different personality or approach and you're Caucasian you would still be accepted because of the understanding white people have with EACH OTHER. We don't have this same understanding. If I went around talking to people within my demographic in my community with a professional approach I can almost guarantee a few of them ( not all ) would look at like what I said or my approach was foreign or they would think that I'm acting Hollywood and get offended because they think I'm trying to come off as better than them instead of thinking that this is just who I am as a person. It's a frustrating reality. Both sides are apart of you but can't really come together. Instead they just play off of each other.
Thank you for reading. " I had convo with my soul, I asked it when will the shit change it said just use the pen skills. " - J.Cole The other week me and AD ( close friend ) had an interesting discussion about balance and the life you want to live. One thing that stood out was when he talked about having too much of certain things in life can be toxic. " Instagram isn't bad... but too much of it can be toxic, partying isn't bad... but too much can be toxic, studying isn't bad... but way too much of it can be toxic. This made me think about balance and how important it is. Growing up with not a lot of guidance can lead us into toxic lifestyles and I know not a lot of people want to hear this but it's imperative. A lot of people in my community didn't grow up with a lot of guidance and it shows. We have to guide ourselves, it takes trial and error but we can't let our decisions define us. I once sold weed at a period in my life but I stopped because I knew it could get toxic and that it needed to come to a demise in my life because of the balance that was needed in my life and that I couldn't let that decision determine who I really was. Micromanage what you do because a habit can take control of your life and you can still feel entitled to success. You can continue to live in your toxicity and that's fine as long as you are comfortable in it, but you can't feel like you deserve or are entitled to things in your life that you didn't work for or put yourself around.
" Niggas from the hood is the best actors. We the ones that got to wear our face backwards. "
-J. Cole I'm Anthony R., 21 year old African American male living in Philadelphia, PA. Being at a young age I haven't seen a lot but i've opened my mind to a lot. Originally born in Fayetteville, NC and moved to Philadelphia as a toddler still. After spending almost 11 years of my childhood in Philly, my Mom decided to move us back to Fayetteville for me and my Sister's teenage years after my Grandfather passed away. Needless to say I still appreciate my Mom for letting us make our transition in Fayetteville instead of North Philadelphia... Sheesh. Me spending time in the south and the city led me to see realities that aren't fathomable to a lot of black kids who live in the same place all of their life. I've spent time living in the black community and spent a lot of time around the white community since moving back to Philadelphia last year. Now for some of the things I've noticed growing up and I'm beyond blessed to come to realizations and rationalizing these things ( because Lord knows I would've went crazy without rationalizing this stuff ). 1. Race is a bigger deal than what a lot of young black people think From what I've seen a lot of young black people my age think of racism as " White people don't like us well fuck em! I'll beat a cracker! ' But it is MUCH deeper than that. Always remember the things that COUNT to you in life white people control. Your career opportunity, getting a loan, starting a business, the price of which you buy a home, how much time you spend in prison, almost everything that matters to you that is tangible a white person controls, with that being said image is very important. Without giving great first impressions or character traits your chances of getting that break you dreamed of will not happen if they think for the slightest that you are capable of being unprofessional or " ghetto ". Don't confuse yourself either but there is also a thing called being " Too " professional. You can leave a profound impression and the white person will shoot your dream down just because you may come off as a great individual and that you have ability. It's weird for some white people to see blacks with ability outside of the usual and cliche stereotype that someone with success that is black is usually an entertainer or an athlete. Overall, if you feel like you are being racially profiled just ignore it. From what I seen almost all racist/stereotypical white people thoughts on African Americans are subjective. One of their family members could've been robbed by a black person or had a bad experience with a black and at that point in their minds all black people turn into that one experience. Please ignore it. 2. Leave some of your friends alone! Growing up I had friends I liked a lot but you simply can't hang around them because they are simply too much trouble. Not stealing from the candy store trouble either. More like if you hang around them too frequently you could end up killed or risking your freedom just by association. I love black people with all my heart, the culture is extraordinary but we also have to keep things in perspective and quite honestly be real about some of our people. We find trouble instead of legit opportunities, I've seen people shot just because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time and had nothing to do with the issue that was at hand. A friend of mine that I played basketball with when I first moved back to Philly was telling me about a story when he was selling drugs and he got into an altercation with someone he knew around the area he lived at. He didn't sell drugs where he lived at, he sold them around where I live. The guy he got into an altercation with found out where he sold drugs at, went around there and shot 2-3 people... My friend was down the street at his mother's house while the shooting happened and the people who were shot was not involved with his act... You can like someone a lot but if you can't see anything positive happening within your friendship because of what individuals do outside of it, it isn't worth it. 3. South is Integrated, North is segregated I don't know how other places are set up but cities with large black communities tend to have segregation with other ethical communities. When I lived in NC, my school had a blend of races so I wasn't demanded by society to just be associated with black people which felt normal and how things should be. When I moved back to Philly I got on the subway and would go to one stop and all Black students would get on. Go a couple of stops down and all White students would get on the sub. Go a couple of more stops down and all Asian students would get on, I remember thinking to myself " WOW! This is blatant segregation! ". This goes back to my last topic as well. Try to interact with others from different backgrounds, you learn plenty of different things and can have different types of fun. Growing up black I seen that fun to black people was playing basketball, slap boxing, having a freestyle cypher, etc. Which isn't bad, I enjoyed these activities growing up as well ( could've went without the slap boxing though ). Hanged around white people since I been in Philly and I seen they are passionate about gaming, trading stocks, and looking at real estate is fun to them. All in all don't limit yourself to the group you are in, I learned about networking which means taking something from someone else's book and applying it to yours. 4. Sometimes you have to play both sides of the fence Let me further explain this. You are going to have different conversations with different people which means you really shouldn't talk about the same things everyday with the same people. You can talk to the same people about different things but usually when you go outside the topics that everyone is used to talking about in your circle they are uninterested or not focused on it. This is where you play both sides of the fence and find people who have the same thought-provoking ideas as you and can help you stay focused on your next step. You should be able to be versatile and talk to different kinds of people no matter the race. I've talked to black people the same way I would've talked to white people so this isn't a race issue, it's about finding those people who are relatable to you in IMPORTANT ways, emphasis on important because people can be relatable to you in non-important ways. If you smoke weed and the only thing the person next to you have in common is that y'all both smoke weed and share music interests but you have bigger things on your mind and won't express them to that person because all the conversation is gonna end with is a " Damn, that's real " or " That's how im tryna be " FIND THOSE PEOPLE WHO WILL DISCUSS IT AND PUT IT INTO FRUITION. It's counter-intuitive to have some important things on your mind but can't express it to the ones around you because they aren't interested or just not willing to learn about it. Now, it isn't a bad thing if they aren't interested, maybe the ones around you just have things going on with their lives and truly don't mind learning but have other things they want to focus on individually. Find those who want to share those life changing ideas and make something happen. Reach out to me for recommendations or feedback. Thank you for reading. |
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Anthony R.20 year old male in Philadelphia, PA. Just sharing my thoughts. Archives
December 2017
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