FLIPSIDE

In my community it seems to be something missing. When I go to the hair supply stores I am greeted by Asian workers. When I go to buy gas I am greeted by Arabic owners. When I drop my sister off to get her hair braided, she is greeted at the door by African braiders. How is it that so many other nationalities are able to come to America and find there niche in an economic system that has held us down for so long?

While visiting my brother last week, we began to elaborate on this topic. He brought up an interesting point. That point was that somewhere along the lines of finding our place in American society we left behind the importance of family and togetherness. Other nationalities tend to be more successful because they share amongst themselves and are helpful to each other. That is truly a concept lost in our culture that needs to be found in order to have any kind of success in the future.

When you look at the businesses that are ran by other nationalities, you will notice that most if not all, are family ran businesses. People in the black community have lost the importance of family, but we need to address this issue soon and bring back the strength to our communities. Of course, this is easier said than done, but recognition of the issue is at least a start.

While growing up in a society where legal systems and educational systems fail at such a rate that the black community is almost guaranteed to fail – it is these family values that can help us through the barriers and beyond the expectations of society. At some point we have to stray away from the crabs in a bucket mentality. Don’t you know how many slaves would not have escaped if Sojourner Truth decided that she wasn’t going to help anybody else? It’s time to get back to basics. Catch ya’ on the FLIPSIDE

Nigger. That was supposed to be the title of Nas’ last album. Maybe a little too much for America, especially since the word was apparently buried some months back. How odd? Why wasn’t it buried when we picked cotton from the acres of plantations that built the basis of America’s economical structure? Why wasn’t it banned when we wanted to de-segregate schools? Why wasn’t it being erased from existence when it was being hurled at us like spit from some old white man’s mouth?


Nigger. Now that we have taken a word that once demeaned a whole race of people and flipped it to our own dialect and meaning – now it needs to be buried? At a time when we have decided that the power and offensiveness has been taken away from the word and now use it as our own. Don’t bury it now. Its mine, I won’t give it up.


Nigger. Some people think it’s ridiculous. Some people think that the use of this word should bring shame and insult to its users. I disagree. We diffused the energy of the word, so why not use it in our own way. So often we were beaten over our heads with it, our women raped with it, our families torn apart with it – so now its ours and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want anything else taken from us. Hasn’t enough been taken away from us already?


Nigger. Then you have some of us jumping on the bandwagon, screaming at my hip-hop generation and begging us to stop using a word that once empowered an elite group. Now that elite group has lost the power of that word and they urge us to put it to rest.
Nigger. After listening to Nas’ new album, I was amazed. This was the most articulate, motivational, conscious album I’d heard in a long time. Ultimately, it makes me think. It makes me think of the state of our society today. Racism all around, black people living with a vale over their eyes claiming that racism is dead, America buying all the hip-hop music and supporting the culture while laws are in place to make sure all those habits land you in jail or in an early grave.