I find everyday in this overly saturated pop culture that most people are lacking inspiration that is of true substance. Gone are the days of people who radiated positivity, educational value, social, and economical awareness. In are the times where individuals who promote self-indulgence, arrogance, simplistic minded, and materialistic ways are thought of with high regard and imitated heavily. You have shows like: Basketball Sidepieces (I refuse to call them wives), Braxton Family Values, Mob Wives, any show a Kardashian is apart of, the series of The Real Housewives Of (pick a city), and the list sadly goes on and on. Musicly, people like Gucci Mane has people wanting to get wasted, YC has everybody talking about racks on racks on racks, and Plies has little girls thinking that they're "bust it babies." Lord have mercy! Television and music executives are making a killing and capitalizing on the masses thirst for garbage.
This blog in particular is solely about earthly inspirations. It's about, what are we listening to and watching. More importantly, what are our children listening to and watching. I guarantee you that kids (and some young adults), know more about smoking kush rather than The Kingdom of Kush. If you don't know about it, then I strongly suggest you pick up a book. The motto of "get rich or die trying" resonates much more than "each one teach one." I see way too many people trying to look and act like Lil Wayne rather than someone like Common (keeping it in the form of hip/hop influences). Nothing against Lil Wayne, but if I had to choose who would I rather my two boys be like, it would be Common in a landslide.
As a kid growing up, I had an affinity for Thurgood Marshall. I read about him a lot, and often thought about following in his footsteps in becoming a lawyer. For those who don't know, Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American to be appointed to the Supreme Court. As a lawyer, he was particularly successful arguing before the Supreme Court. He's most notably known for his victory in Brown vs. Board of Education. Enough of the history lesson. If you wanna know more, once again, I strongly suggest that you pick up a book. Get away from the gossip magazines and fictional novels for once.
This topic is truly important to me because it's as if we're satisfied with our lack of substance and culture. So I ask this of you...What is inspiring you? Is it money? Is it material things? Do you want to be known or popular by any means necessary? Don't get me wrong, everyone is influenced by money to a degree. But some folks will literally do ANYTHING for a dollar.
Sometimes I wonder what would Martin Luther King Jr. think of what we've become today. Specifically within the black community. Yes we have come a long way. Many of our people hold degrees and have attained financial wealth beyond imagination. Even with our many advancements in society, there is still yet so much wrong and so much growth to be had. In my view, we took a wrong turn at some point. I cannot pinpoint exactly where it was, but we definitely did. I read a lot about African-American history and about the people who courageously built a strong, rich legacy we should all be proud of. I'm just concerned that we're doing it a severe disservice here in the present.
Now to go back to the music aspect for a second. Even I love to listen to hip/hop. I also love jazz, r&b, gospel, some rock, and I even have appreciation for classical music as well. But with hip/hop (or rap) in particular, since millions are influenced by and listen to it. There are artists out there who promote everything I stated in my opening regarding social awareness, positivity, educational value, and even love. Not too many people wanna hear what their rapping about though. People like: The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, and Mos Def just to name a few. I respect these artists for sticking to what's not "the norm" in hip/hop. They'd rather put out genuine good music as opposed to talking about delusions of grandeur. You hear the rappers these days with their obnoxious taunts of how many cars, houses, diamonds, and how much money they have. Absolutely nothing of substance! One of my favorite lines in a hip/hop song comes from Lupe Fiasco in the song "I'm Beaming." He says: "Mix Melyssa Ford, with Maya Angelou, become a top model, and Sojourner too." Simple, but it speaks volumes to me. What he is saying to women in particular is, as a woman, you can mix beauty, intelligence, and principle together. There is more to you then just your model looks.
I thank God for my father who was there to teach and guide me. I remember one day as a little kid he asked me "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I replied, "a basketball player." Just as I do, my father absolutely loves sports. So, it was to my surprise when he gave me this look, took a step back and said: "Son, everybody cannot be a basketball player." Needless to say, I was shocked, but, it was the truth. It still is the truth today. Many young men today believe that their only way to a successful life is through athletics, or, be a rapper. I hold nothing against anyone who wants to be either of the two, because I'd rather that than a drug dealer or any other "career type" criminal. But the truth of the matter is, for some (and I do mean a very small percentage), this is a real possibility with hard work and dedication. The problem is, there are millions of you out there with the same exact dream. Now I will never discourage anyone not to pursue their dreams or passions (as long as they're legal). The key is, what sets you apart from the other million and one folk with the same exact dream in which there are only a few slots open. I don't know if you guys have noticed. Foreigners are coming to this country, getting educated and taking our jobs, or, returning to their country to improve their homeland. We are steadily falling behind, even though we have all the tools right here within our own communities. We don't have to travel outside this country to get a decent education.
I challenge us as a whole to inspire great things into our younger generation(s). We need more teachers, project managers, historians, writers, businessmen/women. Mothers, inspire your daughters that she can be more than a model even though she was blessed with beauty. A beautiful mind and heart in my opinion completes the package. Fathers, inspire your sons that it is okay to be a scientist when his peers say that being a rapper is more cool. Our pursuit of the almighty dollar has skewed the vision that our forefathers had for us. It can be corrected, but, it starts with us.
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