This Generation has Lost their Appetite...

This Generation has Lost It's Appetite...

Despite the struggle, the strife and the pain... We as a culture sadly remain the same...

I reflect back on my favorite era... The 20's

What's interesting to me is that blacks were more progressive right after slavery than what we appear today to be...

We have forgotten about Segregation...

And the Great Migration...

And Racial and Social Integration & Musical composition

Because it all ended like and with the Great Depression!

See, our impression was that after slavery, we all would begin to be respected equally...

Such was not now or Ever a reality!

If only this generation knew what had to be done all for the battle that still has not been won...

My favorite time in our history was when you and I were never thought to be...

It's when "WE" was real and "I " was not... 

But above all else there was a true since of community...

...with love amongst African American people that was appreciated...

and not like the Cosby Show where that love is simply syndicated.

It's before Love & Hip Hop and more reality than TV...

It was North vs. South...

when New York met Morehouse...

It's the Harlem Renaissance...

Man. 

That era was soo cool. It was when brothers were hard working and had soo much class...

We have come a long way since then but we've forgotten this not so far past... 

Unfortunately, remembering struggle which led to today never really last. 

This era was a time where being black was unique and we finally were able to make our mark on society and culture...

Art, jazz, fashion and literature was molded and shaped by our signatures...

Cotton wasn't just something that we picked  but became a club that would soon mold and produce greatness... Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway

We truly had a story to tell... Short stories, Novels, plays and poems... Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, A'Lelia Walker and Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Those seemed to be the days...

Despite having to deal with blatant racial outlays in tough climates men still were men and took time to groom men.

They dressed to impress everyday because making a good impression was just the right way...

They didn't have the freedom to come and go as the pleased and to drink and sit what and where they wanted...

But they remained proud of what had already been accomplished... Being thankful for overcoming the biggest adversity which was lawful slavery...
 
The Harlem Renaissance man had a certain pride... A hunger which lacks in this generation...

Some Young men today have lost their identity and just refuse to put up a fight... I'm inclined to believe that this Generation has simply lost their appetite...

Is my calling too my curse...

Is my calling too my curse...

Can you hear the sound of my voice and feel the elevation of my tempo when I say to you that this is my plight and not my choice?

This is my chartered path that God has enabled me to have...

I'm standing here drained physically and emotionally because what I see when you look at me is the lost young "what's in it for me.." brother whose filled with complexity...

God I hear you calling me and calling me but WHY can't I see...

Worst has come to worst and God I need to know is this truly my calling or is this my curse?

I wish I could extend my hand and grip you to equip you with all life's rules and tools...

However it takes more than a head nod and a occasional Wassup ... 

It takes a Man being a man for you to see a man that will give you the tools needed to be successful in executing your plan... As a Man.

Come on MAN!

Iron sharpeneth Iron but one has to sit still long enough to 1st Listen!

To the sound of my voice and feel... The pain that I've went through in order to get to... 

The hard lessons in life that I had to learn enabling me to properly discern...

Good from Bad... Right from Wrong and most important... How to listen to that inner voice.

Again This is my Plight and I have NO Choice... 

I am saddened by what i continuously see... in you my brothers, throughout our community...

Our mouths are filthy and we have no respect... We have no sense of financial literacy and continue to live paycheck to paycheck!

As I walk around I'm met with your pants falling down...  

And the worst of it all is that this is all intentional... 

The images in their minds is what the masses produce and choose to  present as OUR product!

We are no longer the Talented Ten... We are no longer striving to be MEN.

Our priorities are jacked and our images, swag and style remain unoriginal and sadly rehearsed...

We are choosing to still be like Mike despite his tarnished image outside the lights... See... Supply and demand is his brand and he has yet to address the fact that the African American males in our community are lacking judgement in where they place their priority! But I get it... It all comes down to the digit. Debts are on high and Funds are on low yet our young brothers find the money to cop those new Jordan's with a fresh polo!

I am because we are and my son will be an extension of me yet it's highly probable that he will be influenced by you... Who has no clue and will confuse the delicately sculpted young mind of my kin which  convolutes the cycle and continues to paint already tarnished images of black men even worst! 

God... With all due respect my question still remains the same and is not rhetorical: is my calling too my curse?

I am...

Here standing feverishly hoping that you can hear me as I Continuously... Work tirelessly... To help aid you and all the other young men I see... 

Not for you but for the generation that You can not and will not live to see...

Unfortunately...

Perhaps there will be... A revitalized entity of a strong black family...

I pray that I don't lose my voice because this is my plight in life and I simply have NO choice.

Young Man publicly you get what i pick and choose for you to see.

What you don't see is me on my knees privately... Asking God questions like Why me?

and with one last outburst!!! God, is this Calling laid upon my life too my Curse!