I, myself, don't care for this "look" found by all ages and both genders. I enjoyed this story I received and like to share it with all. Please read it and gain knowledge about it. How people view each one of us individually can also stereotype and the judging begins. If we change our view and not "ourselves" people will see us for who and what we stand for. If a "bag man or woman" approaches you, you will start to thing one thing and don't hear what they have to say. However; if they look different you will listen first. Please read and enjoy and get back to me with feed back and always God Bless!
Letter from a college student:
The other day, a friend of mine visited me in the lobby of my dorm just to chat while her laundry was drying.
As we were chatting, two young freshmen came by. One of the boys wanted to 'talk' to my friend (as in date).
She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18. My friend and I both laughed hysterically
because we are both 22 years old. After my friend left, the young men were still hanging around and one wanted
to know how he could gain her interest. The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants! He asked why,
then said he liked saggin' his pants. I told him to come over to my computer and spell the word saggin'. Then
I told him to write the word saggin' backwards.
S-A-G-G-I-N
N-I-G- G-A-S
I told him the origin of that look was from centuries ago. It was the intent of slave owners to demoralize the field
workers by forbidding them to wear a belt as they worked in the fields or at any other rigorous job. In addition, men
in prison wore their pants low when they were 'spoken for'. The other reason their pants looked like that was they
were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were likely to try to commit suicide. And, saggin' pants prevents you
from running.
We as young Black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying. The media has made a mockery of the
Black American. Even our brothers and sisters from Africa don't take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up your
pants and standing with your head held high could make the biggest difference in the world's perception of us. It is time
to do right by ourselves. We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do that for us.
It all comes down to perception. What people perceive is what is reality to them. We have to change not only the media's
perception of us, but we need to change our perception of ourselves. Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes
are on you Black Woman. All eyes are on your Black Child. People point the finger at us and expect us to engage in
negative and illegal activities, to manifest loud, boisterous behaviour, to spend our hard earned money in their stores,
buying goods we don't need, or really want. We have allowed not only the media, but the government and the world
to portray us as a 'sub-culture.' They have stripped our culture down to the point where the image of Black people is
perpetuated as rappers, athletes, drug users, and consumers of junk food, expensive tennis shoes, expensive cars,
expensive TVs, cell phones and not investing in homes for our families.
We are so much more!!!!!!!
To all our Black Men:
Its time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you
walk on. We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to love, support and cherish every
ounce of your being. But with that you have to show that you are willing to be the head of our households. You have to
prove yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working...Not a hustler. We need you to seek higher
education, to seek spirituality. We need you to stand! And trust us, we will have your back. We know that it gets hard.
We know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black Man and a Black Woman can't handle with
GOD on their side.
To all our Black Women:
It is also time for you to stand up. It is time for you to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is
time to be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. You cannot sit by the wayside while our men are dying by the
masses. You are the epitome of Black Love. It starts within you. You need to speak with conviction to let not only our
Black Men know, but the world, that you are the Mothers of this world. You are so powerful. You a re so beautiful. You
need to love and embrace every blessing God has given us physically, emotionally and spiritually.
For all our Black Children:
We need to love them. We need to teach them. We need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to
show them that there are no 'get rich quick' schemes. We need to tell them that they WILL die trying if they submit to
a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our children that no one will love them the way we can. And being a
basketball player, a rapper, or a drug dealer is not reality. It's not realistic and only a small percentage of people ever
make it as a rapper or professional athlete. We need to teach our children that we can be more than rappers and athletes.
We can be the owners of these sports teams. We can be the CEO's of OUR fortune 500 companies. We need to believe in
literacy. I am almost certain if we were to look back to the 1930's and 40's, the literacy rates for Black American Children
are probably still the same.
Please Keep This Going & Have a wonderful day
Posted By: ann cunningham
Friday, August 8th 2008 at 11:19PM
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