Big Mama Died...And I didn't get Nothin'
Maybe it's just me, but when people die in our Black in America communities do we tend to go crazy over material stuff. Sure...we aren't the only group that has an issue with this...but since I'm talking with ya'll...I have to know what you think about this madness.
Some years back, my father and uncle got into a no kinding fisticuff when Grandma passed. The night before we put her in the ground...there they were..."I'm taking the fine china"..."She wanted me to have the floor model TV".
The next thing we knew..."Bam...Pow...Zap". Just like in the movies, these two adult men are rolling around in the living room...breaking stuff up....moving furniture. For over FIVE YEARS these guys didn't talk to each other...they hated each other!
Rather than mourning the loss together...we tend to be at each others throat. Let Grandpa leave this earth without a will...and we'll clean that house empty before he's cold in the ground.
I know well established Black folks who are on the outs with relatives over small stuff like Big Mama's White Usher Groves, "fake" pearl earings, or horse hair fur coats. Sadly, there are grown folks who hate each other because "lil bro took daddy's watch that he knew I wanted".
What are your thoughts?
Is that stuff really that important?
Sure there are usually deeper issues..but how can our group get past this material pettiness?
Some years back, my father and uncle got into a no kinding fisticuff when Grandma passed. The night before we put her in the ground...there they were..."I'm taking the fine china"..."She wanted me to have the floor model TV".
The next thing we knew..."Bam...Pow...Zap". Just like in the movies, these two adult men are rolling around in the living room...breaking stuff up....moving furniture. For over FIVE YEARS these guys didn't talk to each other...they hated each other!
Rather than mourning the loss together...we tend to be at each others throat. Let Grandpa leave this earth without a will...and we'll clean that house empty before he's cold in the ground.
I know well established Black folks who are on the outs with relatives over small stuff like Big Mama's White Usher Groves, "fake" pearl earings, or horse hair fur coats. Sadly, there are grown folks who hate each other because "lil bro took daddy's watch that he knew I wanted".
What are your thoughts?
Is that stuff really that important?
Sure there are usually deeper issues..but how can our group get past this material pettiness?
Sometimes it's not the stuff, but the memories attached to the stuff. we don't demonstrate affection like we should and we attaach too much importance to the material demonstrations of affection....