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Why Are Black Men Gaining Respect? by Dr. Jesse J. Hargrove Why are Black men gaining so much respect these days? If you think that Black men are not valued and respected, you need to understand why the negative perceptions have changed. After reading this blog, your views about Black men might change for the better: We make many assumptions throughout our lives. These assumptions guide the foundation of our logic and our thinking. They even inform us when we should and should not do a certain action. An example of how these assumptions guide our thinking can be seen in the following situation: A prominent community group of activists wanted to buy some books for an after-school program for youths to keep them away from gang influences. The books were a great idea because they dealt with modern day topics on growing up Black in America, hip-hop, shining vs. blinging, how to become rich, and is there a God? One of the first reactions to the book proposal was “ya’ll gonna get us shot!” What caused this assumption? What made the speaker think that we would be shot, simply because our hearts were in the right place? We wanted to do the right thing, and we wanted to do something good that would turn young minds away from violence. There are many young people in society, who are impressed by the world, yet an assumption of violence was directed toward the organizers and it emerged from one of the participants. These programs have been successful in changing the lives of Black boys. Such programs have also changed the perceptions and negative images about Black men who volunteer to help these boys. How do we help change negative assumptions so that Black men and the lives of young people continue to be valued and respected?
Posted By: Dr. Jesse Hargrove
Monday, August 11th 2008 at 7:00PM
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We change negative assumptions about black men when more of us black men start standing in the gap for our women and children. Young participants in mentoring programs think they're going to "get shot" because that is what the mainstream media is telling them about themselves, especially in instances where they are encouraged to use their minds rather than their brawn. We black men must show them a different and better way through our words and deeds.
What does that mean? It means if we have children of our own, we need to be a positive influence on his/her thoughts, feelings and behaviors. If our children are grown and on their own, we need to find the closest child to us, or a youth service program, and commit ourselves to tutoring and/or mentoring. We black men shouldn't be basking in the glow of our success; we should be prepping the next generation of black men for greater success.
Thank you for your post and your comments last night.
Be blessed, and continue to be a blessing.
JAF
Monday, August 11th 2008 at 7:11PM
J. A. Faulkerson
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Dear Jeffery,
I totally agree. There is a need for Black men to take action in their communities, and to volunteer more in programs to help children grow, develop, and learn. You are correct. Such programs as tutoring, peer mentoring, and Black Male Initiatives can contribute to our image building. Our needed work and actions need to continue to change for the positive. After aa, respect comes from our positive contributions to society, not from our involvement in gang activity.
Thanks for sharing your parenting ideas with the community and world with your powerful radio dialogue and discussion last night. Also, thanks for interviewing the outstanding 80 year old Educator, Virgealia Ellis. Civil Rights then and now is still important to our progress.--JH
Monday, August 11th 2008 at 7:47PM
Dr. Jesse Hargrove
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Jeffery, I would have written the samething, nice post! Black men got to step up, in any capacity they can. (Volunteering in schools, after-school programs or sporting events.) We have to be more visible with our children because community need us.
Monday, August 11th 2008 at 7:52PM
Kenneth X
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i agree that black men are gaining more respect. my main goal is to have more black males creating their own income through their own businesses. i work with a home-based business that encourages the entire family to create income from home as a unit. most families in america will have some debate and arguements somewhere in their life that deals with finances. if we can't do our own businesses full-time, then it should at least be part-time extra income to our careers. but working from home full-time will definitely free up our schedules and it doesn't involve anywhere near 30-40 hours a week.
Monday, August 11th 2008 at 7:56PM
stephen futado
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Dear Stephen,
You have hit the mark! I agree that it is critically important to have income in the home, and it really does speak to the need for keeping families together. The next step for the Black male is to take action to produce that income! Thanks for your kind comments.--JH
Monday, August 11th 2008 at 8:15PM
Dr. Jesse Hargrove
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Thanks for the post! There are so many black men out here doing great work in the community to make it happen. One of these brothers is Phillip Jackson. He is the National Director for the Million Father March. His website is www.blackstarproject.org and his email address is Blackstar1000@ameritech.net. We need to support programs like this to continue to give black men the much needed respect that black men truly deserve.
Tuesday, August 12th 2008 at 10:05AM
Brother Marcus!
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Dear Colleagues,
I love what Mr. Johnson and Marcus Girard have stated about the need to become more self reliant on our own income, and to give back by focusing on programs for our youth. If we stay focused, the negative images will cease, and positive perspectives will emerge. Thus, our respect, as men, will continue to grow in the eyes of the public.
More power to the people!--JH
Tuesday, August 12th 2008 at 6:55PM
Dr. Jesse Hargrove
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Dr. Hargrove... Have you noticed.... NOT ONE woman responded to your post... ??
Sunday, August 15th 2010 at 4:40PM
Cynthia Merrill Artis
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Thanks Cynthia. You have me thinking, and smiling. And I got your point.--JH
Sunday, August 15th 2010 at 6:23PM
Dr. Jesse Hargrove
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Good... ((laughter is good for the sould))) but seriously, I would like to see this post re-circulating... you make a very good point in your observation of men... I think we can get more dialog going with help from the femal perspective.... are you open??
Sunday, August 15th 2010 at 9:08PM
Cynthia Merrill Artis
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Dr. you have some great posts over there... >>> Im eager to comment on subjects such as this one in particular... ((Im smiling too))
Sunday, August 15th 2010 at 9:09PM
Cynthia Merrill Artis
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OK... let me start out with something I have noticed... I see more African American men becoming more serious about Higher Learning in my Economics class last semester, there were more male students than female students. In addition, I see more male students majoring in Education.. ((a major plus... needed in our schools)).
This is a major jump from my first time enrollment in college. So, I see this as a major milestone. For me, It shows that men are more in sync with society, our economy and social conditions within our race... Pretty soon we're going to ask our women... what's going on... although I have my opinions...
Sunday, August 15th 2010 at 9:16PM
Cynthia Merrill Artis
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