No. That's not what I'm talking about. Not in the least bit. I'm talking about solutions to help us further our cause without worrying about who is "worth" respect. Somebody said I should produce 10 Black Commandments so I'll attempt to do so. I'm going to outline it by using pieces of my life and what I've learned and or applied over time.
1. Never, EVER talk down to or mistreat those who you aren't as fortunate as you regardless. This works mostly on a material level. Remember, regardless of that person's situation, they are still a person. No matter what they look like, they still deserve to be treated as such. This is essentially the idea of what equality was supposed to look like, but unfortunately, that idea was written by slave owners, so we mustn't let folks who idealize those men get the chance to dictate what equality looks like and what it is. All they did was enforce supremacy. That's it. And talking down to other people is another way to enforce it. That's their thing. They invented it.
On another note, I've noticed there is a lot of insecurity placed on said lesser person as if one should stand next to them or be seen with said person, it makes them look bad. One must remember, "I am the only person who can make myself self look bad. Another person should never be able to have that power over me."
2. Ask for help. Now I've had a lot of issues with this myself. I blame my toxic relationship with American Individualism for that. American Individualism is the "I got mine, what's wrong with you? mentality". But I recognise it for what it is, and I'm willing to do what it takes to divorce myself from the idea. This idea is not limited to yourself as a solitary person. This can be used in familial relationships as well. For example, I really like the idea of extended family, where aunts,uncles, cousins, etc can stay with you (and vice versa) for a period of time. This will allow them to get back on their feet if needed, it can also help a student fresh out of high school to the point where they could go to a state college, have a free place to live, and they could work while in high school as long as they keep their grades up and adhere to house rules. This could allow them to save up some funds for a decent vehicle to get them to school, and run errands. Not only that, the kid will most likely not end up in debt.
If you have aunts and uncles living with you and everyone is working, the rent/mortgage could be split up evenly between the adults. This will allow each adult to pad their bank account and save more money for any other expenses like purchasing a home, starting a business, etc. As a result, this can happen. I'm sure some of you have seen this video floating around facebook, but if not, this is an example:
If you have aunts and uncles living with you and everyone is working, the rent/mortgage could be split up evenly between the adults. This will allow each adult to pad their bank account and save more money for any other expenses like purchasing a home, starting a business, etc. As a result, this can happen. I'm sure some of you have seen this video floating around facebook, but if not, this is an example:
3. Money over everything is NOT the business. That mantra belongs to America, and history has proven time and time again, that America doesn't include Black people. Sure, we need money to exist in this capitalistic society, but "at what cost"? Now I don't really watch Key and Peele like that, but the Slave Auction skit comes to mind:
Look at it closely. They start off being glad they aren't getting sold because, "Fuck that!". But then they start talking bad about the guys getting bought from Lot A. They start to belittle those on Lot A as they continue to get passed over. Then they start feeling "left out". They start looking at Lot A as the better slot. They want to be on Lot A. That could be read as wanting to be accepted. Then they get mad. They start talking to the crowd about their choices as if they had no idea what they were looking for. And then they sell themselves all the way out. They start saying they're docile, they can sleep in a bucket, they're strong, magic, etc.
And that's the entire problem right there. These dudes just summed up what it looks like being Black in America. We're not accepted until it starts to bother us. When it bothers us,some of us will sell all the way out regardless if we're all in the media or going about our private lives. Some will get accepted until mainstream America is done with us, and some won't. In this instance, the auctioneers left and they were never accepted.
But in reality, Key and Peele are on TV and are widely accepted for a lot of offensive skits where Black people are the butts of the jokes, one of which is the one I'm referring to. In fact, people became so offended by these guys to the point where Huffington Post picked up on it. And when the comedy team were confronted about their skits, they pointed to the fact they were half Black in order to distance themselves from the whole thing.
The skits look like the mirror they're holding up to themselves, and a lot of Blacks, on and off screen which shows why respectability politics are detrimental. In fact, respectability politics run so deep that after watching the skit, I wondered if the creators even knew the depth of what they were doing as a whole, and whether or not they know exactly what it looks like. Anyway, on to number 4.
4. A person has to learn to grow. One isn't simply born knowing everything. Everybody is dumb to somebody else. We must teach each other all day everyday in order to prevent the same mistakes from happening. See number 1 in this list, and my post on being woke to get the gist of the full concept, which leads me into number 5.
And that's the entire problem right there. These dudes just summed up what it looks like being Black in America. We're not accepted until it starts to bother us. When it bothers us,some of us will sell all the way out regardless if we're all in the media or going about our private lives. Some will get accepted until mainstream America is done with us, and some won't. In this instance, the auctioneers left and they were never accepted.
But in reality, Key and Peele are on TV and are widely accepted for a lot of offensive skits where Black people are the butts of the jokes, one of which is the one I'm referring to. In fact, people became so offended by these guys to the point where Huffington Post picked up on it. And when the comedy team were confronted about their skits, they pointed to the fact they were half Black in order to distance themselves from the whole thing.
The skits look like the mirror they're holding up to themselves, and a lot of Blacks, on and off screen which shows why respectability politics are detrimental. In fact, respectability politics run so deep that after watching the skit, I wondered if the creators even knew the depth of what they were doing as a whole, and whether or not they know exactly what it looks like. Anyway, on to number 4.
4. A person has to learn to grow. One isn't simply born knowing everything. Everybody is dumb to somebody else. We must teach each other all day everyday in order to prevent the same mistakes from happening. See number 1 in this list, and my post on being woke to get the gist of the full concept, which leads me into number 5.
5. Be able and ready to accept constructive feedback, and know the difference between constructive feedback versus somebody talking a bunch of foolishness. For example: If I'm at work, and I get told that I did something wrong that could jeopardize the company, then my job is to find out exactly what I did wrong, know what I need to do to make it right, make it right , and then not make the same mistake again. Or, if I want feedback on a track that was poorly mixed, and someone informed me of that shortcoming, then I have to learn how to mix it properly or have it done professionally. I can't just say, "YOU'RE JUST A HATER! FUCK YOU THEN!" and leave it at that.
Now if someone said something along the lines of, "Your teeth are crooked. You should get that fixed." Then that would be foolishness. A person could get their teeth fixed, but that's a matter of appearance and personal preference, which doesn't affect the quality of work nor does it jeopardize anybody or anything in particular, nor does it make them "credible" or "respectable" (there's that respectability politics again!).
6. Do you and own it completely. When I say this, I mean, don't worry so much about what other people are doing. Be yourself. For example, if you make music, don't worry about what sound is hot right now. Make you come out of that mic and own it. Own the style, own the sound, and personalize the hell out of it. I don't just mean yell your name throughout the track, or watermark the beat (the latter half should still be done for business purposes), but I mean create something that only you can produce. Do it through all aspects of your life, (home, work, school, etc).
7. Ask questions. One must be objective and be willing to ask themselves, "who, what, when, where, why, how and which" throughout all aspects of our lives.
8. Seek different approaches, and apply that to everything you do . This goes back to the story about learning math in my "woke" post, and why seeking different approaches is important. :
One of my parents tried to beat the lesson into me, and the other was able to successfully teach me in five minutes. I learned two lessons: I learned math, BUT I also learned to never ask the abusive parent for help ever again. The same thing happened with learning how to read. These methods could be used to teach anybody regardless of whether they are a child or a senior citizen as long as they are open to it. Teach them while they are young for best results, but always remember that grasping concepts is not something that should be limited to children. They will grow and their foundation will be strong, or they would be able to strengthen and repair that which is faulty. Make the lesson fun. Learn from each other. Accept questions. Look for answers together and share them with each other.
9. Always be solution oriented. Be prepared for anybody and everybody who says, "Okay, now what do we do since you have all of the answers?" This right here is why all of my blog entries have solutions in them even though I admittingly talk a lot of shit.
10. Always think about everything. Critical thinking is a must. First, Let's take a look at that definition of "critical thinking" Definition 2c is as follows:
c : exercising or involving careful judgment or judicious evaluation <critical thinking>This way you know which questions to ask and how to find solutions in the first place. A person can't ask for help, learn, seek different approaches, accept constructive feedback, be objective or solution oriented if they don't have the critical thinking skills needed to do so in the first place.
How to use these and do we need someone to guide us:
The short answer to whether or not we need someone to lead us is NO! We are not a monolithic people. We are our own selves, we just happen to share similar skin tones. To imply that we need a leader is to imply that we can not think for ourselves. If you look at American history and Black people, the leaders have been sabotaged, from Malcolm, Martin, Marcus, and to the current people who claim themselves to be leaders of the so called "Black community" such as DeRay Mckesson, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
Can this be used as the base to create another religion for Black people?
No. Because all it'll do is create divisions between those who worship differently (as if there wasn't enough of a division between Christians, Atheists, Baptists,Hebrew Israelites, and NOI members as is). BUT if a person wanted to take these commandments into consideration and add them to their core beliefs, then by all means, feel free to do so.
As usual, I'm open to constructive feedback, solutions, and questions. Let me know what you think, or whether or not you'd like to see these expanded and more fleshed out.
As always, thank you for reading.
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