Black Culture Discussion Thread

[d nice]

inbeforeblackonblackcrimeandchicago

 

[AEA18]

If they won WE wouldn't be here

 

[yeah]

To add weight to my earlier claims, apparently Jesse Jackson was ran out of Ferguson.


http://www.westernjournalism.com/re...uson-protesters-run-town/#ZbyEZswGXTLdRt1O.01

 

[Quincy McCall]

Can you start by defining what you are referring to as Black culture?

Think OP meant the psychological gentrification of urban youth in our society.

As it effects many minorities, it effects black culture so much because we are such a proud culture that has overcome so much adversity by taking a stand of unity. I believe that it is a lack of appreciation for the pioneers that got us this far, and the lack of true leaders today.

Now we don't have a leg to stand on, from that clown tyler perry to the ruthless terrible music that some of these guys are putting out today, I honestly don't even really care about the spec. of violence, some of these artists are just terrible.

Used to be a reason to be proud of our leaders, now all these kids wanna do is stunt with their last dollar because the struggle is "lame", and nobody really cares about what's goin down in the hood.

I think it begins with the media, and washes onward. Man, just back in the 90's we had Spike Lee, Wayan bros.,will smith, dave chappelle, all these great black comedian's, actors and movie writers who made an effort to talk about what mattered.

Everyday it's "black people trying to bring other black people down", when in reality I think it is nobody trying to help each other up

Everybody wanna make it out of the hood but don't want to help bring it together

 

[offset pow clow]

inbeforeblackonblackcrimeandchicago

Product of the older generation

Cant blame them youngins for their savagery

Its a never ending cycle

 

[Chiron]

 

Ok then. You're right.    just keep embracing "black culture" and see how many corporate ladders you climb. Embrace the streets and the hoods that they leave us to fight and kill each other in and rap about it for respect. Don't cave in to demands that middle america puts on us, to accept their biased textbooks, to work under their racist management. Close your eyes to the fact that our brethren that you try to uplift are so entrenched in the culture that they have no hope of ever getting beyond their glass box and seeing the world and despise you when you come back and tell them what you learned. Let me know just how far you go.

If they won WE wouldn't be here

Where are we?

Are we doing well? Do we have great role models and leaders who bring us together to accomplish things as a united people? What are our current goals? Does anyone know? Have we have conquered unemployment rates? Are we out of debt and garnering long term generational wealth? Are we making our own opportunities for our community to become and empire within itself? Are we cutting our own checks? Are we living at the top of the hill or the bottom?

​Please tell me. I'm lost. Where are we?

 

[victor page]

 

[truth-serum]

Dudes need to understand that there is no such thing as a "white america"

They differentiate among themselves and only band together when they feel threatened by non whites.

Irish, Italian, Polish etc people are now  considered white but in the early 1900s they weren't.

There is a totem pole among white people. With Anglo saxons being at the top and "lesser whites" like the Mediterraneans and Slavs at the bottom  

 

[AEA18]

If they won WE wouldn't be here

Where are we?
Are we doing well? Do we have great role models and leaders who bring us together to accomplish things as a united people? What are our current goals? Does anyone know? Have we have conquered unemployment rates? Are we out of debt and garnering long term generational wealth? Are we making our own opportunities for our community to become and empire within itself? Are we cutting our own checks? Are we living at the top of the hill or the bottom?

​Please tell me. I'm lost. Where are we?

You can say the same for (insert race here) people.

 

[victor page]

 

[oidreez]

 

Ok then. You're right.  just keep embracing "black culture" and see how many corporate ladders you climb. Embrace the streets and the hoods that they leave us to fight and kill each other in and rap about it for respect. Don't cave in to demands that middle america puts on us, to accept their biased textbooks, to work under their racist management. Close your eyes to the fact that our brethren that you try to uplift are so entrenched in the culture that they have no hope of ever getting beyond their glass box and seeing the world and despise you when you come back and tell them what you learned. Let me know just how far you go.

If they won WE wouldn't be here

Where are we?
Are we doing well? Do we have great role models and leaders who bring us together to accomplish things as a united people? What are our current goals? Does anyone know? Have we have conquered unemployment rates? Are we out of debt and garnering long term generational wealth? Are we making our own opportunities for our community to become and empire within itself? Are we cutting our own checks? Are we living at the top of the hill or the bottom?

​Please tell me. I'm lost. Where are we?

Is black culture to you just the streets and the hood? Shame...

 

[bartstar]

It's really just a perpetual cycle, that until someone in your family stands up, breaks or decides to deviate from what has been woven into America's mainstream society, will continue on for years to come.  I for one hate all America traditions and norms and feel we as a people as a whole no matter what your race is have subconsciously decided to accept anything that is popular.   When you take a look back at world history and pay attention to the real key players, then things start to become clearer as you know where to focus your attention.  I mention this first and foremost because it is very prevalent, but the separation of our families during the Slave trade and Slavery (Whether it was in America or Africa) started the perpetual cycle that you see today.  Not having a MATURE, RATIONAL and RELIABLE family member and father figure has played a big part in kids heading towards negative energy and attention that results in outlandish behavior.  ​

 ​

"WHO THE KIDS GONNA LISTEN TO? I GUESS ME IF IT ISN"T YOU"​

 ​

Like Kanye said (and I know I will be blasted for quoting Ye, so blow me) we as black folks don't USUALLY have well informed and wealthy families that we can lean on when needed.  Which is true, when you look at all industries there are very few minorities, especially Blacks in gate keeping and knowledgeable respectable positions.  This ties back to the way America and the world leaders during that time set up our destiny.  Trust me that old money and old way of thinking has not gone anywhere.  It has actually got smarter and become harder to pinpoint back to the root causes due to amount of clout that is put out to disguise the real issues.  Trust me they love the fact that the entertainment culture which they perpetuate and fund keeps energy like "ridn round with the nina" "No flex zone" "Hot *****" and whatever else that is ignorant, popular and on everyone's minds.  Keeps the attention off of them and their controlling nature.  Drugs do this as well.  Why do you think they flooded urban areas with well known poison during the 70's & 80's and then tried to create laws to crack down on these products that they provided?  Perfect example were the Rockefeller laws that penalized Crack Cocaine users way more severely than pure cocaine users.  WHY?  Because "poor" minorities were using Crack and Cocaine was for the high class predominately white "partiers".  ​

 ​

These are just a FEW examples and I am not blaming everything on those influential cowards, as we as a people need to say no more and stand up.  Black communities need to focus on creating community learning zones that focus on the ever changing economy, by funding this through community pooling of funds.  For example http://dallasmakerspace.org/ is a perfect example of the community coming together to offer a unique learning experience to the area of Dallas.  Black communities also need to not be afraid to speak up when crime happens, support local businesses and not succumb to spending all their hard earned money where it is not valued.  This goes back to education though and informing Blacks on how to budget, start businesses and learn different trades and technological trades that are becoming more and more necessary to compete in today's job market.  There are so many tax advantages that our people are ignorant to because they do not know the advantage of creating a business and the tax implications which could save them hundreds.​

 ​

"LIFE WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE IS DEATH IN DISGUISE"​

 ​

It's just so crazy to see Blacks fall for the same hope and dreams of entertainment, sports and typical BS careers (ex. Dope Dealing).  Everyone want's the 15 minutes of fame, but no one understands sacrifice and hard work will take the shackles off of your situation.  I stress this to so many people that you either Sacrifice by choice or you Sacrifice by force.  Its quite simple, but you would be surprised how many people are trained to sacrifice by force because they do not see the big picture and then are forced into making horrible decisions.  I have even more to discuss, but this thing could go on forever..... ​

 ​

I'll end on this note.  I'd rather hear Kanye or anyone say I want to be the next Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jesus etc. ​

rather than the ever so popular​

I think I'm Big Meech, Lary Hoover, Rich Porter, Alpo, BMF, Frank Lucas, Jeezy etc.......​

 ​

 ​

 

[Chiron]

You can say the same for (insert race here) people.

I really just don't understand what you mean by "If they won, we wouldn't be here". We are exactly where they need us to be for them to profit and our culture to be totally absorbed. Can you say the same for other minorities?

asians - they highly value education. strong family unit. they stick with each other. 

hispanics - they value hard work ethic. close family unit. they stick with each other.

Indians - they value education and social mobility. strong family tradition. they stick with each other.

...but blacks - they value individuality. Weak family unit. Crabs in a bucket mentality. Token black guy in every other group.

 
Dudes need to understand that there is no such thing as a "white america"

They differentiate among themselves and only band together when they feel threatened by non whites.

Irish, Italian, Polish etc people are now  considered white but in the early 1900s they weren't.

There is a totem pole among white people. With Anglo saxons being at the top and "lesser whites" like the Mediterraneans and Slavs at the bottom  

I understand this. And this is part of what I'm saying. African Americans or blacks will support American Culture with the rest of the nation. But unlike whites, blacks don't revert back to being nigerian american, or ethiopian american unless they are actual immigrants. We are stuck in assimilation mode permenantly, and to me that is the extinction of black culture. In order to thrive in assimilation mode we have to sacrifice a level of individuality and cultural difference to make everyone happy.

Is black culture to you just the streets and the hood? Shame...

To me our culture is how we interact with each other through language, entertainment, family, food, etc. That is then projected outward to others to establish a cultural identity. In the 70s we had a specific set of values regarding upward mobility, drug use, even a language for our personal use with each other in greeting and conversation. Acting black meant something different then than it does now. Now acting black does not mean seeking to better yourself and your community. It means embracing rap ideologies, speaking in an unrefined manner, and generally other things associated with being poor.

 

[$tatus $ymbol]

How can we assimilate into something that doesn't accept us? We are for the most part unable to revert back to a cultural identity from said place(s) bc that
was stripped from us. So we operate within the culture that we've built within the states, and I'm not quite sure what the issue is with that as long as it is positive. The culture will continue to evolve regardless of whether you think its present state is suitable or not. Black culture won't become extinct until the Black man no longer roams this earth.

 

[AEA18]

asians - they highly value education. strong family unit. they stick with each other. 
hispanics - they value hard work ethic. close family unit. they stick with each other.
Indians - they value education and social mobility. strong family tradition. they stick with each other.

...but blacks - they value individuality. Weak family unit. Crabs in a bucket mentality. Token black guy in every other group.

 

[wr]

And seriously, blacks need to become part of am economic system where we can collectively bargain and benefit from membership.

We also need to retire civil rights era style politics and politicians. No more empty handed promises and marches. No more Sharpton and Jackson. These fools clearly feel like they're apart of some romanticized era of civil rights movements and think they earn the right to speak for us all.

 

[Quincy McCall]

We are at a point of uncertainty

Not sure of ourselves or who we wanna be

Black pride isn't and wasn't solely made on protest and oppression

Through united expression we showed that power is in cause and pride and not in greed or generalizations

From the rag-time jazz players to the dirty graffiti on the walls, we stayed connected on what we could categorize as URBAN.

If makin it in a corporate world is all you care about then by all means do you, but there isn't, hasn't , nor will there ever be a reason for me to forget about my culture or let my kids avoid it.

Culture doesn't die unless you let it, we can't change the attitude's of the majority of our culture, but if we stand blind and ignorant were just as bad as these kids that only want to do what's popular

Don't let the power of the media discourage you, power changes hands and we'll be up again

 

[rico x hood]

This whole thread is the problem with Black America. You all talk too much. I say you all because I stopped talking about **** a long time ago and now I do. But you guys, talk all day and night about everything that's wrong and if you had the right leader, or the right amount of money, or the right mindset then everything will be alright. You all have the mindset that once the government makes everything equal than black America can flourish. But until then we'll just sit around and talk about it. Have fun with that.

Once you all realize that nobody owes you anything, then real change will happen.

 

[illuminatinyc]

This whole thread is the problem with Black America. You all talk too much. I say you all because I stopped talking about **** a long time ago and now I do. But you guys, talk all day and night about everything that's wrong and if you had the right leader, or the right amount of money, or the right mindset then everything will be alright. You all have the mindset that once the government makes everything equal than black America can flourish. But until then we'll just sit around and talk about it. Have fun with that.

Once you all realize that nobody owes you anything, then real change will happen.

^ bravo!

 

[Quincy McCall]

And seriously, blacks need to become part of am economic system where we can collectively bargain and benefit from membership.

We also need to retire civil rights era style politics and politicians. No more empty handed promises and marches. No more Sharpton and Jackson. These fools clearly feel like they're apart of some romanticized era of civil rights movements and think they earn the right to speak for us all.

Exactly. It is 2014, we don't need any alarmist, we know what is goin on

Those dudes make it seem like all we want to do is make a fuss, cause that's what we are known for

 

[victor page]

Who let the **** boys in?

Don't speak on "black culture" if you aren't a part of it.

 

[AEA18]

This whole thread is the problem with Black America. You all talk too much. I say you all because I stopped talking about **** a long time ago and now I do. But you guys, talk all day and night about everything that's wrong and if you had the right leader, or the right amount of money, or the right mindset then everything will be alright. You all have the mindset that once the government makes everything equal than black America can flourish. But until then we'll just sit around and talk about it. Have fun with that.


Once you all realize that nobody owes you anything, then real change will happen.

^ bravo!

You're not Black but you in every thread that involves Black people

 

[Chiron]

We are at a point of uncertainty

Not sure of ourselves or who we wanna be

Black pride isn't and wasn't solely made on protest and oppression

Through united expression we showed that power is in cause and pride and not in greed or generalizations

From the rag-time jazz players to the dirty graffiti on the walls, we stayed connected on what we could categorize as URBAN.

If makin it in a corporate world is all you care about then by all means do you, but there isn't, hasn't , nor will there ever be a reason for me to forget about my culture or let my kids avoid it.

Culture doesn't die unless you let it, we can't change the attitude's of the majority of our culture, but if we stand blind and ignorant were just as bad as these kids that only want to do what's popular

Don't let the power of the media discourage you, power changes hands and we'll be up again

I like where you took this. So how do we find new cause. I'm not saying that "making it" is whats important, but what I am saying is that is what seems to be important to our people right now. What will lead us into a new mentality of unity. We make music about us... it gets commercialized. We make clothing that reflects our identity, it gets hyped and commercialized to the point where even we can't buy it. We protest unjust actions against our people, news networks and social media will publicize it in such away that the outcry is more the focal point than the actual incident. We get college educated and end up "whitewashed".  What is the next level for the black community? I'm not discouraged. But I am willing to play devil's advocate in order to pry the answers to these questions out. 

 

[RustyShackleford]

This whole thread is the problem with Black America. You all talk too much. I say you all because I stopped talking about **** a long time ago and now I do. But you guys, talk all day and night about everything that's wrong and if you had the right leader, or the right amount of money, or the right mindset then everything will be alright. You all have the mindset that once the government makes everything equal than black America can flourish. But until then we'll just sit around and talk about it. Have fun with that.

Once you all realize that nobody owes you anything, then real change will happen.

Cue the Daffy Duck gif

 

[tay1]

 
I like where you took this. So how do we find new cause. I'm not saying that "making it" is whats important, but what I am saying is that is what seems to be important to our people right now. What will lead us into a new mentality of unity. We make music about us... it gets commercialized. We make clothing that reflects our identity, it gets hyped and commercialized to the point where even we can't buy it. We protest unjust actions against our people, news networks and social media will publicize it in such away that the outcry is more the focal point than the actual incident. We get college educated and end up "whitewashed".  What is the next level for the black community? I'm not discouraged. But I am willing to play devil's advocate in order to pry the answers to these questions out. 

What clothing do we make?