“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” -MLK
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” MX
Man, I feel like I’ve been flooding the blog with posts lately. I guess it just means I am inspired more than ever to share the great things around me. Life is good and a little over a half a month in I am still on my mission to better health, a vow to continue to be educated, and to make better financial decisions. Some of my goals were re-arranged but ‘tis is life and as with anything adjustments must be made.
As I mentioned in an earlier post my Japanese language class was canceled 2 weeks ago, and the Masters program that I had been waiting to apply too turned out to be not as great as I once thought it would be after sitting in their first informational. I opted out of starting a GRE prep course next month, and decided to start a less expensive one that started this past Saturday. This program saved me money and fit a lot better in my schedule. So instead of focusing on Japanese my main focus now is this exam. My biggest challenge now is relearning and memorizing math concepts that I have not had to use or see in YEARS! (HEEELLLLP!!) IMPOSSIBLE is nothing right? At the end of the day I can either make excuses and complain or I can face this issue head on!
I’ve been reading a good book that was given to me by my friend Kim called, The Slight Edge. She would be a bit disappointed to know I havn’t gotten as far as I would have liked, but I will continue to read it today for quite some time I hope (as I wait for my GRE prep book to come in the mail from Amazon since I ordered the wrong year last time). The book so far is good and touches on ways to stay disciplined and be successful in life, relationships and financially which is what I am about!
I’ve been going to the gym and its working out really well. My ease back into the routine is getting better. I recently had a fail moment where I went to eat out friend. After eating it I felt so disgusted that I now vow not to eat fried chicken again. At least form that establishment, Grandma’s ONLY!!
Today I was afforded the opportunity to attend a workshop called Nothing About Us Without Us done by Seattle community organizers John Paige and my friend LuLu. The workshop was done very well! Sadly we didn’t have much time so we were unable to go into greater detail about a lot of things. Nevertheless I really enjoyed being there and learning many new things and seeing a few old faces whom I was able to catch up with as well. I was able to get a real sense of what’s going on in the community and it seems that as much of a progressive city as Seattle is their has been a racial undertone for quite some time that continues to get ignored. One of the most interesting discussions was the discussion of red lining (in short.. the way blacks and other people of color were kept out of living in what was supposed to be “desegregated” housing). We talked about how it still goes on today with fraudulent housing loans from banks, lack of employment, affordable housing, and gentrification.
I had a great conversation last night with a good friend of mine who is from LA about African American communities, racism, classicism and education and how they play significant roles in what’s going on today. We both agreed that while there are leaders out there a lot of times they do not get the deserved credits, but instead society has a tendency to refer back to figures like Martin Luther King and not look deeper into the present leaders or the women that actually were the backbone of the civil rights movements and movements going on today, or any of the other key players.
Sorry if you made it this far I know it was very random, but hopefully if you’re still reading you’ve learned something and you care…
-Ambassador
**Disclaimer**
These thoughts are mine and mine only. Most may not be as well thought out as they should have been, but the following submission was more therapeutic to me than it was about reader satisfaction. Nevertheless… ENJOY…
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The birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was this past Tuesday. As a 25 year old African American male this is a day I take much pride in, and can only begin to understand the significance of. The day it is celebrated constantly reminds me of the number of minority freedom fighters in this country that never had their stories told in our school history books. I guess that complaint can be used for a lot of things in this country so I will spare you with my long list of individuals like Marcus Garvey, Delores Huerta, Huey P. Newton, Yuri Kochiyama just to name a few.
The reason I actually decided to write about MLK this morning was not necessarily because I thought it would be a bold and noble thing to do, however, yesterday I was afforded the opportunity to attend an MLK celebration. I will admit initially I did not want to attend because I’ve seen how disastrous these things can turn out. I guess I wanted to avoid disappointment. I understand that there are a lot of people of all races and ethnicities who work really hard to put on these celebrations and as a young black male I should be thankful that an African American whom looks like me that is such a prominent human being is being celebrated. No doubt MLK was a phenomenal individual who deserves to be celebrated and honored by all Americans.
I decided to attend anyway. Like I mentioned before I initially did not want to attend, but the caliber of the institution that was putting on this celebration gave me high hopes that I would learn something new about the most celebrated African American in history. Even if I didn’t learn anything new maybe I would hear about how MLK inspired someone else to change the world.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get that…
Instead, I got the usual singing of Lift Every Voice (Black National Anthem), two men tap dancing for entertainment, a butchered speech about how we need to be mentors to today’s children so that they can be afforded the opportunities of privilege in this country (true indeed…), and a slam poetry reading. I just left the celebration very disappointed and unfulfilled.
The Return of The King Boondocks episode kept playing in my head over and over again. What if Martin Luther King Jr. came back today and saw the state of black America? What would he say? Maybe that’s not a fair question. There are many sides to that question from both the realistic look at celebrated black culture and the taking a closer look at the continued oppression from the oppressors whom hold the power to make institutional change. A more realistic question, what if he was able to attend this celebration? Would he be proud that the only gifts being highlighted amongst his people were STILL dancing, a form of music and other forms of entertainment?
I never want to bring a problem without giving a solution. My solution would be how about next time since the institution is filled with many diverse doctors and scholars whom hold years of academic, work, and life experience and stories; We give these individuals a voice and opportunity to speak about their lives and their experiences. Share with us their inspirations. Give a voice to the voiceless. Create some new leaders whom we could be proud to speak about and celebrate. This event to me felt like politics as usual something that was thrown together because it was simply tradition to do so.
It is not enough just to be satisfied with mere acknowledgement anymore. We must set higher expectations for the way minorities are represented and celebrated. This includes representation by white people whom are seen as the dominate American race, by other minorities, and by each other.
All of us hold ignorance in this world, and it is my goal to continue to educate myself and seek answers. I hope that we all will continue to do the same. Today this is my truth. I only hope that my words will spark thought and will inspire others.
Through it all I am thankful that such a great man can be celebrated by so many people every year for giving his life for humanity, equality, his beliefs, and sacrifice. I hope to one day have a pinch of the courage that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had, and one can only dream to leave such a legacy. I am determined to try, and I vow to look at the world through the truthful lenses that is reality with my ambition, my struggle, and my life.
-Ambassador
AmbassadorNique 