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Originally posted by MsSweetness
I agree with all that's being said, and I strongly believe that one person can make a difference. When I was in undergrad, MOST of the black guys thought they were "elite, one of the guys women want, the bees knees" just b/c they were getting a degree. You should've seen them. I mean, they would really say crazy things trying to make people think that they should be admired for going to school. Now, don't get me wrong, I am always proud when ANY black person goes to school, but please don't act like you are the first person to do it. And you most definitely will not be the last. They had their orgs, black male pride orgs, but they usually consisted of meetings on how they were "a rare species." I hardly ever saw them at any community service events, volunteering, nothing.
These are the people that our other black males should be listening to b/c they are/have been through it, but who wants to listen to someone who is cocky?? Who wants to sit there and listen to you talk about yourself? And it wasn't just guys at my school, my friends at other schools acted the same way. In my opinion, going to school is something that you are SUPPOSED to do, no need to brag about it  But that's just how I was raised. I'm sure that those we need to help want to hear success stories, but they also want to know how they can succeed as well.
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Originally posted by KAPPAtivating
I somewhat agree, but the reason I tell my story to my students is because I want them to understand that I could have been the incarerated cousin, or I could've been the dead friend, or the drug dealing baby-daddy. However, I want them to know that life is about choices that I made. I want them to know that EXCUSES are not a solution or a reason to settle for less. That is why I tell my story. And to some, I probably do seem "cocky", but I (just like many other of my peers, and ancestors) beat the system and the odds!
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My Soror Enigma alluded to it, but I want to hone it is some more:
What IS the BLACK MAN? What is his definition? What does it mean for him to be a MAN?
I have my definition--my father and my grandfather... Both are exceptional men who accomplished a lot--especially my grandfather who was a pioneer in his time. A Black man in the south, attended college, got a degree, got a Master's degree--by the early 1930's. Then worked with Mary McLeod Bethune, then became the President of Bethune-Cookman... They DON'T make them like that anymore... I only knew him as my granddaddy. But others knew him a great man. Still others in his own family, his sons hated him because he and his wife believed in the chastenining rod to discipline children--what would clearly be labeled as abuse by today's standards...
My father was allowed privilege due to my grandfather's sacrifices. He became a dentist from Meharry--it was either Meharry or Howard back in the day... He worked very hard for that degree. But he endured racism and bigotry throughout his life and career. He's still holding on, but age and health is still not the best for him... Just like my grandfather, he's still blessed with those wonderful health conditions that old African American men suffer...
It's one thing for you mama to tell you to do something... It's another when your dad has to tell you to do something... And it's another when your granddad-especially like mine--had to tell you do something--and he didn't tell you to do it, twice...
But my question still remains: What is the definition of a Black MAN?
I am blessed to have found "my definition" in my husband. He is a nerdy goofy fuzz ball... But then again, so am I--and he's truly a MAN in all sense of the word. Loving, caring, manly, hard-working, very intelligent, and he attended Morehouse--where too many brothas are uber-cocky--I know I attended Spelman--and we are just as saditity...
