Black apathy has become the order of the day. Black intellectual persuasion and the power it yields has gone away. At the height of this historic era, with the eyes of a nation and the world looking on, the upper echelon rather than putting their elbow to the grin and pressing on to nurture and cultivate intellectual hotbeds and mold shining and exemplary models of thought and action are falling short. This out to be prime time and fertile ground for growing academia and achievement for our young turks to see the reflection of themselves and imagine visions of what they might be. We don’t teach them to examine how far we as a people have come or to envision the places of where we have yet to be. To look at the strides we have made and measure the distance we must still travel to attain a dream. No, black intellectualism is something that has gone astray.
The value that African Americans put on education today, is the sum of our personal and historic experiences and our perceptions about self-realization and self-fulfillment in a really gratifying way. The short answer is that we don’t value education enough. In the last few decades very few colleges have been established by African Americans, not even those with the resources and the historic leanings to to do so. We are like the emperor in those new clothes, we’ve convinced ourselves that we have donned this fine and elaborate garb, but in actuality we stand naked and bare. So too, as a collective of people halfheartedly aspiring to break through barriers and institutionally imposed obstacle to out goals, we wait by the window and peek in and wonder why we are forever looking in from the outside decrying that education has not really come our way.
The people we prize and celebrate are entertainers and that is sad evidence of us losing our way. It’s not that we have to like Drake, to the exclusion of other notable and cultural icons, but it is the epitome of the power in play. “… our kids can’t all aspire to be LeBron or Lil Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court Justice. I want them aspiring to be president of the United States of America,” retorted President Obama at the celebration of the NAACP’s 100th anniversary.
Should our young people revere a rapper more than an entrepreneur of the founder of Facebook in a significant way? Consider how many people engage in that social media every day.
The institutions that the hip-hop generation has witnessed, including MySpace, Yahoo, Bing and Google are all the products of those who envision intellectual processes in a meaningful and lucrative way. They contemplated how to change our lives in a meaningful way? How much do the songs of Puffy and Biggie Smalls impact our lives and elevate our standards of living?
The reality of HIV rates increasing each day, and yet we as a people have had so little to say. Does anything Nicki Minaj have to say affect that tragedy or address it in any way? This is the failure of those who are positioned to lead us tomorrow, where do they stand today? Is there a reason that Nicki and Puffy and Lil Wayne and Drake don’t fill up stadiums and talk about what it takes? What it takes to be safe, what it takes to excel, what it takes to move ahead and sidestep that hell. One might have to assume that they are consumed with their own well-being and no one else in the room. They placate us with tunes that keep young people complacent, apathetic and acting like goons. Maybe it the designer threads or the hot new kicks that add to that false security that we’re not living in obscurity. We think we have arrived and we remain unaware until we have to pay and find ourselves in despair.
If you’re waiting for one of these rappers to get a Pulitzer Prize for any of their rhymes, they have about as much chance of receiving a Nobel Prize for their work in these times.
Now that you understand what the problem is, what are you willing to do other than just show biz? Examine all of the facets of intellectual discourse, and make education and learning your choice. The value of academic pursuit, and activism and being politically astute are incorporated in our history and our cultural root. Look at those who control the world, then look at those waiting around for the girl. If money and clothes are how you measure success, what are they measuring on Wall Street with the stock exchange and all that excess?
I ask you, is it an intellectual that you choose to be? Or is it a one-hit wonder or an athlete asunder that will be your legacy? If intellectual aspiration is exhausted in the African American community, then we abnegate what was to be along with out fate. Who will attempt to replace and repair our sense of achievement and what’s right and what’s fair.
Give me some feedback, and let’s hear where you are.
Peace.
Munson Steed
