We gotta do better

Growing up in Adams Morgan in Washington DC was one of the best things that ever happened to me.  It allowed me to be around people of all different races and cultures.  How could I forget the U.S. Army for showing me that brotherhood comes in all Colors.  I remember as a young child, the elders in my family always taught us to be well mannered and respectful kids.  They taught us to do what we felt was right and not what everybody else thought was right.  In school, we learned about people like, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King,  The Kennedys, and just about everybody who wanted to abolish slavery and ensure all people were created equal.  People of all races died to ensure that all people in this country were created equal, especially African Americans.  I’m curious to know what those people would say about where we are as a country and as a race.  And then last week I turned on the TV and saw shit that made me cringe when I saw it and it’s called “Knockout”.  It’s a game where teenagers walk down the street and randomly try to knockout a random person with one punch.  I spent a little bit of time combing the internet looking at videos and articles on the Internet.  It’s no coincident that just about all the kids and teens that are doing this are African American.  And we wonder why people cross to the other side of the streets and clutch their purses out of fear.  Its bullshit like this that feeds that idea and feeling.   All the people that gave their lives to ensure that all people are free and created equal, and to repay them this is the type of shit we do?  When you get a chance pull up a few videos of people protesting back in the day for equal rights.  They were beat to a fucking pulp, bit by dogs, and hosed down with water from fire hydrants….For us to turn around and destroy ourselves and our own communities.  Then we sit and claim that the system ain't set up for to succeed when a motherfucker come over to this country with a pocket full of lent and 5 years later is fucking millionaire….get tha fuck outta here.  We sell drugs to our own people and then turn around and say we ain’t the ones bringing it into the country.  We say the governments trying to destroy our communities with liquor stores and drugs.  Do me a favor and read up on something called, “Supply and Demand”.  We would rather sell dope than get a fucking job at McDonalds.  We will kill a motherfucker that lives two blocks away over a pair of fucking Michael Jordan Shoes.  We would rather be stereotypical shit like Basketball Players and Rappers than be Police Officers, Doctors, and Lawyers.   We would rather listen to and take guidance from a rap video than the school teacher.   And do understand,  I’m not saying all of us are like this.  But what I am saying is, we have come too far and accomplished too much….to still have the same issues in our community and with our youth.  As much as I hate to say…It all starts with parenting.  As parents, we have to teach our children what right looks like.  If we teach our children that it’s ok to have a shit load of kids and be on welfare…than that is exactly what they will do.  However,  if we teach our children that you have to work hard for everything and be a productive person in society…they will.  We are officially out of fucking excuses…The playing field is more leveled than it has ever been.  How about we stop complaining, feeding the stereotypes, and being ungrateful……And make ourselves a part of the solution and not the problem.    We have to parent and raise our children.  It nobody’s job but yours