Oh Black people, how I love thee. I say this on two different fronts: a) because I miss my African-American brethren & b) because I've recently felt the need to defend my brothas & sistas from unjust stereotyping. First off, I'll say that I'm truly missing African-Americans right now. I just need a break, even if its just a small one, to talk to some Us's who'll understand me in a way that these other folks can't. There's just a different feeling & bond amongst African-Americans, which I probably couldn't do justice to by trying to explain in a blog, so I won't belabor the point. Now, there are a solid number of African immigrants in Dublin. For those of you who've been keeping up with my blog, you know that I found a nice African barbershop & they hooked me up the with a decent haircut. But I'll tell you this, there is a difference between Africans & African-Americans that I knew a little about back home, but its a lot more pronounced when you're over in Dublin & you've the only African-American throughout the trip. These North African immigrants obviously come over here with their own customs, their language, & their common bond from being immigrants over here, & while they've been nothing but nice & courteous to me whenever we cross paths, I can just feel a difference. I apologize if I'm unclear or underwhelming in my analysis, its just hard to put it into words.
*Side note: If it was unclear as to why I'm saying both Black people & African-Americans, its to draw a distinction. Black people refers to whole diaspora while African-Americans would obviously be the brothas & sistas born in America*
But now on to the real reason I'm writing this post. Part B: Defending Black People. So, I recently had a conversation with a friend on Facebook just catching up with one another. I hadn't seen this person in a long time & turns out that said person had transfered out of the AUC to go to a predominantly White southern school. I inquired as to why said person wanted to transfer there, not even as a pointed question, I just thought it was a slightly random choice even for a predominatly White school. This person responded by saying that this other school was ranked in the top 20 universities by US News & World Report, while the other AUC school wasn't ranked in the top 100 (I double checked that statement & this AUC school is in the top 75) . I responded by saying that I can see the rationality behind the choice, even though I wouldn't agree with strictly using those polls to make your college decisions & we'll agree to disagree on those ideals. In response to me saying that, this person explained the choice in more detail by saying that they had enough of people caring about "things peope worry about down there, popularity, who's dating who, who has the most this or that", all of which is vaild to a certain extent, but then the person said they would rather not deal with Black females & that the stereotypes of them were "very true".
Let me clairify something that I omitted earlier, just to preempt some confusion. The friend I was chatting with is a Black female who transfered away from Spelman. Y'all know if a brotha woulda made that last comment, it woulda completely changed the story.
Anyway, I read this last comment & was immediately up in arms. I was ready to just go in on this young lady & really give her one of these intellectual smackdowns that we almost specialize in down in the AUC. But I thought about it some more & it turned out to be more of a sad statement to me rather than an inflammatory one. I thoughtfully wrote a response expressing my disappointment in such a statement & that I felt that she had missed most of what the AUC really has to offer. Now, I'm not gonna get up on a high horse & say that there was no basis for her to feel the way that she did. In the AUC, you can easily (extremely easily) fall prey to the fast life of Black Hollywood. Its a small community with everybody hustlin to achieve & money is huge motivating factor, so it can be extreme frustrating dealing with the "baller" & "stuntin" & "swagger" mentalities that are developed. But come on, what school ain't got people trying to get rich or a bunch of rich kids running around flaunting their wealth? You can't tell me it's just a Black thing & even more to the point, its frankly your own fault if you failed to find a circle of friends who aren't into that. There are a lot of people who aren't solely concerned with keeping up the Joneses & ballin out every weekend. There are a lot of intellectuals, scholars, & just real down to earth folk in the AUC & greater Atlanta community, so you find your niche & be happy with it. I'm speaking from experience on that one, cause I can't afford to keep up with the Joneses & I can't morally agree with parts of that lifestyle, so I made a conscious decision to find like minded people to spend my time with. And guess what? It wasn't that hard.
As for the second part of her rationale, which was the really saddening part, where do we start? I can understand not wanting to be around a whole bunch of people of you're same sex. I'm not into the machismo & pissing contests that come from being around a bunch of testosterone (which speaks to why I'm a drama major w/ classes at Spelman). But I would never cast off Black men as being people I don't wanna deal with as a whole. That is ludicrous & a sign of self-hatred, because as much as we might try to act alone, we're all in this together (especially as African-Americans). Now, stereotypes come from a true place. Something actually had to happen truthfully for the stereotype to stick & last. So, there are lazy & ignorant men in the AUC as well as gold digging, hypersexual females in the AUC. But if you come down here & stay for a year, and after that year your lasting image is that 1% of black life that unfortunately succumbs to those sterotypes, you've been blinded. I can't even quote Malcolm X & say that you've been hookwinked & bamboozled, because you chose not to see. Nobody did anything to fool you, you closed your 2 physical eyes & ignored your 3rd eye vision. And if that is the case, I can't be mad at a person for not allowing themselves to see. I can only pity them & pray that one day that person will open their eyes, especially that 3rd eye, to see through the madness.
While I admit to being one of the first to complain about the flaws in the AUC, never will I turn my back on the concrete fact that Black excellence is displayed there every single day. And as a Black person who knows how difficult it can be living amongst a very White population, I cherish the opportunity to be educated, inspired, & loved by other Black folks. Having the AUC experience has only enhanced my desire for & love of diversity in general because I now know more about my own. My history, the legacy that I have to carry on, the path that has been set for me. So, I guess my point is love yourself & love your people because otherwise you won't be able love others or realize who loves you too.
Peace & blessings, y'all! Shouts out to the A town!
*Side note: If it was unclear as to why I'm saying both Black people & African-Americans, its to draw a distinction. Black people refers to whole diaspora while African-Americans would obviously be the brothas & sistas born in America*
But now on to the real reason I'm writing this post. Part B: Defending Black People. So, I recently had a conversation with a friend on Facebook just catching up with one another. I hadn't seen this person in a long time & turns out that said person had transfered out of the AUC to go to a predominantly White southern school. I inquired as to why said person wanted to transfer there, not even as a pointed question, I just thought it was a slightly random choice even for a predominatly White school. This person responded by saying that this other school was ranked in the top 20 universities by US News & World Report, while the other AUC school wasn't ranked in the top 100 (I double checked that statement & this AUC school is in the top 75) . I responded by saying that I can see the rationality behind the choice, even though I wouldn't agree with strictly using those polls to make your college decisions & we'll agree to disagree on those ideals. In response to me saying that, this person explained the choice in more detail by saying that they had enough of people caring about "things peope worry about down there, popularity, who's dating who, who has the most this or that", all of which is vaild to a certain extent, but then the person said they would rather not deal with Black females & that the stereotypes of them were "very true".
Let me clairify something that I omitted earlier, just to preempt some confusion. The friend I was chatting with is a Black female who transfered away from Spelman. Y'all know if a brotha woulda made that last comment, it woulda completely changed the story.
Anyway, I read this last comment & was immediately up in arms. I was ready to just go in on this young lady & really give her one of these intellectual smackdowns that we almost specialize in down in the AUC. But I thought about it some more & it turned out to be more of a sad statement to me rather than an inflammatory one. I thoughtfully wrote a response expressing my disappointment in such a statement & that I felt that she had missed most of what the AUC really has to offer. Now, I'm not gonna get up on a high horse & say that there was no basis for her to feel the way that she did. In the AUC, you can easily (extremely easily) fall prey to the fast life of Black Hollywood. Its a small community with everybody hustlin to achieve & money is huge motivating factor, so it can be extreme frustrating dealing with the "baller" & "stuntin" & "swagger" mentalities that are developed. But come on, what school ain't got people trying to get rich or a bunch of rich kids running around flaunting their wealth? You can't tell me it's just a Black thing & even more to the point, its frankly your own fault if you failed to find a circle of friends who aren't into that. There are a lot of people who aren't solely concerned with keeping up the Joneses & ballin out every weekend. There are a lot of intellectuals, scholars, & just real down to earth folk in the AUC & greater Atlanta community, so you find your niche & be happy with it. I'm speaking from experience on that one, cause I can't afford to keep up with the Joneses & I can't morally agree with parts of that lifestyle, so I made a conscious decision to find like minded people to spend my time with. And guess what? It wasn't that hard.
As for the second part of her rationale, which was the really saddening part, where do we start? I can understand not wanting to be around a whole bunch of people of you're same sex. I'm not into the machismo & pissing contests that come from being around a bunch of testosterone (which speaks to why I'm a drama major w/ classes at Spelman). But I would never cast off Black men as being people I don't wanna deal with as a whole. That is ludicrous & a sign of self-hatred, because as much as we might try to act alone, we're all in this together (especially as African-Americans). Now, stereotypes come from a true place. Something actually had to happen truthfully for the stereotype to stick & last. So, there are lazy & ignorant men in the AUC as well as gold digging, hypersexual females in the AUC. But if you come down here & stay for a year, and after that year your lasting image is that 1% of black life that unfortunately succumbs to those sterotypes, you've been blinded. I can't even quote Malcolm X & say that you've been hookwinked & bamboozled, because you chose not to see. Nobody did anything to fool you, you closed your 2 physical eyes & ignored your 3rd eye vision. And if that is the case, I can't be mad at a person for not allowing themselves to see. I can only pity them & pray that one day that person will open their eyes, especially that 3rd eye, to see through the madness.
While I admit to being one of the first to complain about the flaws in the AUC, never will I turn my back on the concrete fact that Black excellence is displayed there every single day. And as a Black person who knows how difficult it can be living amongst a very White population, I cherish the opportunity to be educated, inspired, & loved by other Black folks. Having the AUC experience has only enhanced my desire for & love of diversity in general because I now know more about my own. My history, the legacy that I have to carry on, the path that has been set for me. So, I guess my point is love yourself & love your people because otherwise you won't be able love others or realize who loves you too.
Peace & blessings, y'all! Shouts out to the A town!
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