Pages
February 2010
The AC Phoenix
...You have to
look better tha
CHANGi~IH^0OME.
Pull them JP.
You can’t move rORWARD.
If the world only sees your BEHIND.
Fact: Young men were molested by older and stronger inmates. The younger
men then became suicidal because what happened to them. Prison officials
took away their belts to prevent them from hanging themselves. That ended
up being a symbol that the young man was actually someone's girlfiirend!
This is not cooi! it's a disgrace! Sagging is "Not Cooil"
it is unacceptabie to giris, women and iadiesl
And it shouid be unacceptabie to you too!
PANTS ON THE GROUND ~ PANTS ON THE GROUND
The other day, a friend of mine visited me in the lobby of my dorm just to
chat while her laundry was drying. As we were chatting, two young fresh
men came by. One of the 2 boys wanted to'taik'to my friend (as in date).
She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18. My
friend and I both laughed hysterically because we are both 22 years old.
After my friend left, the young men were still hanging around and one wanted
to know how he could gain her interest.
The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants! He asked why, and
then said he liked saggin' pants. I told him to come over to my computer and
spell the word saggin'. Then I told him to write the word saggin' backwards.
S-A-G-G-l-N
N-l-G- G-A-S
I told him the origin ofthat look was from centuries ago. It was the intent of slave
owners to demoralize the field workers by forbidding them to wear a belt as
they worked in the fields or at any other rigorous job. In addition, men in prison
wore their pants low when they were'spoken for'. The other reason their pants
looked like that was they were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were
likely to try to commit suicide. And, saggin' pants prevents you from running.
We as young Black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying.
The media has made a mockery of the Black American. Even our brothers and
sisters from Africa don't take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up
your pants and standing with your head he Id high could make the biggest
difference in the world's perception of us. It is time to do right by ourselves.
We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do that for us.
It all comes down to perception. What people perceive is what reality to them
is. We have to change not only the media's perception of us, but we need to
change our perception of ourselves.
Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes are on you Black Woman.
All eyes are on your Black Child. People point the finger at us and expect us to
engage in negative and illegal activities, to manifest loud, boisterous behavior.
to spend our hard earned money in their stores, buying goods we don't need, or
really want. We have allowed not only the media, but the government and the
w orld to portray us as a 'sub-culture. 'They have stripped our culture down to
the point where the image of Black people is perpetuated as rappers, athletes,
drug users, and consumers of junk food, expensive tennis shoes, expensive
cars, expensive TVs, cell phones and not investing in homes for our families..
We are so much more!!!!!!!
To all our Black Men: It's time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women
who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you walk on.
We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to
love, support and cherish every ounce of your being. But with that you have to
show that you are willing to be the head of our households. You have to prove
yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working...Not a
hustler. We need you to seek higher education, to seek spirituality... We need
you to stand and trust us; we will have your back. We know that it gets hard.
We know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black
Man and a Black Woman can't handle with GOD on their side.
To all our Black Women : It is also time for you to stand up. It is time for you
to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is time to
be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. You cannot sit by the wayside
while our men are dying by the masses. You are the epitome of Black Love. It
starts withi n you.. You need to speak with conviction to let not only our Black
Men know, but the world, that you are the Mothers of this world... You are so
powerful. You are so beautiful. You need to love and embrace every blessing
God has given us physically, emotionally and spiritually.
For all our Black Children; We need to love them. We need to teach them. We
need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to show them
that there are no'get rich quick'schemes. We need to tell them that they WILL
die trying if they submit to a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our
children that no one will love them the way we can. We need to tell them that
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