Frankly Charismatic
With this year coming to an end at such a quick pace-and I mean quickly, I know I’m not the only one that’s like “Damn! Is it almost Christmas again!!!!!” I want to take a look back at the year of 2008 and the wonderful year of 2009 that lays ahead for our nation, families, and more specifically the Black Man in America. 2008 has been a great year as a whole; yes the economy is the slums, the housing market is decreasing daily, and Wall Street has lost its luxury status, but better days lie ahead. Ironically enough, something that used to be considered a negative trait of our race is manifesting itself to a positive in our nation. And that’s the ability to survive with less. A trait that our people have mastered because we have been doing it for years. Hell, the street named M.L.K. that is in every city in the U.S. is more respected than Wall Street right now. Because believe me, no matter which city or town you are in, if you go to Martin Luther King Drive, Boulevard, Street, Road, or Lane there is a positive profit being made by the end of the day. It may not be all legal taxed profit, but more people made money than lost it. We can’t say that for Wall Street these days, you get my drift. That’s a completely different topic so let’s get back to the point.
2008 has been a year where we have seen the African American Race soar in many different aspects of life. To no surprise, we soared in the Olympics by winning more medals than any other race. We now have a major movie studio that is black owned in the predominantly black city of Atlanta. Created by Tyler Perry; a man that just a decade ago was sleeping in his car, a man that never gave up on his dream, a man that is a now a multi-millionaire. If that’s not inspiring by just reading that, you need a gut check ASAP!!!! In the Music industry, Lil’ Wayne, a southern rapper from New Orleans, sold a million records. To you and me we’re thinking so what, people go platinum all the time. But realize Lil’ Wayne broke through musical barriers this year in one week! In a world where downloading and leaked music paralyzes record sales. We see just as many White, Asian, and Latino chicks screaming this dude’s name as you have Black chicks. “LolliPop” could be heard at the corner store blasting from a Chevy on 22’s, or in the parking lot of a Fortune 500 Company of the now-or future- head of Marketing. He has become not only a Rap Icon, the kid is the closet thing to Hendrix and Marley that we’ve have seen in a long time …He is a real life Rock Star. We’ve had the blessed opportunity to hear, read about, and potentially elect one of the most articulate, respected, and strong black men this nation or the political world has ever seen. We finally have a major league player playing in the right ball game….. Politics. Please don’t take that statement as me saying that Barack Obama is running solely for the African American Race because that is not the case. But he is one of ours and we plan to back him 100%! Not only because of his skin color, but also because of his campaign (I don’t need to go into that you all have seen the debates). We as a race have had other great leaders Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, and even Reverend Jesse Jackson when he put the dignity of our race before his jealousy and greed for personal gain. Those people were brick layers building a road to get us to this point. Martin was a great speaker but could not vote in Congress. Malcolm gave us a sense of self dignity but could not veto Discriminatory Bills. Jesse could P.U.S.H., but could not make tax cuts. See what I’m saying? We are now playing the right game, and if that’s not a step towards a better day, I don’t know what is!
Another blessing of 2008 was the CNN documentary of “Black in America”. It was almost like a mirror being placed in front of our race saying this is who you are, these are some of your negative aspects, and now you must start working towards being better. It not only gave us a look at our Race from inside out, but also gave other cultures and races the opportunity to do the same thing. The opportunity to see what it is to be: a Black Man, Single Mother, Death Row Inmate, Middle Class Parent, Interracial Couple, Successful Black Woman, etc. Can someone really know our struggles by watching 100 hours of documented footage? No. But I can guarantee those who really paid attention and listened have a much better understanding.
In closing the year 2008 has been a good one. We as a nation have taken great strides and I believe we will continue to do so. We as a nation have become more involved in the Political Process. We have better understanding of how this Nation “really” works, and the dream that we could one day become President of this country is less than 30 days away from becoming true. Take this year as a new beginning. The number 8 represents new beginnings in biblical aspects, the day after completion. Our ancestors’ have run their leg of the race and they are tired. They have now passed the baton to us. We don’t know how long the race we are running is, but we do know that this leg of the race is going to better than the last one.
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