Feel Free to Take Some of the Blame

I'm currently reading Demico Boothe's Why are So Many Black Men in Prison. I'm only on chapter two and he's already speaking truth. In addition to many foul governmental practices and whatnot, black men also contribute to the high presence of black men in prison. He says:

“My generation is the generation of effectual Black Ku Klux Klan members who through ignorance, gang violence, and drug selling to one another are perpetuating worse atrocities on the Black community than the real Ku Klux Klan. And the sad part about it is that we sometime seem to take pride in doing so. Poverty cannot be blamed for this, but ignorance can. As for the positive battlefronts, there are relatively speaking no Martin Luther King's, Malcolm X's, Elijah Muhammad's, Fred Hampton's, Huey P. Newton's, Marcus Garvey's, Muhammad Ali's, or W.E.B. DuBois' of my generation; visible, charismatic activists who are conscious and who have the courage to call a spade a spade regardless of the consequences, and who organize with true change for Black people and overall society as the goal.”

**ahem** Black entertainers, athletes, plus others, take notes. Not everything is about race! I definitely agree that the government is exponentially anti-Black men, but stop giving them reasons to be. Have you ever thought that rapping and living a lifestyle plagued with selling and using drugs, promoting division in neighborhoods and avoiding education is a factor in your continuous visits to jail? To quote the words of the infamous soon-to-be felon Latarian Milton, stop doing “hoodrat things with your friends.” I mean, dammit. Do you ever wonder why there are so many stereotypes of black men being unable to keep a job, being undateable, and just plain ignorant? Hmm... Think about it.

And as for you, **points to Jesse Jackson and Big Perm Al Sharpton** stop going in front of cameras. You aren't our Martin, Huey or Malcolm. Stop acting like Captain Save-a-Negro. When a black man is OBVIOUSLY guilty of something and all evidence points to him, it is NOT a racial issue. The man is just guilty. Going in front of cameras just reiterates everyone's beliefs that the black community is just a bunch of whiny, race card-pulling, affirmative action-calling brats.


**Breathes deeply**
Anything else?

Adios,
Phoenix.