10% Dis

Our ancestor and great scholar and freedom fighter W.E.B. DuBois once advocated for the “talented tenth” to lead the race.  The talented tenth consisted of the most educated of the race that, due to their knowledge, were expected to fight, defend, and represent the entire race.  Unfortunately, Dubois theory was flawed.  He underestimated the power of, as Carter G. Woodson calls, the miseducation of the Negro.  The elites of the race abandoned the race in favor of the oppressor’s favor.  So, instead of coming back to the community and uplifting those left behind, the “talented tenth” sought to imitate the oppressor and aide in the oppression of their own people.  They became collaborators.

The Civil Rights Movement was both an elitist and youthful movement.  The youth were the driving force pushing the elites to act.  The Elites (preachers, pastors, educators, etc.) quickly abandoned the movement once they received high status jobs.  They became mayors, business owners, businessmen, congressmen, and held various positions in the government.   Their betrayal of the youth and the masses caused restlessness and a rebellion within the African community.  This less peaceful attitude led to a more direct and confrontational Black Power Movement.  We no longer to just overcome we wanted “Black Power”.  Again the 10% abandoned Black power in a quest for green power.  I’m not talking about environmental friendly I’m talking “bout the c.r.e.a.m., dolla, dolla bill ya’ll”-Method Man

Hip Hop culture officially emerged out of the chaos of the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s.  Hip hop, a pan African culture, embodies the principles of West African culture.  It is an evolution of the previous genres of music (R&B, soul, disco, jazz, blues, gospel, rock N roll, etc.) merged with a struggle (civils rights, woman’s rights, black power, and African independence struggle).  Hip hop culture hit the United States and eventually the world as a force to be reckoned with.  Capitalists learned from the mistakes of the prior decades and knew not to allow the music to merge with a political movement and quickly developed a plan to control the message in the music.

Again the 10% of our population that holds degrees and have social capital failed us.  Instead, of developing institutions that will allow hip hop culture, and particularly rap music, to thrive the “talented tenth” repeated the same pattern.  Yes, there are claims that hip hop has created more millionaires, but what about the masses?  Recording software, MP3 players, distribution companies,  beat machines, turntables, are all technology that could have been created or expanded by the 10% .  But instead, it allowed for social mobility and wealth building of capitalists outside of the culture.  Control of the content and direction of rap music could have been in the hands of the 10%, but instead, as usual, they traded power for a Bentley, a yacht, a house on MTV cribs, and some ice.  Oh and don’t forget the Hennessey, Belvedere, Patron, or whatever the popular drink of the moment is.  

To become one of the 10%, no longer requires education or professional development.  The only requirement is assimilation and cooperation.  Now, urban, underprivileged, disadvantage, Africans (all code words for N.I.G.G.A.S.), who shout Gangsta, P.I.M.P., or Thug all over their song can become a member of the 10% club.  These same 10% serve as gatekeepers at Black Exploitation Television and Minstrel TV who perpetuates the same racial stereotypes of year’s past.  Well 10 per centers, we don’t need you!

NO LIMIT SOLDIERS

            As the warm weather approaches and schools began to recess for the year more and more youth are wandering the city streets.  I have observed that young boys seem to have no limits as to how far they are allowed to venture away from home.  I see boys appearing to be between the ages of 5-11 riding bikes on busy city streets, traveling for miles, sometimes getting into trouble.  I also see large groups of young boys hanging idly on corners and alleyways. Eventually, this becomes a recipe for destruction.  I often wonder, why don’t these young males have limits and boundaries?  Should a six year old boy be allowed to ride his bike across dangerous intersections miles from home?  Where are his parents?  Why do we raise our daughters and love our sons?  Why aren’t they doing chores?  Learning how to cook (yes bruthas and sistas boys should cook!  How else are they going to eat!) or playing a game of football?  PawPaw could cook.  Big Daddy new how to snap peas, clean greens, and barbeque his ass off!  Weren’t our grandfathers masculine?  What happened to the days of being in the house before the streetlights came on?  Or when your parents told you not to go to the corner or past Ms. Mabel’s house?  Remember when you used to have to ask to cross the street?  But, the more I think about it the more I realize that those rules usually only applied to girls.  Boys who had these rules were often teased or called punks, mama’s boys, soft, sissies, etc.   

            These young men in training grow up without a basic understanding of limits and boundaries.  They learn early that manhood involves unchecked wondering throughout the communities, hanging out, doing whatever they feel, and having no responsibilities or repercussions.  Well, these young men in training develop into men who have spent a childhood learning this behavior and continue it into adulthood.  Enters the conflict.  This behavior is in contradiction to the responsibilities of adulthood, fatherhood, and husbandry. So the adult males are in a constant battle among their mothers, girlfriends, baby mamas, wives and children over their allocation of time and their behavior.  They hang out all day with there boys and fatherhood and husbandry becomes an afterthought, done only at their convenience or after constant nagging.

            On the contrary, young adolescent girls are often limited to boundaries.  They learn that the world is not safe.  Rapist and kidnappers are just waiting in tall bushes to assault them, and they have chores.  Girls learn responsibility and boundaries.  Girls, in general, are given limited opportunity to engage in unstructured and unsupervised group activity.  We protect our girls from the harshness of the world, which sometimes leads to naivety, but that’s another story.  On the other hand, our boys are allowed and even encouraged to engage in aggressive, unsupervised, and unstructured activity.  We have seen the results of this behavior all too often.  Mobs of young males have been found to engage in mob beatings of innocent victims.  In every publicized case, these boys were in groups that had age ranges that were too large to be hanging together.  Ten year old boys should not be hanging out with fourteen year old boys, and neither should be with twenty year olds. 

            These young soldiers lack the proper limits.  They grow up believing that society will impose on them the same loose codes of conduct that is acceptable at home.  Well, the world doesn’t work that way.  The police aren’t into the whining, explaining, lying, and hardheadedness of these males with no limits.  They shoot first, ask questions later.  Men aren’t keen to these little disrespectful juveniles that feel they control the block.  Teachers are tired of their excuses as to why their homework is not done or why they can’t sit their butts down in class.  It’s not ADD or ADHD, it’s a lack of structure and discipline.  When these no limit soldiers come across limits, they do what soldier do, they fight.  They talk back, swell up their chests, whine, complain, hit, throw tantrums, or argue until they get their way.  Ever tell a no limit soldier that he can’t drive your car?  He acts like a two year old! 

The prisons are filled with no limit soldiers.  Sure, there are a couple of political prisoners, innocent victims, and a few of those that made mistakes in their lives, but I’m convinced that those repeat offenders are the no limit soldiers.  How many times do you get arrested for the same crime before you learn?  Most people will learn after the first time, and some don’t even take a prison stint to learn.  But, the no limit soldier feels he is slicker than slick and tries to beat the system the next time.  Well, that doesn’t usually work and he’s caught again.  He whines to his parents and loved ones that exclaiming his innocence and begs you to send him money and accept his collect calls.  He expects the judge, jury, and prosecution to believe his version of the story and ignore the witnesses, evidence, and his previous record.  Everyone is out to get him, calling the police on hem “when I was just tryin’ to make some money to feed my daughters, it’s all good baby, baby”-Notorious B.I.G.   Except his entrepreneurial spirit is a criminal spirit.  They refuse to abide by the rules or within restrictions because they never had too.  What will become of the no limit soldier once he ages?  Who will spoil him once he’s in his sixties?  Time will tell.