PRINCE HALL
New Member
Great read here ,and I hope that we cal all assist with trying to assist our future leaders.
" WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?
----JANET JACKSON
Words of advice for a young, black male
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BILL MAXWELL, Times Columnist
St. Petersburg Times
October 16, 2002
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A few days ago while I was shopping for groceries, a young African-American teenager and his father approached.
"My son says you're Bill Maxwell, the writer," the man said, his tone suggesting doubt.
When I nodded affirmatively, the boy shouted, "I told you!"
The father, an airman 1st Class stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, shook my hand and said he had wanted to meet me. He had read my columns about black children and liked them. His son, a ninth-grader, is performing poorly in school and has "fallen in with the wrong crowd."
He wanted to know if I had advice for his child. The boy rolled his eyes and leaned back, signaling he did not want to listen to the bromides of a gray-haired stranger. The father also rolled his eyes, signaling to the youngster that his negative attitude was showing.
To make a long story short, the father invited me to eat lunch with him and his son at a Mexican restaurant. He wanted me to talk to the boy, who stayed in trouble in and out of school.
"You're a writer and a professor," the father said. "Maybe he'll listen to you."
The boy rolled his eyes as I began what has become my sermon to all black children, especially males, struggling with self-identity, peer pressure and parental expectations. I am summarizing what I said because some of it may be useful to other young people:
In all public settings, black males need to realize that they are being watched constantly, that they are rarely invisible, that they are judged by how they play out a host of negative stereotypes. The questions become: How do you want to be perceived? Do you want to be accepted in this environment? How do you want to be treated? And, of course, do you have any control over what happens to you?
Many black males see themselves as victims of a world filled with arbitrary adult rules. Indeed, society is rule-bound. At the risk of oversimplification, I believe that each person either chooses to obey or disobey the rules. Life is much easier and more enjoyable when we obey time-tested rules.
"Obeying rules gives you power over your life," I said. "If you want to be accepted and treated well, you must act appropriately in any given circumstance."
The boy said he wanted to fit in with this black friends. I sensed his confusion and earnestness. Who does not want to fit in with one's peers? Children must learn, however, when to draw the line, when to recognize that certain ideas, behaviors and acts are negative and yield negative, self-destructive results. Black males, especially, should avoid the negative. The very notion that being smart equals acting white, for example, is a sure path to failure and rejection in a culture that relies more and more on accountability and performance.
African-American boys should learn how to say no -- not merely in word but in action. From my work with young people through the foundation I am associated with and through teaching, I have learned that standing up and refusing to follow the negative wishes of the crowd often becomes a source of inner strength that builds self-confidence.
If the group wants to skip class or play a video game rather than complete homework, refuse and tell your pals why you refuse. I have seen children in our foundation turn their lives around for the good by standing up for themselves, by holding firm to the positive.
Racism is a major problem for black children, especially males. It has caused many youngsters to hate themselves and to hate others. The self-hating child believes that he is inferior to others, especially to whites. Here is a piece of wisdom my grandfather, the preacher, taught me: "You're inferior only when you let people make you inferior."
Look inside yourself and find the good whenever others paint you negatively. You are never devoid of goodness. Recognize that goodness, and let it guide your thoughts and actions.
When I was his age, I told the teen, I wanted to be a writer. My friends, along with some grown people, told me that migrant farm workers were too dumb to write. I knew they were wrong. Why? Because I secretly wrote every night no matter where we were in the country. I was told that migrants did not attend college. Although we could barely feed ourselves sometimes, I knew I would attend college.
"I looked for the good and the positive inside myself," I said. "I'm not inferior. I'm as good as anyone else."
I have no way of knowing how much of my sermon got through to this youngster. But I do know this: He was leaning forward, and he was not rolling his eyes when I finished.
" WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?
----JANET JACKSON
Words of advice for a young, black male
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BILL MAXWELL, Times Columnist
St. Petersburg Times
October 16, 2002
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A few days ago while I was shopping for groceries, a young African-American teenager and his father approached.
"My son says you're Bill Maxwell, the writer," the man said, his tone suggesting doubt.
When I nodded affirmatively, the boy shouted, "I told you!"
The father, an airman 1st Class stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, shook my hand and said he had wanted to meet me. He had read my columns about black children and liked them. His son, a ninth-grader, is performing poorly in school and has "fallen in with the wrong crowd."
He wanted to know if I had advice for his child. The boy rolled his eyes and leaned back, signaling he did not want to listen to the bromides of a gray-haired stranger. The father also rolled his eyes, signaling to the youngster that his negative attitude was showing.
To make a long story short, the father invited me to eat lunch with him and his son at a Mexican restaurant. He wanted me to talk to the boy, who stayed in trouble in and out of school.
"You're a writer and a professor," the father said. "Maybe he'll listen to you."
The boy rolled his eyes as I began what has become my sermon to all black children, especially males, struggling with self-identity, peer pressure and parental expectations. I am summarizing what I said because some of it may be useful to other young people:
In all public settings, black males need to realize that they are being watched constantly, that they are rarely invisible, that they are judged by how they play out a host of negative stereotypes. The questions become: How do you want to be perceived? Do you want to be accepted in this environment? How do you want to be treated? And, of course, do you have any control over what happens to you?
Many black males see themselves as victims of a world filled with arbitrary adult rules. Indeed, society is rule-bound. At the risk of oversimplification, I believe that each person either chooses to obey or disobey the rules. Life is much easier and more enjoyable when we obey time-tested rules.
"Obeying rules gives you power over your life," I said. "If you want to be accepted and treated well, you must act appropriately in any given circumstance."
The boy said he wanted to fit in with this black friends. I sensed his confusion and earnestness. Who does not want to fit in with one's peers? Children must learn, however, when to draw the line, when to recognize that certain ideas, behaviors and acts are negative and yield negative, self-destructive results. Black males, especially, should avoid the negative. The very notion that being smart equals acting white, for example, is a sure path to failure and rejection in a culture that relies more and more on accountability and performance.
African-American boys should learn how to say no -- not merely in word but in action. From my work with young people through the foundation I am associated with and through teaching, I have learned that standing up and refusing to follow the negative wishes of the crowd often becomes a source of inner strength that builds self-confidence.
If the group wants to skip class or play a video game rather than complete homework, refuse and tell your pals why you refuse. I have seen children in our foundation turn their lives around for the good by standing up for themselves, by holding firm to the positive.
Racism is a major problem for black children, especially males. It has caused many youngsters to hate themselves and to hate others. The self-hating child believes that he is inferior to others, especially to whites. Here is a piece of wisdom my grandfather, the preacher, taught me: "You're inferior only when you let people make you inferior."
Look inside yourself and find the good whenever others paint you negatively. You are never devoid of goodness. Recognize that goodness, and let it guide your thoughts and actions.
When I was his age, I told the teen, I wanted to be a writer. My friends, along with some grown people, told me that migrant farm workers were too dumb to write. I knew they were wrong. Why? Because I secretly wrote every night no matter where we were in the country. I was told that migrants did not attend college. Although we could barely feed ourselves sometimes, I knew I would attend college.
"I looked for the good and the positive inside myself," I said. "I'm not inferior. I'm as good as anyone else."
I have no way of knowing how much of my sermon got through to this youngster. But I do know this: He was leaning forward, and he was not rolling his eyes when I finished.
