Is Josh Howard Crazy or Justified?

Peace,

This blog was originally titled “Patriotism is not Logical”, but as fate would have it, prior to my posting, a “controversial” video by Dallas Mavericks Forward, Josh Howard was released.

“The video, from Allen Iverson’s event, shows Howard, as the national anthem is being sung, saying: "'The Star-Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this sh*t. I'm Black!" The ESPN site goes on to write “some viewers may find content offensive” prior to playing the video excerpt.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3592734

The viewers that were offended by the video clip were most likely offended due to their lack of understanding. How could he feel like this? How dare he disrespect his country? Allow me to express the sentiment regarding patriotism for the “Black” man living in the United States of America.

We are the illegitimate sons of America. Being born in America but of African lineage our view of America is often formed by personal experiences and observances.
Many of us with the sense to read material apart from the standard school curriculum presented to us, have read of the savage treatment of our ancestors forcibly taken from their homeland and stripped of their culture, mores and everything that made life worth living.
They were forced to build up a country that did not and does not give them the respect of equality. They were duped into believing that they were freed by the “good master” as slavery transitioned into sharecropping.

We have sat at the feet of our elders and heard stories of the Jim Crow era where the same savage man responsible for the enslavement of our people added further insult to injury by showing total ungratefulness to the architects of the very nation that they so arrogantly boast the superiority of.
This period was a psychological attack on our people as they were digging themselves out of the worst holocaust (Maafa) known to the planet? They were demeaned and made to believe they were inferior as whites were viewed as the superior culture to be emulated.

Despite these actions our people continued to press forward fighting forcibly and passively for civil rights. Various terroristic organizations performing under the guise of the C.I.A. and F.B.I. co-opted their progress through the systematic assassination of our leaders and the placement of provocateurs in our organizations of progress. As various movements that instilled pride and self sufficiency in communities of color crumbled they were then attacked with biological weapons placed within our communities in the form of drugs. These drugs disabled the masses of the disenfranchised as they attempted to escape, albeit momentarily, from the grim circumstances that they found themselves in. The arrival of drugs was looked upon as an opportunity of financial gain for young men seeking to care for their families although it simultaneously destroyed the community at large. While looking to find a way out of desolate conditions our status worsened as our communities became entrenched in bloodshed and violence.

Our people continue to fumble about attempting to gain footing in a country that has repeatedly shown through action their true feelings towards the Original Man demeaned into servitude in the wilderness of a foreign land.
I observe television shows, movies and other popular forms of media support the superiority of one culture while demeaning all others.

Despite these experiences, there are still countless people of color hoping for change we can believe in. We understand when Michelle Obama stated that she was proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.
We want to peacefully co-exist. We are not a savage people. An examination of the facts demonstrate the true identity of the civilized. A historical examination will also demonstrate who has repeatedly exhibited the most uncivil behavior known to mankind.
If the Original People of the world were to react with the same savagery shown repeatedly throughout history by whites, what would the result be?

How grateful you must be that we remain pacified by the various trivialities we enjoy as we blindly go about our day yearning desperately to experience the love of America. How grateful you must be that the true realities of history have been clouded behind conspiracy theories and classified documents. How grateful you must be? Because if the truth was to be revealed to the Original People here in this country and throughout the world at large what would the end result be?

In the critically acclaimed movie ‘Higher Learning’ two “African American” students have a conversation surrounding patriotism. The character Fudge, played by Ice Cube offers conscious guidance to Malik, played by Omar Epps, surrounding his place in society.

Fudge: “Check out this situation…you at a football game, thousands of people there …all of them white… the American Flag is right above your head… they about to play the national anthem…all of these people turn around and look you dead in your eye…what do you do?
Malik: “I stand up… you know I probably be so embarrassed I stand up …you know what I’m saying
Fudge: “So they got you running for the school huh”
Malik: “Yeah partial scholarship”
Fudge: “And if you don’t run you don’t you don’t get no tuition”
Malik: “That’s the way the system goes”
Fudge: “Run nigger Run!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xu2HhgmgIk&feature=related

This conversation is an excellent representation of the conflict felt by countless “African Americans”. Many of our people are tired of the “that’s the way the system goes” attitude. We are tired of running a race without destination. We are tired of wearing “the mask that grins and lies” (Paul Lawrence Dunbar).
As Coach Boone states in ‘Remember the Titans’ “I don’t scratch my head unless it itch and I don’t dance unless I hear good music”
This sentiment cannot be understood by those “offended” by Howard’s statement as if they have the right to be offended.

I view the world through open eyes.
The truth is a light to those who can see.
If your eyes were closed
Allow the truth to hurt them until they adjust.

I bid you farewell in the same way I greeted you.

Peace.

Manu Perspective

Misunderstood Generation

Peace,

I am a member of the Hip Hop generation. Hip Hop music served as the backdrop to my formative years. Hip Hop is not only a musical art form but a culture, attitude and way of life. In society its influence is undeniable. Although the culture has been emulated, imitated and profited from corporate entities that do not understand the culture, there is still a stigma placed upon those whose dialect, dress and demeanor embody this culture.

The following is an excerpt of an article taken from the April 2007 issue of National Geographic.

"This is my nightmare: My daughter comes home with a guy and says, "Dad, we're getting married." And he's a rapper, with a mouthful of gold teeth, a do-rag on his head, muscles popping out his arms, and a thug attitude. And then the nightmare gets deeper, because before you know it, I'm hearing the pitter-patter of little feet, their offspring, cascading through my living room, cascading through my life, drowning me with the sound of my own hypocrisy, because when I was young, I was a knucklehead, too, hearing my own music, my own sounds. And so I curse the day I saw his face, which is a reflection of my own, and I rue the day I heard his name, because I realize to my horror that rap—music seemingly without melody, sensibility, instruments, verse, or harmony, music with no beginning, end, or middle, music that doesn't even seem to be music—rules the world. It is no longer my world. It is his world. And I live in it. I live on a hip-hop planet."

The perspective of the writer undoubtedly reflects the thoughts of many a parent whose children are a part of a culture that they do not understand. This lack of understanding often results in a labeling that is inaccurate. Prideful African (American) men wearing ethnic styles of braids or “dreadlocs” are often looked upon as having a thug attitude prior to interaction of any kind. Countless youth of the hip-hop generation are now entering into the workforce. Even for those who choose to conform into the popular corporate culture (which is normally reflective of Eurocentric values) the remnants of their undeniable hip hop influence are evident in style of dress, mannerisms and colloquial expressions.

The purpose of this blog is to provide a new perspective and insight into the culture that might not otherwise be granted. The “Black” man in America is often misunderstood by his elders, those within his ethnic group, foreigners, the opposite gender and society at large. It is only through communication that the deconstruction of the “Black” male negative imagery will occur.

Although Manu Perspective is subjective, every attempt will be made to reflect the collective sentiment of Hip Hop culture based upon my experiences and interactions from varied demographics within our culture.
I welcome you along for this journey of understanding.

Manu Perspective

I bid you farewell in the same way I greet you.
Peace.

Manu can be reached at manuperspective@gmail.com