Highly Educated vs. Ghetto

Who do you think will win?  Your answer ought to be neither.  We are all products of the system from one's buying habits to the way you wear your hair.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

More topics about the relationship (or lack thereof) between educated blacks and ghetto blacks is coming your way, stay tuned.

Showing Some Love to African American Bloggers...

I couldn't post an entry about mainstream websites sapping up all of our energy and not show some love to fellow bloggers trying to keep our people informed, conscious, and ready to do battle by all means necessary.  So here are some bloggers who come out on top in the search engines to date.

Your Black Bloggers What black bloggers are saying about black america.  This is what the site says and from the looks of things, there are up to date news about mainstream media stories.  But like this site, no one isn't doing much commenting.  No photo anywhere of the person running the site.

Black Women Speak a forum where you can voice your opinion about whatever comes to your mind (of course within reason.)

Naturally Beautiful Hair Blog nice place to get encouragement and some ideas for those of you who seek to go natural.

Top African American Blogs for Men activists blogs,  business, fatherhood blogs and more all in one place.

Where are Black folks hanging out on the web?

To answer this question, I decided to first check out the African American bloggers on the web through a search engine.  I noticed there were so many blogs, I would have been up all night, all day, heck--all week!  Far too many, so I decided that wouldn't work and besides I didn't know how did these rank other than where they fell on the front of a search engine page--that really didn't help me. 

Where do black folks visit on the regular?  I needed some answers to this question for curiosity sake. Hmm.  So I did some research and found some sites that were listed at the top of their rank and had many African Americans coming and going on their sites daily.  To my surprise, I found out that black folks wasn't hanging out as much as I thought on sites specifically catered to black folks.  Nope!  You know where they typically visit throughout the day and night?  Check out the following list of the top websites:

Facebook - you should have known.  Being nosy!  "Wonder what she doing today? What she got on?  Who is he wit?  Oh no she didn't say that!  So this is why he couldn't call me!?"

YouTube - creating videos, surfing videos, downloading videos, music --who knows?

Yahoo - most likely checking email, reading a story, checking email again, reading another story. Who doesn't have an email account on Yahoo?

Windows Live - probably got a Hotmail account that needs to be checked and a journal that rarely gets some love because we always on Facebook.

Twitter - looking at celebrity pages, huh?  Trying to get the news before you head on over to Mediatakeout, BlackPlanet or BET?

MSN - searching for something or trying to get to that Hotmail account again, huh?

Amazon - looking for something cheaper than the store price or selling something.

Ebay - either hustling something or replacing something for cheap -- which is it?

Flickr - probably got some photos on this site no one knows about.

Craigslist - looking for a job, something on sale, and a friend--all on one website!  Okay, scratch the friend.

So there you have it.  If you want to find your people, they most likely have a profile page, an email account, or are registered at any one of these websites. 

For Harriet Celebrating the Fullness of Black Womanhood

Internet surfing over the weekend, and discovered this site.  Very interesting reads for women of color.  I particularly liked 30 Black Women Bloggers You Should Know, a listing that appears on this site.  Check it out:

Spiritual, Professional, Articulate & Good-Looking? Never Sleep on a Fight

They see you riding around in your nice car, walking in and out of that beautiful home, speaking before people, and dressing so well that some folks have got to stare, yeah, you know you're "all dat!"  However, someone in the group who sees all your blessings isn't admiring you, instead he or she is hating on you to your face and/or behind your back.  Even worse, they are scheming!  They want your man, woman, your wealth and anything else they can get, probably your children too.  Don't ignore that funny feeling in the pit of your stomach when he or she comes around you.

Sometimes we don't see it!  We are rising in our fight to obtain what we always wanted since childhood, then somehow along the way, we sleep.  Either our ghetto card gets revoked or we give it up, then surprise!  WHAM!  Someone hits you with something, a lawsuit, a slap in the face, a fender bender, even a curse word and you are sitting there like, "What the #$%^?"

Wake up out of that nice cozy bed my brotha and sistah!  Everyday is another fight whether in this dimension or the other one.  Haters are everywhere even in your own house if you aren't careful.  We run our mouths sometimes.  We say things we don't mean.  We pop our collars and think we won that fight and then suddenly out of nowhere someone wants to play dirty!  This isn't the time to act all proper and look real cute, the violent taketh by force, according to the Bible!  Where's your ghetto card, my friend?  Sometimes the only option you have is ghetto warfare when you are fighting with the ghetto.  You stand up with fire in your eyes while standing over your enemy, "You said what...you think you are going to do what...do you know who you are messing with...?"

I know I got a crazy side.  I saw her one day in the mirror by accident.  She didn't think about consequences or anything when she acted "out of character."  But can I tell you, after years of talking and doing the so-called right thing, I had to get ugly both physically and spiritually.   Yeah, I had the ugly face in my confrontations and when I was slain in the spirit too!  Lying down on the floor, just crying out to the one true God with tears coming down my ugly face, "I'm not interested in the god of this world, Jesus!  I need you! I'm tired of the devil thinking he has the upper hand.  I'm tired of him using me to save him money, make him money!  Handle my enemies!  Shut their mouths up!"  Yeah, I was praying like a fool after I handled my business.  I'm not going to get specific, because I am aware this is the Internet and your business goes beyond the street, but you feel me.

So my advice to those of you who are always "so clean, so nice, so right, so proper," we are in the last days, there is no politically correct!  You can't handle things by the book when it comes to people and things consistently manifesting themselves on your territory with the pure intent to rob you of your money, time, emotions, health, reputation, and anything else they can get their stinking hands on!  Didn't mama, daddy, auntie or someone tell you to fight!  Get off your butt and fight!  Write the letter, get on the phone, show up in court, contact the po-po (police,) see your children, do whatever you can to win the fight for whatever it is you want to keep (within reason of course!)

There is no way I will advocate for anyone who always has an excuse as to why something can't get done whether at home, at work, on the street, wherever!  I'm that one, you know who will ask a bunch of questions, keep showing up wanting to know has anything been done, and then go over folks heads until I get results.

All that showboating, bragging, and getting praise from the enemy makes many of our people defenseless.  That's why there is a long history of our people getting nothing for a whole lot of something they gave up.  "Give him a car, give him a bucket of chicken, give him a tax credit, tell her she will get to keep her children if..."  What do some of us do?  Agree to disagree then sign our lives away! Come on!

Who am I reaching out there?  I know some of you are in high positions of authority.  You visit a site like this for curiousity sake.  But I am preaching today!  I want to see our people stand for something.  All this "let's just hope and see...I will pray about it..."  God has been talking for years.  Let me repeat, the violent taketh by force.  When God wanted his people freed centuries ago, he asked politely at first by using Moses and Aaron.  Didn't he?  When he didn't get results, he sent plagues on the Pharoah's territory, right?  Well, the plagues are coming on those who keep brainwashing our international and national pop icons (a.k.a. modern day slaves) with false promises.  In the coming years, widely known businesses are going to fail--you know those names you grew up with and sang along with their jingles on commercials.  Major upsets in the entertainment industry like none we have ever seen is coming.  All this exposing by researchers that has been going on isn't about conspiracy theories, it is one of many plagues upon those who know they have said no to God and yes to the devil.  People will be getting rid of some artists' music out of their homes like a Ouiji Board, it's already happening, they know about the slumps in their sales volume.  Agendas will backfire.  All this talk of acceptance of everyone and everything is spiritually and physically weakening these groups.  They are fighting within their groups.  You can't  rid the whole world of people who think in black and white, good and evil.  There will always be opposing forces until the one true God shows up and shows out!  Greed will bankrupt the greedy.  That is happening and will continue--this is also another plague.

So I said all that to say this, you have to draw the line in the sand somewhere.  For those of you who are fighting, I take my hat off to you and I cross my heart, you are sincerely loved.  But those who don't fight for the things they know they should (like a relationship, a child, a job, a business, morals or even life,) I have to love you through Jesus.  Do like the hood girls did back in the day before a fight, they took their earrings off, slapped vaseline on their faces, put on their tennis shoes, rallied up their back up, and when the bell rang, they took off out into the street and beat the living day lights out of that girl who kept talking you know what. 

That, my friend, is what we have to do (metaphorically speaking that is!)

Peace.

Nicholl McGuire is a mother of four sons, in a relationship, and at times "off the hook!"

Black Girl's Rock! Girl's Rule: Watch Out, Something is Brewing...

At first, I was okay with all the positive, mentoring types of groups that are out here for girls, specifically African American girls.  I mean back in the day, I actually took advantage of a few start-ups and nationally known groups myself--some of which weren't catered to black girls. 

I grew up with the "independent theme" being preached in school, out of school and during my college years.  Some of the music that I heard celebrated women while many others didn't.  Back then, I noticed that there was a push to promote more positive images of women because of all the negativity being marketed from many rap musicians (which is still ongoing today which is why more girl groups have arisen.)  However, when you pay attention to the symbolism and imagery surrounding all these so-called positive messages encouraging girls and young women to do better in their lives, you also see the blueprint of certain homosexual and lesbian groups as well.

Everyone has an agenda, a purpose for why they do what they do.  I heard of organizations taking advantage of other groups with the pure intent to recruit members for their groups.  I don't know about you, but there are some groups that I don't want to ever see my children and relatives a part of especially when they show no signs of being confused about their sexual identities.  However, we all know that when someone puts a seed out there to change one's viewpoint, there are many who will buckle under pressure.  They are fearful of being labeled a certain name, ousted from groups that they benefit well from, lose power, fame, etc.

Catch slogans for declaring a young woman's or girl's independence, self-discovery and more, sound good, but you have to look beyond what you see.  Question what the symbolism means when you see something peculiar like downward triangles, odd shapes, hand signs, color combinations, or double-talk (ie. BET's Girl's Rock.)  What exactly does all that mean?  Then follow the money trail.  Let's be honest, there are people who just don't like the nuclear family.  They aren't interested in the husband, wife and children family model.  They rather see anything but!  Understand that some of the rich were once hurting children who have grown up to be cold-hearted (even though they appear to have big-hearts.)  Morals are a thing of the past with them!

Many black people, like many other ethnicities, have historically invested their money in businesses and organizations they were not properly educated about.  They fell victim because someone emotionally charged them while sitting in church.  Someone preached a song and dance about blessings.  Others told a sob story.  Then later, investors would find out that they supported causes that weren't compatible:  with their own spiritual beliefs, sucked them dry financially, or caused unecessary discord in their homes.  Just because something says, "black," "African American," or even "Negro," doesn't mean that the black man or woman owns it, created it, or has any power over it.

When you look at the big picture with all these messages aimed at young black females, you have to see that once again (like in the late eighties and early 90s) she is not being conditioned to be a respectful woman let alone a wife.  Oftentimes, she is accepting the part of sassy (so-called standing up for herself) and sexy while cussing and fussing both boys and men.  Her character is not being equipped to be a stay-at home mother who actually enjoys teaching and caring for her children.  She is being indoctrinated to be a business mogul if you will, a hustler.  Someone who puts money first and family, well that's somewhere on the list.  She is being taught that she is the head of the household just like the man.  It sounds good, having a family, but the truth be told, she isn't really thinking too much about that in her future.  It sounds much nicer, to hear things like:  "having my own business, money, jewelry (bling,) hair done, nails done, nice house and car (even if there is no man or children to put in it.)"

Non-profit groups, local businesses, corporations are loving this new black woman that will be emerging.  She not only can look the part of someone else's vision, but she will also be open to a variety of men to date (translated still having sex out of marriage.) If she gets pregnant, no big deal in her world, have an abortion.  Her way of thinking and sound will be more like that of another culture until there is no more gospel or soul in her voice (ie. Black Girl's Rock -double meaning, rock music which many have sold their souls to the devil to top the music charts.) 

The new age black girl's great grandparents' spiritual teachings are dying with them and she is never getting a chance to fully hear them nor understand them.  Her own mother and father are too young and busy to share family history and teach life lessons--"Let the schools do it, the extracurricular activities do it," they say.  Besides, the parents couldn't care less, because "my old folks didn't have anything anyway!"

The independent young lady may or may not have good experiences of having a father figure in the household.  She may not have seen healthy love and affection between parents.  But who cares?  She may be having thoughts of a boy or girl being her future partner based on her TV watching, internet surfing, video game playing, what her friends have said, and book reading.  If she is gullible, there is some teacher, counselor or group that will bring her thoughts to surface and before long she may be "coming out" even if she isn't all that sure dating is what she really wants.

You have to know, as a parent, there is more than meets the eye with alot of these secular groups.  You have to be viligant in seeking pertinent information on how "they" plan on shaping your daughter or niece's mindset.  I think sometimes as black people, we are so caught up with the color of skin around us and "What we get out of this?" mentalities, that we don't bother to think about the messages that are being preached both verbally and subliminally to our children. 

In closing, for those of you who just love listening to sexy R&B and rap music and sexually provocative music videos and movies around your daughters and/or nieces, you might want to consider turning it all off--you are their example.  Rather, take the time out to find out how these influences (and others) are affecting your children and young relatives in the way they talk and walk.

Nicholl McGuire
Author of Laboring to Love Myself, Amazon.com
http://laboringtoloveanabusivemate.blogspot.com/

Author Talks About Book: Laboring to Love Myself by Nicholl McGuire