How disheartened it is to turn on the television, view Facebook statuses, and even watch the most popular movies to see how black men have been emasculated and degraded to near nothings. From Tyler Perry escapades to Terry McMillan novels, our black men have been lifted up as the serpent upon the staff carried by feminist and males jockeying for female viewership. I personally have had enough.
The black man was created to be the foundation of the earth to which everything was built upon him. He is the foundation of the household. In fact, the word husband comes from a old Norse word which means householder. He is the backbone that holds the entire family together. Man was meant to be the foundation of the community, business, politics, and the center of which everything is evolved. Greatness is interwoven in the very fabric of his existence. He was created like God to carry the authority on earth like God.
Yes, somewhere along history, the attacks on the man have weakened his pedigree resulting in the reproduction of men that do not reflect God’s original creation. From the biblical onset, men have been targeted for mass genocide. When wicked kings sought to destroy a generation, they went after men, not women, to kill any potential for future generations. During slavery, the black men were used as trophy whores to impregnate multiple mammies throughout the plantations as if they were some thoroughbred horse.
Even today, men are feeling the pinch of societal pressure. According to a recent report, “A Call to Change,” in the second quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate for Black males ages 20 and over was twice as high as the unemployment rate for White males of the same age. Black males had a double-digit unemployment rate (17.3 percent), while the unemployment rate for White males was in the single digits (8.6 percent) and below the national average (9.6 percent). Black males age 18 and over were more likely to have a lower income than White males with similar educational backgrounds. Generations of devaluing and perpetuated public degradation, the man has been through hell to hold up his head to say, “I am black man.”
Yes, there have been and are some who rob, steal, kill, and rape. They are the aberration from the norm. There are strong black men who love their wives. There are strong black men who take care their kids. There are strong black men who operate in integrity. There are strong black men who partake in civic engagement. There are strong black men who good for more than laying pipe, but can lay the foundation of business entities.
Contrary to popular belief, there are some good men out there. As you ruminate and contemplate on the transparent truths in this blog, some of you ladies are too trifling for strong black men in your lives. So before you become the hand that knocks a man from his God-given position, be the hand to help pick him up from decades of degradation. Be the hand that helps the young man, whose father may be incarcerated. Be the hand that helps some single mothers rear their child in the admonition and fear of the Lord. Until you open your hand to become a positive solution to the problem, you don’t have a right to open your man-mutilating mouth.
Peace and blessings!
Pastor Rich
The Diary of a Mad Black Man!
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I once spoke about an experience I had in Africa to a congregation. I expressed how I got to see, firsthand, the poverty in the township areas. It caused me to reflect on how blessed I am to have running water and a great life, although I have found myself complaining about things. It made me appreciate what was important. There was a lady in the audience from Africa. After the service she found me and was very angry. She was so angry she barely let me talk. She was upset with the stereotypes that we portray in America about Africa. Although what I saw was very real, she felt me mentioning it takes away from the good that is indeed in Africa. I got to experience the beautiful parts of Africa but that wasn't a part of my story I was telling at that time. Seeing the beautiful parts didn't allow me to have the epiphany I had. Sorry, I'm sure it would've made for a better story if it happened that way but alas it didn't. I said that to say this,"Sometimes the story told is not to enhance what is negative but to appreciate what is positive to someone else." I never meant to degrade Africa at all. It may have made her upset, but it blessed everyone else. I used to hate on Tyler Perry movies, but those movies are a blessing to a lot of women. Sometimes the story isn't about who is being degraded but rather the one who overcomes. Unfortunately the one being degraded gets the short end of the stick but be reminded there is a positive to most of those stories. It usually highlights the strong woman but I feel you though. : )
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