(ThyBlackMan.com) It is crystal clear that our people (African-Americans) need to be built up, encouraged, motivated and given a strong sense of identity and greatness. The need can be seen in so many single parent households where there is no example for our young men and our daughters are not learning how they should be treated, gender and sexual preference is confused, our incarceration rates are high, our abortion rates are high, our divorce rates are high, our domestic violence rates are high, our addiction rates are high, the negative and degrading music is programming our youth, school drop-out rates are awful and “black on black” crime.
Why are these things staying in place? Because the slave mindset is still in place. The mindset of being suspicious of each other, tearing each other down and defending those things and ways that are detrimental to us is exactly what is keeping our people down. Parental participation is almost nonexistent in our schools, food stamps, hustling and low paying jobs are considered the acceptable norm while financial problems take center stage. We can do better, we have to do better. And Martin Luther King Jr. or President Obama are not the answers. YOU ARE THE ANSWER!
Lack of identity is a major issue and there is a lot we can do about it. But before I share the solutions, let’s take a look at how lack of identity manifests itself in our communities. There is no longer any excuses for not finding out who you are, what your potential is and why you are here. If you can spell Facebook, you can spell Google and there is plenty of research to help you in almost any area. But you have to want to know who you are, to do more, be more and rise higher. When you do not know who you are, several key things happen.
First you act like who you are not or who someone else tells you that you are. That is evident in the fact that so many of our people act like Niggers (yes I said it). We are not Niggers and we are not even black, we are brown. Sadly, many of our people plug into the stereotypes that Racist America has set, painted and promoted. Loud music, vulgar, sagging pants, obscene and disrespectful lyrics, smoking weed, using drugs, abusing women, cheating, dropping out of school, mistreating our own and allowing ourselves to be mistreated. Of course we are not the only ethnic group that does these things, but this article is about lifting our people up, not theirs.
Secondly, our people with an identity crisis always seek to look like someone else. The long hair weaves, the flashy cars, the loud music – all, for us, are a part of being seen and trying to convince people we are “ok”. Does this mean driving a nice car or wearing a weave is a sign of lack of identity for everybody? No, but for many of our people, these behaviors are a sign of emulation and/or lack of 
identity, especially when the people driving the cars and wearing the weaves are doing so in order to impact what others will think or how others will perceive them.
Thirdly, our people who have identity problems are much more receptive to negative influences and quick to emulate such influences by adopting them as role models. A talk show host (Oprah), a comedian (Bill Cosby), an athlete (Lebron or Kobe) should NOT be the people our children look to as role models. Our sons should not be emulating Little Wayne and our daughters should not be emulating trashy, classless, Nikki Minage. The games made for Playstation or Xbox should not be programming, manipulating or training our children. YOU should be raising your children, busy or not.
We are a great people but most of our people do not know this to be true. So instead they act, think and behave like monkeys ( or worse ). If you study the original Black Wallstreet of Oklahoma, you will find greatness. If you look throughout Africa (yes, including Egypt), you will find culture, heritage, strength, honor, stamina, status, passion, diligence and determination. Our history and our potential for exceed President Obama, the NAACP, Martin Luther King Jr., Charles Drew, George Washington Carver, Malcolm X, Cosby, Winfrey, Angelou, Tyler Perry and then some. So what can we do to wake up the greatness and excellence within?
First you must choose to be a proactive part of the solution or you are already part of the problem. Secondly, stop blaming or scape-goating everyone else for your failures and be honest. The only person who can hold you down is the person you believe can hold you down. Thirdly, set higher goals, standards and expectations for yourself in your relationships, in your finances and with your children. Fourth of all, we must stop tearing each other down. Be honest, be factual then offer solutions and lift others up. Stop tearing down, taking from or backstabbing your own kind. African-Americans do to each other every week what George Zimmerman or Darren Wilson did once in a lifetime, but strangely there are no rallies, protests or marches to stop “black on black” crime. Anyone who thinks they can use our people (especially if you are one of us) and get away with it or come out ahead is a fool who does not understand Karma, reaping and sowing or what comes around goes around. Fifth of all, find and follow the right kinds of role models based on your new standards, goals and expectations.
If you are a man, be a man – not a woman and not something in between. Take care of your children, know where they are, be there for them, listen to them and expect excellence from them. Don’t chase everything in a skirt and be selective, nor desperate. If you are a woman, be a woman and believe there are good African-American men out here because there are. Avoid pettiness and immature gossip. Realize that you are a treasure and don’t open your legs for the man who knows just what to say. Guys and ladies join some organization, be productive, speak up, write something, give something, DO SOMETHING.
Ironically I see so many of our women walking around saying they are looking for their “King”. But upon close examination, are they queens? A queen has the mind of a queen and her behavior, character and identity all line up with that mindset. Proof of the right mindset is not simply found in how much you make or what you drive. It is found in who you are in the inside. Stop waiting on men to pay your bills and handle your business. Stop waiting on men to pay for your hair, nails, cell phone etc. Handle your business. No single man owes you anything and if you manipulate him to get into his wallet, you will reap what you sow. Lift up the African=American man or leave him alone.
Likewise with African-American men I see more of you guys bowing down to women, failing to take the lead, running from the court system, making babies just because you can and thinking only about yourself with no knowledge that we are all connected in one way or another. I see our brothers letting the woman put the gas in the car, pay all the bills, move the furniture, cut the grass, take out the garbage and discipline the children. Men wake up and handle your business. A King does not behave that way but a slave does so which one are you?
The value of an African-American who knows his or her identity is priceless. Smoking weed is beneath him/her. Using foul language is beneath you. Living in poverty, using others, stealing, running game and going after “strange flesh” are not traits of who you were created to be. You should be setting the tone for yourself and the example for those around you instead of following those who are going nowhere fast. You have greatness within you and you cannot let it be clouded or choked out by foolishness, ignorance, poor examples or those who do not care about you.
Once you know who you are, act like you know. The legal system cannot stop you. A lack of money cannot stop you. Coming from the projects or a single parent home cannot stop you. Having been a victim of ANY type of abuse cannot stop you. THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN STOP YOU FROM REACHING GREATNESS IS YOU!!! Anybody else has to have your help and permission to do so. Think for yourself. Never defend anything that will cloud your mind, blur your judgment or otherwise enslave you. You don’t have to wear long weave or the tennis shoes everybody else wears just to fit in. Maybe it’s time that you do more stepping up and standing out instead of just fitting in. Here is to your success which begins the moment you wake up. I pray that is right now.
I specialize in deprogramming our people from the slave mindset. My knowledge of indoctrination, brainwashing, subliminal manipulation and mind control as well as my former background as a detective and in counseling, psychology, sociology and ministry is extremely helpful in building awareness, waking people up and deprogramming them out of the slave mindset. The irony is that the people who need to be deprogrammed are those who battle against me the most. I am available to lecture. Contact me at brainstormonlline@yahoo.com Do not fight to stay locked up in the slavery of your mind.
Staff Writer; Marque-Anthony