Interesting Link and Test Post
February 19th, 2007 by Ajuan Mance
<a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/i2q6psmkxx” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>
…and click this link for an interesting article on some Black parents’ efforts to combat what would best be described as the ravages of internalized gangsta-ism in their middle-school-aged boys.
Posted by Ajuan Mance
Posted in African Americans, Black Youth
February 20th, 2007 at 5:57 am
Gangsta-ism might be an overstatement of the case, but there is something amiss in the ‘burbs. What is most obvious, however, is that these children have not been raised within the context of Black cultural achievement: simply, made aware of achievement in areas that serve Black folk rather than merely entertain white folk and the world. Living in the light of Black physicists and engineers and mathematicians (from an early age) changes a child’s perception of what is possible – and encourages parents to dismiss as “complete and utter bullshit” any protestations about what that child “cannot do” or what constitutes “acting white.” The children, in this instance, are serving as mirrors of their “true education.” The relatively easy path of athletics is appealing in the absence of a concretized, empirical and historical approach to being, living, learning and growing. The parents have taken the right step, but the glue to these efforts must include a cultural balm – rooted in the international and long-standing achievements of the African community.