And now, an excerpt from SUICIDE titled "Monuments".
Please note that this excerpt has been edited from the final version, and whole portions of the book have been cut out from this excerpt to give a simple narrative for the purposes of this blog.
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For centuries in America, we were slaves.---
Third class citizens.
Not allowed the same basic human rights as Europeans.
Only a few scant decades ago were African Americans finally allowed to integrate with other Americans. We began to share restrooms, restaurants and residences. We began to co-habitate in occupations and educational institutes. We began to share stories, experiences, loves and losses.
We began to become recognized.
Unfortunately, many of us do not recognize ourselves.
We were Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks. We were the Civil Rights leaders and supporters who fought, bled and died in order to have at the very least basic, equal human rights. We were what they helped create. Not just events. Not just milestones.
Monuments.
Monuments of triumph. Monuments of strength and courage. Monuments which their children and grand-children and great grand-children would be able to stand under, look upon with pride, and remember what it took to get to where they are today, and what it will take to better ourselves for tomorrow.
But these monuments are no longer recognizable to the youths of today. These monuments are ancient hieroglyphics on a map, without a translator to help guide our way. These monuments are like giving a book to a dog. Sure they see the words, but these words are meaningless shapes, and they do not have the desire nor the ability to comprehend them.
They call themselves proud to be black, without knowing what being black means.
But being black doesn't just mean being "hood", disrespecting the law, getting knocked up at fourteen years of age, and never furthering yourself intellectually, spiritually, and financially - and then using one's blackness as an excuse to fall into these trappings.
Being black means respecting where you came from, the struggles of generations past and present, and understand your history and your culture without losing it and your identity along with it. It also means being proud of yourself, being proud of your culture, and being able to uplift and better yourself and your family without needing to fall back into the stereotypes constantly associated with "being black."
The moment black people accept these stereotypes and prejudices as who they are, is the moment that all of the struggles, all of the bloodshed, and all of the progress made by leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks is lost.
And while the black youths of today will still see these monuments, they will fail to understand that they are not monuments to our rising.
They are monuments to our fall.
Copyright © 2009 James Hooks. All rights reserved.
1 comments
Great excerpt. I think you hit the nail on the head here. Too many African Americans and minorities in general use their difficult circumstances as an excuse for the situation they are in. MLK Jr, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, John Lewis, and now Barack Obama among many others have shown that where you are is not where you have to be. With hard work and determination, anything is possible.
I do believe however, that presently there are translators to decipher the hyieroglyphics of modern Black America. Barack Obama is the prime example. He couldn't have said it more clearly and concisely than he did to the NAACP:
"We've got to say to our children, Yes, if you're African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that someone in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. That's not a reason to get bad grades, that's not a reason to cut class, that's not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school," he said. "No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands - and don't you forget that."
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