What is "black culture"? (Atlanta, Buford: home, schools, universities)

[PalpatineJones]

Originally Posted by YBF

LMAO I know right...everytime I tell some ppl I hate collard green and watermelon I get ppl asking what type of black person am I. And I reply the kind that doesnt like collard greens and watermelon.

That makes sense. This reminds me of the southern black northern black topic.

[PalpatineJones]

Originally Posted by afonega1

OMG!!You did it now!!LOL!!Watch out their gonna eat you alive!!LOL.What next ,you gonna talk about "weave"?LOL!

Now Im cool with the Koreans hustle over our women. The tired black man topic gave me a better understanding why black women are the angriest of all women, so I just except it and go with the flow. Its all peace, love and green lantern shirts on my end.

[PalpatineJones]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

It's interesting that the "weave" was brought up. I would also throw in colored eye contacts & blond wigs. So many of the sistas that I've had conversations with insist that because black men going to white women in droves(which I DO NOT see, and JET magazine proves that on a weekly basis) that they are forced to TRY to look like white women.

Yet, I do not know of anyone who has married a black woman just because they wore these heavy weaves, colored contacts & blond wigs. Usually it's because of simple things like cheeriness, good nature, great homekeeping, and all the other things that make life worth living. But then again it is just my experience. Does anybody else have something to add?

And by add, I mean in a constructive, none-insulting way WITHOUT the ad hominem personal attacks. Am I asking for too much?

I know a lot of that stuff is fake. But I still compliment them on how great they look, even when they don't look that great. Weave, wings, eye contacts, fake teeth, tattoos, 7 piercings per ear, hey whatever is clever. The more they do for compliments the easier I am to my ultimate goal, so it is cool they do those things. No doubt

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by PalpatineJones

I know a lot of that stuff is fake. But I still compliment them on how great they look, even when they don't look that great. Weave, wings, eye contacts, fake teeth, tattoos, 7 piercings per ear, hey whatever is clever. The more they do for compliments the easier I am to my ultimate goal, so it is cool they do those things. No doubt

The ultimate goal would be?wink..wink.

[YBF]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

I'll have to check with the African American culture Gods but you seem to be authentic in my book!

My motivation for asking this question about what passes for African American culture was based off the the real-life events like the murder of Dolla, the election of Barack Obama, black male/black female relations and other things that are too numerous to name. I just wondered what exactly it is that binds us black folks together and why those bindings don't seem to be holding a lot of us together as of late, at least not to my satisfaction.

But nevertheless, I am grateful for the responses I have gotten so far, and if my response is the last one, so be it. I just hope that there are others like myself who are just as concern about where our culture seems to be taking us.

Honestly I think what binds us together is history and/or the color of our skin....outside of that we seperate ourselves by social class.

[cityrover]

whatever is on mtv/bet. Dont like it? Teach your children otherwise because thats what they think it equals to!

[Womanofsubstance]

Originally Posted by YBF

Honestly I think what binds us together is history and/or the color of our skin....outside of that we seperate ourselves by social class.

I agree with YBF, but my response to the original question would have to spirituality.

I share a great spiritual bond with my fellow Atlanteans, and others who share my ethnicity and heritage. Not to say that this is not possible with those of other races, but it's just a different feeling when you and another person have ancestors who share a certain history.

It's just really powerful in a way.

[bizchick86]

Originally Posted by equinox63

True indeed and Well said. Well said...

Now if only our youth could recognize this. A colleague of mine told me how a popular black radio personality (from 107.9) told them that on "off peak" hours, the DJ has the freedom to play a variety of hip-hop ranging from Mos Def, to Common, to Lupe, to Kanye, to Nas, Jill Scott, Badu, etc... (whether they do is up to them and what people request).

But during peak hours (after school on weekdays and weekend nights), they are forced to play the most gangsta, pro crack-selling, women- abusing, violent, mind-numbing, sexual/money-oriented songs out (usually by wayward local artists). He said that they are mandated by their bosses (who are mandated by their non-black bosses) not to deviate from the selected "pistol-popping, ***** mongering, killa crack slangin'" rotation during peak hours or they would be seriously reprimanded.

Also, how can kids request the good stuff, if they don't even know it exists? This is why many are abandoning rap altogether and getting more into rock, etc. Most of today's young don't even know who the Dungeon Family is...

What do you think we can do about this series of events?

These posts about the corporate structure are all right on point. I've studied this aspect of the media in depth, and one thing we can do, simply is start owning these media outlets and controlling the market.

One poster mentioned that an element of Blackness is our "coolness." However contrived that may seem, there is an aspect of our culture that is indeed trend setting, as we are a very creative people. I believe that if we owned more of these outlets and controlled how we're represented, the market would follow. So if we promoted more of the Mos Defs and Commons of the world and made it "cool" please believe the young folks who love hip-hop would continue buying.

We have to start thinking about positions of power, because those are the positions that frame the world. Y'know being the CEO or Chairman of the Board or Founder. We are so quick to hop on whatever white institution exists out of school because starting our own thing is difficult, but without owning these resources, we are left being reactionary. But framing our thinking in a way that is focused on having power and access to power, and then doing something positive with that power, is what we can do to make things change!

[mdiggs1]

We have to start thinking about positions of power, because those are the positions that frame the world. Y'know being the CEO or Chairman of the Board or Founder. We are so quick to hop on whatever white institution exists out of school because starting our own thing is difficult, but without owning these resources, we are left being reactionary. But framing our thinking in a way that is focused on having power and access to power, and then doing something positive with that power, is what we can do to make things change![/quote]

True indeed. One reason I admire Atlanta so much is because you have so many blacks doing their own thing here, which makes it unique compared to other metropolitan areas with large black populations.

[waltlantz]

So I suppose the dubbing of Atlanta as America's Black Proffesional Mecca WASN'T hype as some have suggested?