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Old 05-11-2015, 10:43 AM
 
45,396 posts, read 26,983,057 times
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Just wanted to put this out there...

Many see the media reports of the Ferguson and Baltimore incidents and go along with the narrative that there is no progress - and that blacks are in the same boat that we have been in since the civil rights days.

I went to a graduation this weekend. My wife's best friend has four sons whom she is raising up on her own (+10 yrs. husband left). The oldest received his BA degree. The second oldest just completed his first year of college. The mom is tireless in her work, support for the kids' activities, church attendance, participation, prayer, etc. with not a lot of income. I don't know how she does it. I am pretty sure the boys are getting scholarship because of the family's low income.

The point is, this is how change occurs - one person at a time... one decision at a time to do the right thing day after day. It's a slow process. The boy that graduated has no personal burdens that will restrict him from getting the experience he needs to advance in his field.

It could be a high school athlete who gets a four year scholarship. The athlete may have no chance of becoming a pro athlete, but he can get a free college education and change his/her family tree for the better for future generations.

So - in this graduation season - if you are a black single parent that has kids that are graduating college - congratulations and thank you - you are THE change of black culture.
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Old 05-11-2015, 11:07 AM
 
2,014 posts, read 1,525,559 times
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Kudos to that family. Wish there were more like that.
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Old 05-11-2015, 11:53 AM
 
1,112 posts, read 1,141,372 times
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I did not come from a family that cared, but I decided that I personally was going to change the generation after myself. The majority of my black family are drug-addicts and alcoholics and always have been. Education was not encouraged in my home and I was ridiculed and abused for being different. I always felt through education I could be more than they have aspired to be. I spent my time at the library. Being different and "weird" saved my life. I am the only female in my family currently without children because I wanted to wait to complete my education. My fiance and I would like to have a family soon. I am also the only one that does not abuse drugs or alcohol.

At age 16, I dropped out of school and ran away from home. I began working and eventually went to get a GED. I enrolled in university in 2 years after that. I applied for an internship and was accepted. I have since earned two graduate degrees and work in a technical field in which I love. We do not have to succumb to the negativity and it takes those that believe in a better future for ourselves and our loves ones to make a positive change.
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Old 05-11-2015, 11:54 AM
 
Location: Maryland
18,630 posts, read 19,379,893 times
Reputation: 6461
Quote:
Originally Posted by jabber_wocky View Post
I did not come from a family that cared, but I decided that I personally was going to change the generation after myself. The majority of my black family are drug-addicts and alcoholics and always have been. Education was not encouraged in my home and I was ridiculed and abused for being different. I always felt through education I could be more than they have aspired to be. I spent my time at the library. Being different and "weird" saved my life. I am the only female in my family currently without children because I wanted to wait to complete my education. My fiance and I would like to have a family soon. I am also the only one that does not abuse drugs or alcohol.

At age 16, I dropped out of school and ran away from home. I began working and eventually went to get a GED. I enrolled in university in 2 years after that. I applied for an internship and was accepted. I have since earned two graduate degrees and work in a technical field in which I love. We do not have to succumb to the negativity and it takes those that believe in a better future for ourselves and our loves ones to make a positive change.
Great post.
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Old 05-11-2015, 12:58 PM
 
7,577 posts, read 5,304,781 times
Reputation: 9443
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRob4JC View Post
THE change of black culture.
Excuuuuse me! Change black culture? That you very much but no thank you.

Black culture produced W.E.B Dubois, John Hope Franklin, Sylvester James Gates, J. Erenest Wilkins and Neal DeGrasse-Tyson.

Black culture produced W.C. Handy, Louis Armstrong, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, Miles Davis and Wynton Marsallis.

Black culture produced Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Thurston, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison.

Black culture produced, Jackie Robinson, Jessie Owens, Bill Russell, Mohammad Ali, Karem Abdul Jabbar, and Magic Johnson.

Black culture produced Josephine Baker, Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison and Misty Copeland.

Black culture produced, Thurgood Marshall, Daniel James Jr. Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and 88 African American men who gave full measure for this country and as a result have been recognized with the nation's highest honor...

Now if you want to do something about the culture of poverty, please be my guess but don't restrict you efforts to young African Americans, there are plenty of white, latino, Asian, and Native America who live in poverty, awash with drugs, violence, dysfunctional families, and myriad of other problems associated with low economic status.

So please leave black culture the buck alone!
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Old 05-11-2015, 01:09 PM
 
3,978 posts, read 4,559,742 times
Reputation: 2243
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRob4JC View Post
I went to a graduation this weekend. My wife's best friend has four sons whom she is raising up on her own (+10 yrs. husband left).

So - in this graduation season - if you are a black single parent that has kids that are graduating college - congratulations and thank you - you are THE change of black culture.
She should have picked a better mate/husband. For example, you don't hear about some Korean single mom raising kids on her own because her Korean husband left. Ok, maybe one in two hundred, but certainly not common at all.
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Old 05-11-2015, 01:12 PM
 
692 posts, read 954,401 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quaker15 View Post
She should have picked a better mate/husband. For example, you don't hear about some Korean single mom raising kids on her own because her Korean husband left. Ok, maybe one in two hundred, but certainly not common at all.
You don't hear about it, because in Korea you're literally forced to give up your children if you're a single mother.

Ever wonder where all those Korean babies you Yanks love to adopt came from?
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Old 05-11-2015, 01:12 PM
 
3,978 posts, read 4,559,742 times
Reputation: 2243
Quote:
Originally Posted by jabber_wocky View Post
I did not come from a family that cared, but I decided that I personally was going to change the generation after myself. The majority of my black family are drug-addicts and alcoholics and always have been. Education was not encouraged in my home and I was ridiculed and abused for being different. I always felt through education I could be more than they have aspired to be. I spent my time at the library. Being different and "weird" saved my life. I am the only female in my family currently without children because I wanted to wait to complete my education. My fiance and I would like to have a family soon. I am also the only one that does not abuse drugs or alcohol.

At age 16, I dropped out of school and ran away from home. I began working and eventually went to get a GED. I enrolled in university in 2 years after that. I applied for an internship and was accepted. I have since earned two graduate degrees and work in a technical field in which I love. We do not have to succumb to the negativity and it takes those that believe in a better future for ourselves and our loves ones to make a positive change.
This is what personal responsibility is about. Have you read Ben Carson's books?
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Old 05-11-2015, 01:13 PM
 
3,978 posts, read 4,559,742 times
Reputation: 2243
Quote:
Originally Posted by lexdiamondz1902 View Post
You don't hear about it, because in Korea you're literally forced to give up your children if you're a single mother.

Ever wonder where all those Korean babies you Yanks love to adopt came from?
There are certainly very few single and strong Korean mothers in America.
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Old 05-11-2015, 01:15 PM
 
29,179 posts, read 14,465,656 times
Reputation: 14322
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWiseWino View Post
Excuuuuse me! Change black culture? That you very much but no thank you.

Black culture produced W.E.B Dubois, John Hope Franklin, Sylvester James Gates, J. Erenest Wilkins and Neal DeGrasse-Tyson.

Black culture produced W.C. Handy, Louis Armstrong, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, Miles Davis and Wynton Marsallis.

Black culture produced Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Thurston, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison.

Black culture produced, Jackie Robinson, Jessie Owens, Bill Russell, Mohammad Ali, Karem Abdul Jabbar, and Magic Johnson.

Black culture produced Josephine Baker, Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison and Misty Copeland.

Black culture produced, Thurgood Marshall, Daniel James Jr. Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and 88 African American men who gave full measure for this country and as a result have been recognized with the nation's highest honor...

Now if you want to do something about the culture of poverty, please be my guess but don't restrict you efforts to young African Americans, there are plenty of white, latino, Asian, and Native America who live in poverty, awash with drugs, violence, dysfunctional families, and myriad of other problems associated with low economic status.

So please leave black culture the buck alone!
I'm pretty sure the OP meant a certain demographic of the black culture, particularly those that would fall under the category "hood rat" or "thug"....just saying.
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