The Progression of Regression

What do you do when you realize that no matter how far you go in life, there is always room for something better and something more for you to achieve? What do you do when you become complacent and stagnant on your way to achieving whatever it is that needs to be achieved? How do you determine or see if you are complacent or stagnant in the journey of trying to achieve? When you find yourself in a stagnant state, is it subconsciously or consciously as to how you get to that state? In recent weeks, I have begun to take notice that things in life are not always what they seem in the travels of progression and achievement. It seems that no matter how much you grow as a culture, society, or as a people, there is always something within are own mental make up that seems to stunt the growth that we are destined for or trying to achieve.

The other day I was online and took notice of something very strange. There was a blip about Beyonce and one about Usher that was at the time headline news. I don't claim to hang on to every achievement by an entertainer, but sometimes something will grab my attention as far as entertainment news goes. I click on these particular said headlines and much to my chagrin, the topics as headline news are found in the confines of America Online Black Voices. I know that Beyonce and Usher are black, but nothing about the headlines had anything to do with them being black. I have read from this chapter of America Online before, but the need to be offended by it was all of a sudden new. It doesn't get any more mainstream than Beyonce in American pop culture. She is a staple for endorsing countless products. Her music and entertainment value are second to none, Her beauty is unparalleled. But yet when you click on her issue of a headline, it is under the black voices backdrop in which it appears. Usher is in the same vain. He is high on America's radar not just black America's radar. Needless to say, I took umbridge with this realization. It hit me like a ton of bricks as to how flawed it is that in the year 2009, there is still this self segregation and separation even in display of simple information. It is an American Online blog version of Jet magazine if you will. Which in itself, the Jet magazines of the world don't impress me either, but I digress. I just have to wonder as a community, how far has the black community come and how much further does the community still have to go to reach its full potential.

Blog or not, I feel it continues to set a bad precedent and send wrong and mixed messages to anyone that you can think of. If there was a white voices blog or forum that was hosted by the mainstream media or Internet outlets, scandal and ridicule would ensue. The proverbial double standard is then in full affect. I just wonder what the motivation is that in 2009, these outlets seem to still be necessary. I am not saying that I don't understand where the root of the ideal and necessity of something like that comes from. I know there was a time in which the culture and society didn't allow for social progressions. To a point, as a society there is still room for improvement in that as well. But I thought the objective of establishing these outlets when they were absolutely necessary was to eventually create the environment in which those outlets wouldn't have to be necessary anymore. Simply I thought the Jet magazines of the world were just biding there time until the times changed. Now that the times have changed, it seems they have yet to adapt to the changing of the times themselves. I sense that these institutions and outlets sort of hinder or prevent even further improvement and potential change. They tend to disrupt the ability for further progressions within the times with the roles that these outlets continue to play with there never changing or adapting presence. They have sort of become an enabler for certain people to feel that they might not have to change in conjunction with the times. On all sides of the spectrum.

The other day I was listening to the radio. What I heard shocked me. I was listening to a local black community inspired show and just had to first sit and listen, then sit and wonder, then sit and pray. What I heard seemed harmless enough at first thought. I guess for the forum and target demographic, it is what you expect to be the norm. That didn't make it any easier to digest though. Even if you can't exactly put your finger on it, you can wrap your mind around enough of it to know that something in the message, the delivery of the message and in what most likely was the intended response on the receiving end was not right.

I don't even know where to begin to be honest. My first thought is simply to say that I was disappointed by the perspective and felt that the perspective was just as much of an oppressor as anything from the past ever was. There could be a topic as simple as a crime that took place within the community or by a community member. It didn't matter what the infractions were by whoever it was that committed the talked about crime. In 2009 I was still hearing a dialogue that was promoting the mentality of the "white man" is just holding us down syndrome as the dominant logic of understanding as to why these things tend to happen within the black community in high volumes. On this particular show, the theme seemed to promote the main infraction as simply being black to simplify things. I am not saying that there aren't scenarios even in 2009 in which it isn't the case. People have agendas and people do get caught up in stereotypes. I know the potential of what can happen. But saying that the black community is solely penalized for being black and the nature of the infractions have nothing to do with the penalty or ridicule doesn't seem to make sense or provide the answer to the problem. There was an issue on local politics that was a topic further into the show. There is a black candidate running for an office and this show and the vocal listeners that interact on the show seemed to just see him being black as the only thing they needed to see as the reason to vote for him. I heard some of these same people say that they are even disappointed with President Obama because of his perceived lack of action within the black community. As if his sole purpose is to cater to the black community just because he is black. I feel there is something flawed with seeing the world that way. It seems you never get to the root of the real problems when you limit your outlook in how you see things. It seems to me that holding on to the past standard is disallowing and at the expense of the achieving of a future standard. Or simply allowing the reflections of the old days to prevent the dawn of a new day within an already new day.

I had to wonder that if this same show would have been viable in the civil rights era, would the conversation be any different in 1959 than what I was hearing in 2009? It sounded like what I have read and heard about in history books. I guess there is something to be said that this show was not possible in the time of 1959. Which in itself points to the reality of progress. Still it seems it is only progress to a point. The thing that concerns me the most in 2009 is trying to understand who really implemented the cut off points within the progress. Is it "white America" doing what they have been known to do historically? Is it forums like black voices that continue to keep us pinned behind one type of door? Is it a little bit of both? Or is it something totally different? It is as if the black community has eliminated its own ability to expand and broaden its own horizons even as the times change. As if for the black community, the black community is the only community that exists in a way. In which by to whose doing has this mentality been achieved?

I do have to wonder if sometimes the people that are a part of the forums and provide the outlets for the community to talk about itself or interject what they feel about the community in who and what the community is up against, believe in everything that they say. There will always be room for social improvements in every aspect of societal life and understanding. Yet there is no denying that many positive changes have occurred over time. Which allows me to think that to blame the reality of past racial and social tension is just too easy in trying to figure out why progression hasn't reached some of us. I am not saying that elements of the past do not exist. Which will always make it a part of the present and the future as well. But still the times have changed. I wonder if there is a bit of shame or embarrassment within the people that have the ability to provide the outlets for the awareness of racial and social relationships and progressions based off of their own observations of the community. A mentality that you could always blame on an oppressive conditioning can no longer solely be attributed to an oppressive conditioning since the times have changed.

I wonder what the outlets recognize in what they see in this time and era of people in the black community. What used to be behaviors based off of an oppressive order are now behaviors based off of an order generally attributed by choice and the decision making process of the individuals within the community. Meaning as a black community, we very well face many of the same obstacles and negative stereotypes that have plagued the community in the past. But the means in how we get to that point have changed. There are more options than just to be oppressed by the negative stereotypes and expectations. We live in a time in which the negative perceptions can be defeated. The ability to receive an education as well as many other things are just as accessible for the black community as they are for any other community. But the desire to achieve and utilize the progress no matter how limited some might feel the progress to be, still hasn't necessarily caught up to the changing of the times. So as the observers of the black community that have the ear of the community lend their perspective about the community, I wonder if they are almost trying to protect the community from itself as the main objective in their contributions. Not realizing that it is a detriment to the community. At least in my opinion it is. I am sure it is easier to blame what is easiest to blame and what has always been the easiest to blame for a continued lack of progression within the community rather than blame what might be a lack of ambition within the community itself in this era.

I am not saying that there isn't a need for the black voice to be heard. I am not saying that there isn't a need for a forum for the black voice to be heard per say. I just don't think it should end there or be the highest level of voice for the community. As if having a black voice article slot is equal to overcoming. I am a one voice visionary myself. I think more than anything else, the danger I see is that it is easy to trap ourselves in just the black voice once that status is achieved. No matter what goes on outside of the black community that can be equally participated in by the community, many still only live in the world of the black voice and black experience being the only voice and experience.

It reminds me of a vacation experience that I had in New York almost three years ago. Lets just say my eyes were opened even more so based off of this event. I was waiting in line to take the ferry to go see the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island and also go to Ellis Island to see the famous immigrant landing point. A man who is black happened to be playing some music in the area of which I was in the line at the time. He came up to me and said how proud he was to see me in being black standing in line to put what I had planned into action. He said day after day he sees people come and go with their families and friends. But he is disappointed because members of the black community as visitors to the statue seem to be few and far between in his experiences. At first I didn't take him that seriously, but he told me to look at the people in the line in front of me and behind me and tell him what I see. There had to be a solid three hundred people in line at the time. Honestly and without exaggeration, I was the only person that was in the line that was a part of the black community in a line that was AT LEAST three hundred people long. He said that is what he sees everyday. The only thing was that I was there to give him hope on this particular day. He said our people don't travel, we don't take on too much in experience as to what the world has to offer. To broaden the point, we are trapped in our community so to speak. We are limited in experience outside of it and somehow, spoiled in and by the limitations of it all. Ever since then, good, bad, or indifferent, every time I travel going to and fro, I have to notice who is traveling with me. Obviously I have no scientific studies or proof to qualify this about to be statement. But with my ability to see and reason with my own two eyes and personal experiences, I am led to believe that as a whole, that guy who came up to me as a stranger that was proud of another stranger, was not inaccurate in his statements to me. What seems to be the most disheartening aspect in this revelation is that it doesn't have to be that way. The room and opportunity is there for anyone to see anything that they want to see or go anywhere that they want to go. But you have to want and desire to get there, wherever there is in order to gain another perspective and hear another voice so to speak.

I don't come with the answers. I just believe that in order to get to the answers to fix what I feel is the problem, you have to see everything presented on the table. Not just the elements that you like or are comfortable with. I think only seeing things from one side prevents the idea of maximizing the full potential of the community. You have to help yourself before you can help anyone else or expect help in reciprocal return. So getting it right within the community is job one. You can't be dysfunctional and think that you have a lot to offer to influence positive change outside of you or expect to be fully embraced by outside communities. The key is to recognize that there is still some work to be done in order to transcend the community and the standards of the community. That work starts with us in gaining other perspectives along the way. We have to recognize that the potential limitations only enable us to never see outside of our own skin and our own experiences. Hearing other voices can help us to learn about who we are, who people think we are, who we need to be, who we hope to be, and how not to be.

Just hearing the black voice is potential dysfunction in the way that I see the world. Again I am not saying that there is anything wrong with a forum for the black voice. It should just not be the only voice we ever hear in life. If that is all we see and hear, then we have not overcome as a community and people as much as we think that we have. Hearing your own voice solely to avoid exposure to others is a curse and not the blessing that many of us seem to believe it is. It is like the rest of the world has its set of problems and in only hearing the black voice, we are only worried about our problems as if the problems that the rest of the world have to offer aren't our problems to. I say we should all be in this together to find one voice and one sound. We just have to start within ourselves and have hope for a new perspective, a new voice and a new day.