ISSUES #22: MAY 2016
A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Editor- Vernon Heard
IS THE NEW
MAY 2015
Contrary to what appears on the news and the vitriol I’ve run across on some blogs, Black culture is evolving. There seems to be more focus than ever in the Black community on education and that, in my opinion, is key to building a new foundation upon which Black esteem, empowerment, wealth and overall swagger thrive. Since starting Positive Black Images magazine I’ve met and interviewed so many street smart people and well educated people, in degree programs, Doctorate programs and the like. I feel real pride and take great pleasure in seeing the media proved wrong over and over again. I just don’t believe what they say half the time. And knowing that most media outlets are controlled by the same few companies drives home the fact that the narrative they express\report can and is controlled nationally. That said, we are on a positive and right track and we should just continue to grind it out. Don’t listen to the hype. Black is the new black.
Conspiracy theories fly when news shows around the country, different networks, and different time zones report the same stories verbatum. Just think if the term "protestors" (citizens acting out against an injustice) was ordered to be replaced with "street thugs"; or if disappointed, rioting sports fans were ordered to be referred to as "revellers" instead of "street thugs". Just think...
Now, I don’t live in a bubble. I know that there are people out there that are doing bad and doing bad things. Economically the parity isn’t there across the board for the Black community. I fully understand that we aren’t steering the wheel when it comes to the justice system. BUT… there is a generation of doers that are identifying these social shortcomings and addressing them; making noise and calling international attention to our issues; connecting the dots to organize and link small, independent civil efforts into a single, mass push for change. Creating the concept of the individual fingers forming a mighty fist that strikes a mighty blow (per the family matriarch from “Soul Food”). Think, the 60s Civil Rights movement powered by the internet. Camera phones and social media provide the spotlight to expose conspiracies and wrongdoing and providing the hammer to crack the foundation of the old ways and the old mentality that America seems determined to return to. Is this what the phrase “take our country back!” we’ve heard so often lately refers to?
There is still work to be done to take ownership of our under-cultivated political and economic power. There is still work to be done to demand and GET equal educational opportunities in the Black community. But we are closer to getting what we need than we are to not having them. So keep up the fight. No complacency, no settling for less. Black is the new Black. Set your mark and hit it. Show your kids what it looks like to graduate. Show them what it looks like to start your own business. Show them what it looks like to vote. Show them what it looks like to stand up for them. Stand up for yourself. Stand up for your community. The ball is rolling. Make sure it’s a snowball that only gets larger. Create a movement in your community and connect up with a movement in another community. Grow. Be heard. Black is the new Black. Make it matter. If someone has to be uncomfortable in the process, so be it. Black or white. If someone has to go to jail, have that bail money set aside. Make it matter. Make it count.
Get that old 60s revolution mentality back. Be that next Huey Newton or Angela Davis. The old Black is the new Black. Be heard… by any means necessary. Sometimes polite whispers are ignored and only a roar is actually heard.
V. Ray
#positiveblack
