Good post ballscout1, I would have loved that type of info ten years ago. But today it inspired me to rethink who I was ten years ago.
Few here are old enough to remember when wearing cheap blue jeans first became fashionable in the Black community. It was in the aftermath of the riots of 1967 and 1968. Before then, jeans, in our community, were just considered tough working clothes. After the riots, Blacks adopted a new attitude concerning their spending habits, collectively vowing to a new frugal minded mentality. Money was to be used for enhancing the condition of the race. Clothing stores adapted or closed, Black bookstores sprang up all over town.
Sadly the lessons we learned were short lived. America responded with the biggest weapon they had in their arsenal, the Black exploitation movies. Suddenly, we took to the malls and mail orders to dress like Superfly, wore men's perms, ridiculous clown wear with fur trimmings, high "Cuban heels" and years later the blue jeans morphed into "designer jeans" costing absolutely insane prices! And gym shoes costing ten dollars to manufacture but retailing for hundreds! Why are we so fucking easy?
No offense to the OP of the other thread, but as I listened to the guy narrating, it stuck a nerve in me so violently that I was compelled to respond in a separate thread, in hopes it might resonate a little louder. If you don't know me, I'm an African amerikkkan expat living in Central America. The great thing about Central America is a man's wardrobe typically consists of a dozen T-shirts and a dozen pairs of shorts, a pair of gym shoes and a pair of sandals. All this shit the guy on that other video is pushing, sounds so laughable to me now. Having a tailor on a first name basis, making sure your watch tells a fashionable story about the man it's strapped to. Fuck living in the Western world! This is the very shit I wanted to get as far as I could get away from! And in a couple years when I move internationally again, all that I own will be stuffed into one large suitcase and one carry on. Every single dollar I spend goes to the enjoyment of life, nature, or helping the very lowest one percent stay alive; .... not to buying an expensive watch, a tailor making my suits or 400 dollar Mezlan gators or 300 dollar Jordans.
On your death bed, you'll reflect, and measure the quality of your life by the memorable experiences that took your breath away. The places you went, the things you saw and did. The friends you made that weren't flipped from the same cookie cutter as you who opened your eyes to new ways of seeing the world and life. That first time you fed a REAL starving child, or put shoes on others, or held a beautiful girl who didn't speak a common language but you found ways to talk with your eyes and hands. There are places in the world that you can go, with a one semester, 4 credit hour, Red Cross First Aid & Life Support card, and a self assembled medical supply box, and you're gonna be the closest thing to a doctor these people are ever gonna see!
Many won't get my message right now, but time and life experiences makes an entire new person, with an entirely new outlook, out of you every ten to twenty years. The time will arrive where you'll better understand what life has taught me.......... That nobody ever, while laid out on their death bed said, "man, I really regret that I never copped me that Rolex".
PS - Man we getting hurricaned into oblivion down here, and now they say there's even yet another en route. Please ask donald trump to send some paper towels.
Few here are old enough to remember when wearing cheap blue jeans first became fashionable in the Black community. It was in the aftermath of the riots of 1967 and 1968. Before then, jeans, in our community, were just considered tough working clothes. After the riots, Blacks adopted a new attitude concerning their spending habits, collectively vowing to a new frugal minded mentality. Money was to be used for enhancing the condition of the race. Clothing stores adapted or closed, Black bookstores sprang up all over town.
Sadly the lessons we learned were short lived. America responded with the biggest weapon they had in their arsenal, the Black exploitation movies. Suddenly, we took to the malls and mail orders to dress like Superfly, wore men's perms, ridiculous clown wear with fur trimmings, high "Cuban heels" and years later the blue jeans morphed into "designer jeans" costing absolutely insane prices! And gym shoes costing ten dollars to manufacture but retailing for hundreds! Why are we so fucking easy?
No offense to the OP of the other thread, but as I listened to the guy narrating, it stuck a nerve in me so violently that I was compelled to respond in a separate thread, in hopes it might resonate a little louder. If you don't know me, I'm an African amerikkkan expat living in Central America. The great thing about Central America is a man's wardrobe typically consists of a dozen T-shirts and a dozen pairs of shorts, a pair of gym shoes and a pair of sandals. All this shit the guy on that other video is pushing, sounds so laughable to me now. Having a tailor on a first name basis, making sure your watch tells a fashionable story about the man it's strapped to. Fuck living in the Western world! This is the very shit I wanted to get as far as I could get away from! And in a couple years when I move internationally again, all that I own will be stuffed into one large suitcase and one carry on. Every single dollar I spend goes to the enjoyment of life, nature, or helping the very lowest one percent stay alive; .... not to buying an expensive watch, a tailor making my suits or 400 dollar Mezlan gators or 300 dollar Jordans.
On your death bed, you'll reflect, and measure the quality of your life by the memorable experiences that took your breath away. The places you went, the things you saw and did. The friends you made that weren't flipped from the same cookie cutter as you who opened your eyes to new ways of seeing the world and life. That first time you fed a REAL starving child, or put shoes on others, or held a beautiful girl who didn't speak a common language but you found ways to talk with your eyes and hands. There are places in the world that you can go, with a one semester, 4 credit hour, Red Cross First Aid & Life Support card, and a self assembled medical supply box, and you're gonna be the closest thing to a doctor these people are ever gonna see!
Many won't get my message right now, but time and life experiences makes an entire new person, with an entirely new outlook, out of you every ten to twenty years. The time will arrive where you'll better understand what life has taught me.......... That nobody ever, while laid out on their death bed said, "man, I really regret that I never copped me that Rolex".
PS - Man we getting hurricaned into oblivion down here, and now they say there's even yet another en route. Please ask donald trump to send some paper towels.
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