I need serious positive & constructive criticism on this. (Please give your feedback)

[connectz]

Look yall, most of yall seem to be really intelligent people. So I will ask you all for some help.

It sounds like a far fetched idea but I have come to the conclusion that change in the U.S. and the world need to come about. I am sure most of you all are furious at the way the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was and is being handled, especially when it comes to black and poor folks.

I am sure you as I am sick and tired of turning on the evening news and seeing nothing but blacks being portrayed as criminals. I am sure that most of you are tired of watching television shows that show us in a completely negative light.

I am sure most of you are tired of driving downtown wherever you live and seeing drug fiends looking for a fix (most of them black). I am sure most of you are tired of seeing our youth end up in jail because they had a sub-par education and/or their parents never gave a damn about their kids and/or they were never involved in their child's schooling.

I am sure most of you are tired of knowing that most predominantly black public schools do not have the same quality of education that most predominantly white public schools enjoy.

I am sure most of you are tired of going to the corner store in a black neighborhood and it being owned by an arab or non-black/hispanic that treats you like shit.

I am tired of all that and a lot more. But I want to try to do something about it.

I grew up in Atlantic City NJ and neighboring Pleasantville, NJ. I was think about running for mayor of Pleasantville in a few years (about 3-4 years). I figure, maybe thats the best place to start if I want to make some change happen.

Pleasantville is a small and predominantly black city. (Go here if you want to find out some stats about the city. click here )

I have absolutely no political related schooling whatsoever. I am not sure whether or not I should take a few classes to learn a few things about politics.

However, I have a severe and sincere determination to make things better for black people there and all over the world.

I know it sounds lofty but it is something that I have been thinking about for months, almost a year now and it has only intensified after seeing how Hurricane Katrina was handled.

One of my main things will be not attaching religion to any change I try to make. I believe organized religion does nothing but divide and I don't want to divide people. I also feel that many hispanics get a bad break too. In Pleasantville and Atlantic City, they are treated just like us.

Since I have decided I wanted to do this, I have been talking to a few people at work about it getting their feedback.

I feel that part of correcting the black situation in the U.S. starts at home. You know the usual, parents need to support their children and be in an active role in their schooling and upbringing. Parents need to Stick together and raise their kids right in order to end the cycle.

One guy said that your biggest problem will be trying to help people that don't care and that don't want to be helped.

Another lady said black people are afraid of success.

Another lady cosigned and said the cycle needs to be ended at home.

And they all said they were tired of those things I mentioned above.

I know the problem's solutions are easier said than done, but I want to do it. I can't stand sitting idle while white people make it so they succeed and we fail. I hate hearing about the shit the professor in one of my wife's classes teaches. I swear, its clear perpetuation of whites get ahead and blacks don't. I am not going to list what the professor says but let me tell you, my wife is the ONLY black in ALL of her classes.

Anyways, like I said. I need some serious constuctive criticism on this.

Any feedback is GREATLY appreciated.

Also, have any of you all ever had the inclining to do something like this?


note: I know I could have wrote this much more eloquently but I doing something and I needed to hurry and get this typed. Sorry for the grammatical errors.

 

[Andre Nickatina]

Re: I need serious positive & constructive criticism on this. (Please give your feedb

Look yall, most of yall seem to be really intelligent people. So I will ask you all for some help.

It sounds like a far fetched idea but I have come to the conclusion that change in the U.S. and the world need to come about. I am sure most of you all are furious at the way the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was and is being handled, especially when it comes to black and poor folks.

I am sure you as I am sick and tired of turning on the evening news and seeing nothing but blacks being portrayed as criminals. I am sure that most of you are tired of watching television shows that show us in a completely negative light.

I am sure most of you are tired of driving downtown wherever you live and seeing drug fiends looking for a fix (most of them black). I am sure most of you are tired of seeing our youth end up in jail because they had a sub-par education and/or their parents never gave a damn about their kids and/or they were never involved in their child's schooling.

I am sure most of you are tired of knowing that most predominantly black public schools do not have the same quality of education that most predominantly white public schools enjoy.

I am sure most of you are tired of going to the corner store in a black neighborhood and it being owned by an arab or non-black/hispanic that treats you like shit.

I am tired of all that and a lot more. But I want to try to do something about it.

I grew up in Atlantic City NJ and neighboring Pleasantville, NJ. I was think about running for mayor of Pleasantville in a few years (about 3-4 years). I figure, maybe thats the best place to start if I want to make some change happen.

Pleasantville is a small and predominantly black city. (Go here if you want to find out some stats about the city. click here )

I have absolutely no political related schooling whatsoever. I am not sure whether or not I should take a few classes to learn a few things about politics.

However, I have a severe and sincere determination to make things better for black people there and all over the world.

I know it sounds lofty but it is something that I have been thinking about for months, almost a year now and it has only intensified after seeing how Hurricane Katrina was handled.

One of my main things will be not attaching religion to any change I try to make. I believe organized religion does nothing but divide and I don't want to divide people. I also feel that many hispanics get a bad break too. In Pleasantville and Atlantic City, they are treated just like us.

Since I have decided I wanted to do this, I have been talking to a few people at work about it getting their feedback.

I feel that part of correcting the black situation in the U.S. starts at home. You know the usual, parents need to support their children and be in an active role in their schooling and upbringing. Parents need to Stick together and raise their kids right in order to end the cycle.

One guy said that your biggest problem will be trying to help people that don't care and that don't want to be helped.

Another lady said black people are afraid of success.

Another lady cosigned and said the cycle needs to be ended at home.

And they all said they were tired of those things I mentioned above.

I know the problem's solutions are easier said than done, but I want to do it. I can't stand sitting idle while white people make it so they succeed and we fail. I hate hearing about the shit the professor in one of my wife's classes teaches. I swear, its clear perpetuation of whites get ahead and blacks don't. I am not going to list what the professor says but let me tell you, my wife is the ONLY black in ALL of her classes.

Anyways, like I said. I need some serious constuctive criticism on this.

Any feedback is GREATLY appreciated.

Also, have any of you all ever had the inclining to do something like this?


note: I know I could have wrote this much more eloquently but I doing something and I needed to hurry and get this typed. Sorry for the grammatical errors.

welcome to the struggle.

first thought i have is that you should have no misconceptions. the problems you're concerned about are very complicated. our community has economic problems. educational problems. political problems. and cultural problems. it can be overwhelming. hard to discern the real source. but you have to start somewhere, so think about it awhile and whatever seems to be the core of the problems (in your opinion) is where you need to focus.

2nd thought is that your inclinations seem to be positive, so it's important that you don't allow others to discourage you.

there are always more excuses than answers. and the ideas that are brewing in your mind (as i've said) are very complicated, so it's very likely that the excuses (reasons why you should stop trying) will come before the answers (inspiration to keep you trying).

3rd thought is that you ought to read as much as you can. not trying to be judgemental, so don't take it the wrong way. you can never have enough knowledge and history is a great teacher. there are many, many folks in our past who have thought the same thoughts you have now, wanted the same things you want now, and tried to do the same things you are wanting to do now. learn from the mistakes/successes of those who have come before. form your own opinion. allow that to influence what you want to do.

4th thought is to seek out others who are of a similar mind. there are many people who think about exactly what you're talking about every day. if they're not in the circle of folks that you currently associate with, expand your circle. if you're discerning, you can find many brothas who are just as concerned (if not more so) about the situation our community is in. the more you talk about it and build on these type of things, the better your ideas will become. but it takes time.

the 1st sentence i wrote might have sounded cliche, but it's true. if you really care and really want to make things better, you're chosing a hard path. everybody don't go down this road. many start down the path and give up after a while because it can get discouraging. it always seems to be easier to fall back into self defeating, self serving behaviors. but if you backslide, know that it's OK. we all do at some point. just don't give up the struggle.

i'll conclude with the short disclaimer that i don't mean to present my ideas as though i have all the answers. i'm the same as you. no better. no worse. but i came to that moment of clarity you described a few years back and have been trying to do many of the things you've talked about ever since. so my thoughts here are just that..........thoughts.......

 

[connectz]

Re: I need serious positive & constructive criticism on this. (Please give your feedb

Man, your words are GREATLY appreciated. I am just fed up to the point where I can't stand it no more. I want my black people to wake up and be all about positive progress.

I will definately, DEFINATELY take your suggestions and do them. One of the reasons I am going to wait a few years to make a move is because I don't have all the answers and people like you help me find them or at least help point me in the right direction. All 3 of my best freinds are like minded (I guess I am lucky for that) and they all want to help.

Sometimes I get so frustrated I just want to stand up and scream as loud as I could for as long as I can to vent my anger and frustrations caused by seeing us get the short end of the stick for so many years.

I do read. I have a few books, Destruction of a Black Civilization, Message to the Black Man in America (i'm not muslim), and a few other books and papers like those.

If you can suggest a few, please do so.

 

[Greed]

Re: I need serious positive & constructive criticism on this. (Please give your feedb

here's what i think black people should do.

1 dont have kids before you're 25.
2 dont have kids before you're married.
3 at least get a high school diploma.

i personally think those 3 very simple things encompasses the things that plague the black community. the weak family structure and the poverty with be reduced dramatically if people only have kids when they are more likey to be able to afford them, and when they do have them there is a mother and a father to raise them in the same household. successful communities dont accept baby mamas and baby daddies as the norm. promotion of husband and wife, and mom and dad should be he goal.

as you can see my solution isnt going to make us rich in a generation, but thats not how i measure success for us anyway. strength and stabilty will ensure we'll be in a better place 20 years from now. no matter how you define it.

now, whats beyond my mental capacity is how to get people to do this.

 

[Greed]

Re: I need serious positive & constructive criticism on this. (Please give your feedb

here's an essay that loosely reinforces what i am saying.

it didnt get alot of replies because the men on this board would rather talk about bush than the men in our communities that may be adding to the problem.

http://64.255.174.200/board/showthread.php?t=51160

 

[Irrational32]

Re: I need serious positive & constructive criticism on this. (Please give your feedb

here's what i think black people should do.

1 dont have kids before you're 25.
2 dont have kids before you're married.
3 at least get a high school diploma.

i personally think those 3 very simple things encompasses the things that plague the black community. the weak family structure and the poverty with be reduced dramatically if people only have kids when they are more likey to be able to afford them, and when they do have them there is a mother and a father to raise them in the same household. successful communities dont accept baby mamas and baby daddies as the norm. promotion of husband and wife, and mom and dad should be he goal.

as you can see my solution isnt going to make us rich in a generation, but thats not how i measure success for us anyway. strength and stabilty will ensure we'll be in a better place 20 years from now. no matter how you define it.

now, whats beyond my mental capacity is how to get people to do this.

^^^ The ONLY thing I agree is that overall we need to be better educated. I have a magazine that is coming out soon about liberation. we (me and my partners) are also working heavily with the panthers etc....I really want to spearhead a campign of all us blacks moving down south and occupyiing GA,NC and SC I think if we moved together we would be a lot better off...anyway its really to deep to to discuss here hit me and we will talk

 

[Greed]

Re: I need serious positive & constructive criticism on this. (Please give your feedb

so you dont agree that a strong family unit is what we dont have now in the most needy communities and that a strong black family is part of the long term solution to the problem.

 

[connectz]

Re: I need serious positive & constructive criticism on this. (Please give your feedb

Greed and Irrational, I appreciate your comments and advice. You both made valid points that I will definately think about. And Greed, I definately agree with your family plan. I have said it time and time again, that it all starts at home with mommy and daddy raising their children "right."

And Irrational, I am glad to see you and your parents are most of all, working together on something that could possibly benefit black folks. I will definately think about this too.

I am like a student in you alls classroom. I need all the feedback I an get to come up with a proper strategy.