Today was a typical weekend afternoon... sitting at my desk, with yet another reporter on those "young black men in distress" news bulletins telling me how unlikely it is that I should exist.
As a black, twentysomething professional with a college education, no criminal record, no children, and trying to do something positive, according to the latest research this makes me about as rare a sight as a Lamborghini cruising around my Baltimore County neighborhood. I consider it a privilege.
Never mind that this is a complete disservice to the thousands of people just like me that can relate. People I went to school with, with dreams of business empires and scientific achievements, musical legends and law firms to put Cochran to shame. Who is speaking for us?
I remember a few months back, a major newspaper published a documentary series about the life experience of Black men. I thought it was relatively well done, but it only scratched the surface of the experience.
How can a half-page op-ed column explain the feeling of being the perpetual litmus test for Black America? What words can truly capture the thoughts of a 16-year old high school student struggling between answering the teacher's question he rehearsed in his mind twenty times, and the five friends across the classroom watching him, intent to see if he ventures an answer?
I don't know how to describe the feeling of walking out of a job interview in suit and tie, past a group of blue collar workers who look exactly like you, or the astonished look on their faces to think that you might soon be working in Corporate.
It is these complex moments that keep our lives interesting. Ultimately, I believe that the same daily struggle that challenges us and captivates our liberal onlookers will ultimately be our salvation.
It is through being the constant center of attention that we learn to project an image of success. The weight of our friends and family's high expectations on us gives us a realization of our true potential, regardless of BET & CNN's opinion of us.
We are not afraid of losing everything we have; most of us have been broke and survived, and come out ahead on the other side. We are not intimidated by the prospect of not being popular... most of us are already familiar with walking alone.
This lifestyle has produced what American society has accomplished on only a few select occasions - a group of men who are truly not afraid to sacrifice all for the preservation of their way of life.
The most stunning accomplishments in history, for better and for worse, are achieved by men and women who, through extraordinary circumstances, have become impervious to fear.
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Jonathan Carter is the president of The Baltimore Renaissance Foundation, a non-profit youth leadership organization in Baltimore, MD promoting positive social change.
www.baltimorerenaissance.org
Posted By: Jon C.
Monday, March 19th 2007 at 11:45AM
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