Posts Tagged ‘Black’
New Site – Black Perception; regular, everyday issues occasionally from an African-American perspective (but is isn’t a Black site).
Posted on: May 24, 2011
- In: Associated Content | Black | blogging | opinion
- 1 Comment
I want to thank everyone for their continued support of this site. I may go ahead and import my blogger site here so that there are two copies of it. In the interim though you can find my work at blackperception.com that is it, no blogspot.com or anything I went ahead and purchased a domain. I was looking for a domain that would communicate the fact that this was an opinion site being ran by an African-American. The irony of it is that I do not really run a Black site, I talk about everything and will occasionally do so from an African-American perspective but it is a marketing gimmick. I wrote a lot of articles over on Associated Content and received a lot of traffic whenever the topics happened to talk about issues that were of interest to the African-American community.
I even got a gig at a Black site, but that didn’t last. I actually got the idea to call the blog Black Perception from that site; perhaps not implicitly but it may have ran in the back of my subconscious. That site had the word Atlanta in it, but it was really based out of New York. But since Atlanta is synonymous with Black culture … So I think after many, many, different names and angles I might actually be onto something. If you enjoy what I wrote here two years ago you will enjoy that site. I have also realized that marketing is often more important than writing itself. If you have a good angle you can exploit you can show people what you are really about later on. We’ll see how it works, again, thanks for your support.
Is Blackness behind us?
Posted on: December 8, 2008
- In: African-American | Black | opinion
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Or perhaps we’d rather talk about what it means to be Black, or if indeed there is any difference between being Black or being African-American in this country; which moniker you prefer to use, if any, and if that was any real advancement from the older terms that were in place before them. For so long “Black” was that part of our culture that we had kept to ourselves that was out of the way that few others wanted to be bothered with. We had adventures and journeys in Black, as they like to say on BET, the Black church, Black clubs, Black neighborhoods with Black fashion by us and for us, the shoe on the other foot, is that we want the inalienable right to see what other cultures are talking about and to be able to partake of that, in particular what we perceive as being mainstream, American culture. Being able to do so is quintessentially American, and kudos to you if you can go overseas and bring an American ethos towards being that consumate, cosmopolitain individual that not only has an academic idea of what other cultures experience outside of America, but a true understanding and appreciation for it. At least in your own mind.
If we let go of some of those Black “handicaps”, can we really get ahead? Experience has taught us so, now we’re at a crossroads where on the one hand it is perfectly fine to do your “White” stuff you had always wanted to do. Or perhaps you always should have to begin with; we finally wrapped our minds around the idea of having a Black president through accepting what some pundits in the community suggested would be a president who just happened to be Black. That much we can get along with, but are there other sacrifices or is the joke truly on us because no sacrifice has ever really been made? Is the real truth the idea that we had gotten in our own way for so many years, making things difficult because of the comfort in the authenticity of our Blackness, the charade that provides, the illusion, or hard pressed to learn how to be an African-American because of the guilt not being Black enough provides?
We’ve all been there, if we live long enough. Some of us realize this early on, for myself it was in high school though there may have been some glimpses of it in junior high. Either I am going to accept myself for who I really am, as odd and strange and wonderfully eccentric as that may be, or I am going to hate myself for trying yet falling tragically short, for better or worse. It isn’t that difficult of a choice to make, should’nt be anyway.
Everyone needs to be enlightened every now and then. Yet we would pride ourselvses on having created a musical culture that everyone else wanted to be part of, after having fought the good fight and having stuggled to gain mainstream acceptance, then we wanted to go back to those days when no one else wanted to deal with it, only to find out that in many ways, we’re moving on ourselves. Those 20 or 30 years are up and it is time for something new, something different, something “fresh”. Yeah those days of old when hip-hop was something you knew about and your parents hated were cool, it was something different then something radical. But times passes and you have to move onto the next thing, instead of building on top of the tried and true, something completely different.
Therefore that change is in the air. Some of which Barack sold in his speeches, but other changes as well that no one can truly articulate that just come about and you simply have to accept, or continue to live under that rock. Do we loose ourselves, who we are, quintessentially, as African-Americans? Of course not, but we change and move on, move forward, changing those old stereotypes about who we are, and finding new ways to be even more comfortable in this skin than we had of old. At least that is the idea anyway, all you can really hope for …
- In: African-American | Black | opinion
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Much has been said about the loose networking efforts of African-Americans online. Back in the day before africanamericans.com and black.com many of the best efforts to go online could be found through social-networking sites like Black Planet. Even today, African-Americans.com offers a presence that does not readily appear to the Internet savvy 20 something set, and Black.com seems to be more about Africa than it is African-American culture here in the US.
If you really want to see what is happening online you may want to try blackvoices.com, which is powered by AOL. Or then again you might want to try YouTube. In fact, there is no quick and dirty way for anyone of other races to connect with African-Americans online or even for them to connect to each other. You have to have your eyes and ears tuned into the “streets” of the information superhighway known as the Internet and make a concerted effort.
- Forget about search engines. Unless you want some Wikipedia articles you won’t go far at all. Try searching for celebrities you know, talk show hosts like Tavis Smiley, which has a cool site on PBS, or Roland Martin’s site. Right now The Mo’Kelly Reportis very popular. These are respected journalists who have a very interesting presence on the web. They’re not mere blogs, but places where lively discussion takes place, particularly Mo’Kelly’s site on EURWEB, another interesting web site.
- It’s often thought that the few blogging efforts by African-Americans are through social-networks like MySpace or Black Planet. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many historical black colleges have their own social networks on sites like Ning. With individually ran sites you have to read in between the lines to tell if the blog is by an author that just happens to be an African-American, though they never really talk about anything “Black” per se, or if there truly is interesting discussion on the blog that typically caters to issues of interest to the African-American community. You may be surprised as to what you find out.
- Typically I find my blogs accidentally. Black Celebrity Kids is a niche site I found on WordPress on accident, however, if I search on Black Celebrities using the search in WordPress typically I will come to a site like say Black Chick Dish.
- For whatever reason there seems to be a huge number of sites by African-American women, for African-American women. You may also find the same to be true on video sharing sites like YouTube.
- Check out sites like Associated Content and Helium and do a search. You’ll find far more material than you could ever possibly read by African-Americans writers, with even more sites to link to through their cross promotional efforts, which opens up even more resources.
- Most magazines have an interesting presence online as well. Essence for one is so engaging you may discontinue your subscription.
So yes a high-minded bourgeois African-American like yourself has plenty of places online to check out to find either other people like yourself or those with similar interests. You now officially have a legitimate reason to get off of MySpace as the argument that you’re in Arkansas or deep in the reaches of West Virginia and want to stay “in the know” no longer flies. There’s a whole new world out there, and a far more accurate representation of the true culture than what BET attempts to offer, but can’t because their advertisers won’t pay for it. No longer do you have to wait for a news special on ABC or CNN, as it is has been right there for the taking all along …
CNN is hosting a special report Black In America, on July 23 and 24. There will also be an HBCU tour where CNN tours such Historically Black Colleges and Universities as Hampton University, Howard University, Atlanta University and A & M schools in North Carolina and Florida. To promote the tours CNN is hosting a contest where students can submit a video report on such subjects on how HIV and AIDS is affecting African-Americans, why you should or should not choose an HBCU over a regular school, the state of professional Black women that have never been married and other issues.
This is great news first off because African-Americans need positive discourse about the state of affairs in the African-American community that will be watched by someone other than just other African-Americans. Secondly the platform is CNN, whch is still a trusted source in the news media particularly for positive and uplifting news and third this isn’t another State of the Union type of presentation hosting by Blacks for Blacks. Usually, when there is a special presentation about something in the African-American community it tends to be negative. There are exceptions, particularly the dedication that PBS tends to show throughout the year though it is more prevalent during Black History Month when everyone else is wearing their badge proudly as though it were the pink ribbon of breast cancer research.
They also get you to think because they still host programs like Tavis Smiley’s show where he hosts one on one interviews with some of the brightest minds in entertainment, politics and academia. CNN has always had a presence but is probably better known for their commentary by Roland S. Martin than anything. I was watching the BET Awards Show yesterday and they were hosting promos for another installation of Baldwin Hills; a show not unlike The Hills of MTV though here the focus is of one of the richest predominately African-American communities in the nation.
This is the problem with even considering making a television show like Baldwin Hills or College Hill. Almost every African-American who has been to an HBCU can attest to the shenanigans of college life which aren’t radically different from those of so called party schools, state institutions that have digressed to having to showcase their party atmosphere to recruit students by word of mouth, though openly these are supposed to be prestigious schools. The show trivializes the importance of academia at the colleges it tours (it is a different college each season) and tries to dumb down the college experience in the vein of such MTV reality shows like The Real World. It could serve to advertise or promote those schools to get young Blacks to want to attend, but then again so did Drumline and School Daze.
As far as Baldwin Hills what African-American city dweller doesn’t know of a prestigious African-American neighborhood where the drama shown on that show doesn’t go on. In fact since these African-Americans had either arrived financially or were born into such a socio-economic situation why do we feel the need to watch other Blacks have a falling out just under the guise of it being entertaining because they are more affluent than we are. Isn’t there already enough of that sort of thing going on in the entertainment industry for African-Americans; it’s why shows like Keisha Cole “The Way I Am” are so popular. Yeah we like to hear about her life in the ghetto, but it isn’t interesting until she has drama at a radio talk show.
Taking a look at some of the general news topics on the Black In America website you see where Obama is calling Black fathers to task as well as the historical significance of his capturing the democratic nomination. But there are also some familiar themes as well that are fodder for everyday conversation in the barbershop and at the street corner but are difficult to articulate in a professional forum where the whole nation is listening and watching. Such as why African-Americans can’t get over race, Transracial adoption, which isn’t so much about the fact that Caucasians are adopting Black children but whether or not they truly understand the needs of African-American children.
You see the little kids in Black strollers with nappy hair and ashy feet; granted, you also see some of this amongst us with our own children as well, which isn’t any better. But when you see the kids, and then see the White parents, typically middle aged people that may not be able to have children anymore or who wanted a young child and did not want to spend months on the waiting list to recieve a infant of their own race, people want to ask questions. Some make the argument that the parents have the love and the financial resources to give that child a better life than they could have had in Ethiopa, yet others see it is as a reflection of African-American attitudes towards adoption in general.
Morehouse University has had their first White valedictorian. Should this be a big deal; Whites have been attending HBCUs ever since the days they stood hand in hand with us during the civil rights era so it shouldn’t surprise anyone. A lot of HBCUs have White professors that have a unique passion to teach young adults, but how will this be perceived in the African-American community? On the other hand, students at universities in North Carolina say that racism is still alive and well. The last time we had a real look at North Carolina may have been the Kings of Comedy tour via Spike Lee, or it could have been when Fantasia won American Idol I mean North Carolina seems that conveniently overlooked aspect of African-American culture to those obsessed about what it means to black elsewhere.
So that means that there is a story there that needs to be heard, just as there was a few years back in Jena, Louisiana. We need to shift our focus to what is happening in areas like Detroit, New York, Chicago, LA, Atlanta and other cities with strong African-American communities and look in new directions towards Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and other areas that have African-American communities that are just as influential, just as tight knit, just as proud as those we like to look at out of convenience. There are very successful, affluent, interesting communities in those states I’ve mentioned, but no one really wants to talk about them or really take a serious look at them. Katrina forced some of us to look at Louisiana, we complained that the President didn’t treat them right, that Whites had overlooked them and left them at bay, but we ourselves didn’t really think about or consider New Orleans at all unless you were talking about Mardi Gras.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I did because it was a passing fascination but one I had never really thought about until I lived in the South. Then Katrina happened, and there were parts of me that was interested to think about what that area would have been like if Katrina had never happened. I tried to keep up with the story, but there were always distractions and by the time that controversy at Duke University happened with those strippers I had moved on. Last I heard the state was allowing those in the hospitality industry to build massive hotels in those same areas, rather than do the right thing and encourage redeveloping the area for the lower class to move back into.
There are a lot of good, positive stories about Blacks in places you had never considered, and a lot in those you regularly do, that aren’t being told because they’re not sensationalistic and no one really cares to talk about it. Stories that quite honestly don’t sell and aren’t lucrative enough to develop a television series around. Black women who do have tight knit friendships that aren’t preoccupied with finding a man and aren’t materialistic or narcissistic. Black men who are encouraging their friends to do the right thing, not just by Black women, but people in general. African-Americans who actually go to church and are really living a righteous life, not just pretending on Sundays.
The best we can do is hope that CNN either tells these stories, or can help make it fashionable to do so. I used to love to watch BET because they had a program called Teen Summit that had their ear to the street and made living in DC look really cool because here you had entire communities of African-Americans that were well to do, getting along, and didn’t have the problems you tend to see elsewhere. That was a romanticized version, what I wanted to take away from it, but you don’t get that from BET anymore; then again I’m entirely too old to concern myself with what BET airs, I’m not their demographic, except on Sunday when Bobby Jones Gospel airs. Yeah that’s when I’ll tune in …
Talking White or not?
Posted on: May 25, 2008
I couldn’t talk “Black” if I wanted to it has little to do with my true experiences or where I am really coming from. In fact “talking Black” is far more comprehensive than just my speech, it encapsulates everything from the way I write, how I think, and what my outlook on the world is. A lot of people that talk in the way that most African-Americans are comfortable with and appear to be a lot closer to that true authentic experience of going through life in America not having anything, and coming into ones own, are a lot smarter than the average person gives them credit for.
Sure there are advantages in being able to “talk White”. For one you have had years of practice in situations with Whites and are either as comfortable among them as you are those of your own race, if not more. Whites allow you into their home, take you behind closed doors and show you a world and teach you things that most Blacks they can’t trust will never get to take advantage of. It makes it a lot easier to date outside of your race if you “talk White”; well perhaps you can end up with Buffy, Melissa, Susan or Sharon instead of that White girl who wants to be Black with the braids and cornrolls in her hair.
Yet when it is all over and done with you never really chose to “talk White” because it was never really an option with you. This is how you truly are; yes I am really that diverse, yes my opinions are a bit different on the matter it is not an act. Yet it is perceived or suggested that after a long hard day of work we go back home to a life in the ‘hood and kick back and do what we really want to.
Our experiences growing up or even those that changed us or defined us later on in life are rather diverse. You could have two different African-Americans both coming up in those same housing projects going through the same obstacles. Yet still one would be “prim and proper” and accused of “talking White” while the other was “ghetto” and there wasn’t any chance for them to make it. What was once solely a socioeconomic situation is now merely a situation where perhaps one took advantage of whatever charity they could get. Though poor; their parents had them participate wherever they could as a rich philanthropists money poured resources into neighborhoods, schools and community centers offering programs and resources that never existed before.
These days you can take advantage of scholarships and work things out that you may have the chance to go to the Ivy League school of your choice, or at least get a nice degree from a historically black college or university. A lot of the kids that I went to Wilberforce University “talked White”, but it didn’t necessarily mean that there were upper middle class kids either. Some were, but others were there in the financial aid office trying to get every single scholarship they could get; their parents may have dropped them off at school freshman week, but the rest was on their own.
Did they always “talk White”, not always. But they knew how to conduct themselves around different people and could get along with the professors at the school well; a lot of teachers at the school weren’t White and we had a lot of teachers from other countries and different cultures. Were there White teachers at the University that were cool and “talked Black”, of course. So often the idea of whether or not your speech is “White” or “Black” is simply a perception, nothing else. If that is all that you know, or what comes natural to you, then it is about as authentically Black as any other experience you could imagine.
As far as I can tell whether I “talk White” or not I still have those patterns in my voice, that tone, that gives it that “Black” feel where you may or may not be so sure. It may come across differently on the phone and you may be able to see that reflected in the way I write, the way I dress, the way I act, but it’s all me. Not so Black, and not so White either, just whatever suits me at that moment. Yet I sort of like my speech, and wouldn’t change it for anything.
Talking White or not?
Posted on: May 15, 2008
A look at “talking white”, for what it is worth. Chances are your accusers are talking White when they get the chance trying to get ahead when no one else is looking, as long as no one else knows nothing is lost and no one’s feelings get hurt …
I couldn’t talk “Black” if I wanted to it has little to do with my true experiences or where I am really coming from. In fact “talking Black” is far more comprehensive than just my speech, it encapsulates everything from the way I write, how I think, and what my outlook on the world is. A lot of people that talk in the way that most African-Americans are comfortable with and appear to be a lot closer to that true authentic experience of going through life in America’s housing projects not having anything, and coming into ones own, are a lot smarter than the average person gives them credit for.
Sure there are advantages in being able to “talk White”. For one you have had years of practice in situations with Whites and are either as comfortable among them as you are those of your own race, if not more. Whites allow you into their home, take you behind closed doors and show you a different world and teach you things that most Blacks they can’t trust will never get to take advantage of. No dummy it’s rarely any of that I digress, but it sounds cool and makes it seem a lot different than what it really is. It makes it a lot easier to date outside of your race if you “talk White”; well perhaps you can end up with Buffy, Melissa, Susan or Sharon instead of that White girl who wants to be Black with the braids and cornrolls in her hair. Again, no anything but; those girls probably want a thug you’re just another boring African-American looking for an equally boring person to spend some quality time with.
Yet when it is all over and done with you never really chose to “talk White” because it was never really an option with you. This is how you truly are; yes I am really that diverse, yes my opinions are a bit different on the matter it is not an act. Yet it is perceived or suggested that after a long hard day of work we go back home to a life in the ‘hood and kick back and do what we really want to.
Our experiences growing up or even those that changed us or defined us later on in life are rather diverse. You could have two different African-Americans both coming up in those same housing projects going through the same obstacles. Yet still one would be “prim and proper” and accused of “talking White” while the other was “ghetto” and there wasn’t any chance for them to make it. What was once solely the consequences of being in a deprived socioeconomic situation is now merely a situation where perhaps one took advantage of whatever charity they could get. Though poor; their parents had them participate wherever they could as a rich philanthropists money poured resources into neighborhoods, schools and community centers offering programs and resources that never existed before. Typical existence for a city kid that has nothing that can benefit from someone else who has everything that wants to leave their footprint in the city, a legacy, a mark that they were there and are proud of where they are from.
These days you can take advantage of scholarships and work things out in that you may have the chance to go to the Ivy League school of your choice, or at least get a nice degree from a historically black college or university. A lot of the kids that I went to Wilberforce University with “talked White”, but it didn’t necessarily mean that they were upper middle class kids either. Some were, but others were there in the financial aid office trying to get every single scholarship they could get; their parents may have dropped them off at school freshman week, but the rest of that college experience was on their own dime.
Did they always “talk White”, not always. But they knew how to conduct themselves around different people and could get along with the professors at the school well; a lot of teachers at the school weren’t White and we had a lot of teachers from other countries and different cultures. Were there White teachers at the University that were cool and “talked Black”, of course. So often the idea of whether or not your speech is “White” or “Black” is simply a perception, nothing else. If that is all that you know, or what comes natural to you, then it is about as authentically Black as any other experience you could imagine.
As far as I can tell whether I “talk White” or not I still have those patterns in my voice, that tone, that gives it that “Black” feel where you may or may not be so sure. It may come across differently on the phone and you may be able to see that reflected in the way I write, the way I dress, the way I act, but it’s all me. Not so Black, and not so White either, just whatever suits me at that moment. Yet I sort of like my speech, and wouldn’t change it for anything …
A Writer Searches for the Real Meaning to Questions About Authenticity, Race, and Being an African-American
Watching an interview by Bill Moyer where he asks James Cone about his theory about the lynching tree brought up an old familiar question, is Barack Obama “Black enough”? Cone responded that Obama was in an unusual position and doesn’t have the luxury of addressing racial concerns in the prototypical way because doing so alienates White support on some level. You have to be that Black president in secret and be a president that just simply happens to be an African-American in public, which is a position that any and almost every single Black that had ever graduated from merely being a public servant in their own city, to that over a state of this country is often in.
It is okay to be “Black enough” when no one is looking, or not that many individuals. Most of the African-Americans that have served as mayors of predominately Black cities were plenty “Black enough” for their constituents. But a lot of the antics that are associated with mayors like Coleman Young and Willie Brown are simply unacceptable at “higher posts” in American government per se, and the need to be more multicultural and appeal to to different races has a way of “toning down” prototypical representation of Black interests and African-American culture.
What is interesting is that James Cone himself suggested that he probably wasn’t Black enough himself. It makes you think how, in this day and age over 30 years after African-Americans had turned out in colleges and universities in record numbers and were finally getting to a place where we could appreciated for something other than our ignorance and entertainment factor how the assertion that we could still be a sell out for something akin to a White person living in a Black’s body could even be an issue anymore. Yet that is still exactly the point; to have an interest or appreciation in someone else’s culture and to stand up for issues that aren’t pervasive in the African-American community still means on some level that you aren’t “Black enough” for mainstream African-American culture.
I have never been Black enough myself; granted I am far more comfortable in my own skin around “my own kind”, these days, but that could just be part of the unapologetic, confrontational changes that happen to people as they enter into their thirties. You break away from the mainstream, have your own thoughts, dreams and ambitions and stop trying to be like everyone else, particularly your peers. You stop dressing and acting like the next person and veer down your own path.
When you’re in your twenties, you have issues about not being Black enough. You wax poetically about your reasons for not doing so, particularly if you’re multiracial and feel more of an obligation to pick and choose sides because you have African-Americans that wouldn’t concern themselves with you otherwise, act as your cheerleader when you finally do make something of yourself. Yet at the end of the day there are few differences between someone who is Black, and this, and that as well than someone who is Black, and wouldn’t be confused with anything different when neither act in the prototypical African-American way.
So you search for African-Americans who are very Black, but that stereotypical definition, when you should be trying to reach out to others that aren’t Black enough as well. You make friends who do everything that is Black, attend Black schools, live in all Black neighborhoods, buy clothing from Black designers and listen to Black music. They influence you, so you end up buying some Coogi or Sean Jean that isn’t you, and you start to gravitate towards Christian Audigier and Lacoste, stuff that has a place in Black culture, but then again, really isn’t that Black at all. Yet you feel that you have to represent something that isn’t really you at all.
You’re trying to play that rough, authentic, gritty and grimy hip-hop when you should just be listening to Common and Kanye West and call it a night; artists that are real about the fact that being real doesn’t necessarily mean having to rep’ the hood. You inevitably get sick of listening to Whitesnake, Metallica, Vanessa Carlton and Britney Spears in secret and find some White friends that actually support your interests. We often forget that there was a reason why our parents tried to impart something into us that had a lot to do with where they were coming from in the day and age that they were coming into their own. Because in the sixties and before you weren’t free to do a lot of what we take for granted now, you didn’t have those choices that were often made for you by the state of America at that time.
Being Black enough was still an issue, but things seem as though they still must have been different then. Sure you had paper bag parties and other ugly reminders of colorism but that wasn’t the same as two Blacks of the same hue going at it because one doesn’t subscribe to another’s value system of authenticity, when both can still be proud African-Americans, just going about it in different ways. Time passes, and you inevitably have to see it that way; I am a proud African-American, a little different, a little weird to most but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Perhaps Barack Obama and James Cone are going about it in a different way. Perhaps Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey and Condoleezza Rice have their own way that we may never fully understand. None of them may be Black enough for us, but they’ve gotten to where they are by not doing so, which says volumes about what the world thinks about our way in the first place. Then again we also have plenty of individuals that never lost anything that are rich and successful, and rather influential in their own right that are still respected. Obvious examples like Russel Simmons and Jay-Z and Sean Combs come to mind but then again Martin Luther King never lost anything either, nor did Malcolm X or Adam Clayton Powell. Unfortunately, there are plenty of other Blacks in prominent positions in the business realm like Richard Parsons that I honestly cannot comment on one way or the other because we don’t know about them; they aren’t in Black positions like government or entertainment, they’re not artists and chose a way that, coincidently, doesn’t seem to be Black enough for most of us to pay any real attention to …
Class and race in America
Posted on: July 2, 2007
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In the wake of this new attention to what many consider to be a new “class war” amongst African-Americans, which one can quickly catch up on in the media, you’re rather hard pressed to remember those better times in which Blacks had a common cause to stand up against. It is easy to look at the situation that is occurring in older rebuilt neighborhoods in our inner cities in which middle class African-Americans have returned to neighborhoods that were once impoverished to suggest that a new influx of Blacks into the middle class which surpasses that of the percentage of those in poverty is partially responsible for this phenomenon. Everyone points to the idea that we had to survive in a world with limited opportunities, and that being lumped together was actually a good thing because it forced us to find ways to get along and created an atmosphere in which we were actually more empathetic to what others had to go through. This isn’t a totally new phenomenon though; middle class, college educated African-Americans left the ghettos for old neighborhoods in a different part of town that other races were moving out of forty years ago; they did not have to live amongst the poor then, and if anything it is the children of that generation’s children who have bought into the idea that living in a rebuilt inner-city is chic, and that this is a new way of keeping up with the Jonses. This was before many were able to leave the city altogether for suburbia. These days people want to get away from inner-suburbia and neighborhoods which now have some of the crime that plagued the inner city at the time that the suburbs were being built as poorer residents from the city are leaving some of the same re gentrified areas that African-Americans are moving to.
This is a third generation of ghetto “escapee’s” that are returning back to the inner city for all of the wrong reasons, that is completely divorced from not only inner city life, but a “Black Experience” that was typical of life as an African-American as recently as the eighties. Outside of our socioeconomic condition, and the idea that increased access to mainstream society separates us there are still plenty of cultural forces that can act as a common ground to unite us. The only thing that has really changed, is if you want to connect with African-Americans that have experienced life differently than you, or do not feel that you have as much in common as the next person, you are going to have to make more of a concerted effort to be a part of the community as the next person. Personally, there are always going to be individuals who wish to use the access to high society they can purchase with the money they have to isolate themselves away from the society they once knew, and other individuals who were never poor to begin with that are just ignorant to the next man’s struggle, this is just the way that it is.
American cities have a rich history that is appreciated by some, forgotten by others. Neighborhoods go through different stages in their existence, and it is not unusual for residents to move into an area they know nothing about, not to want to know anything about the details that contribute to the character and identity of the area in which they live. At the same time, while the Black middle class returns to some of the same neighborhoods working class individuals had built up and maintained for years over a half century ago they may learn something about the sacrifices that were made in order for them to be able to live the type of life they take for granted that they probably are not that willing to explore or that enthused about confronting. If nothing else, it shows us that the hard learned lessons of life in the city have not changed, and that the spiritual undertone that took the city through the past, will unite and move the city into the future as America’s metropolis reinvent themselves for the twenty-first century.
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Perhaps you’ve read Black Enterprise magazines list of America’s top ten cities for African-Americans, or maybe you have your own ideas of what a great city is that has been shaped and molded out of your own experiences. These are some thoughts we have of this year’s list.
- # 9 Columbus, OH – The state capital of Ohio has changed a lot over the last 10 years, as many residents from other cities in Ohio have relocated there. In fact if you look at the numbers this would appear to be where most of Ohio’s residents have moved to; a success story whereas the population of almost every other major city in this state has declined whereas the Columbus area continues to grow. On the one hand it is great to see that a city from Ohio placed on this list, as it is a testament that the Midwest does still have some great opportunities for African-Americans, as well as that it reinforces the idea that the Midwest has begun to diversify and has taken some steps towards repositioning itself to compete with the rest of the country in the future. To get a better feel for this area, Money Magazine had already voted it the 8th best city to live in, so it’s strength goes beyond being a mecca for African-Americans. In fact, Blacks only comprise about 30% of the population, so this place is more larger cities like New York or L.A. than it is Chicago, as far as diversity. There was no real population explosion in Columbus, it is simply that Columbus was one of the few cities in Ohio that didn’t experience a population loss. What did experience rapid growth was the cities metropolitan area, which is now around 1.7 million. The city proper is still less than 800,000. Much of the work in Columbus is in technology and finance, as well as its role of supporting the huge governmental infrastructure in Ohio; in fact it would be easier to think of this cities role here at that of Richmond, VA, which would probably be that states largest city if it weren’t for Virginia’s proximity to the Nation’s capital (the massive expansion that Northern Virginia undertook in the eighties) and the tourist appeal of Hampton Roads (Virginia Bach/Norfolk). There are also is huge clothing industry here (headquarters for Value City, Abercrombie & Fitch, Limited) as well as many fast food brands (Wendy’s, Steak Escape, White Castle). Much of Ohio’s contribution to America’s economy is through the many brands headquartered in Columbus that many of us take for granted, yet would never associate with Ohio. There is also a number of colleges, including Ohio State, one of the largest in the country.
- # 8, Indianapolis, In – Indianapolis is a big city, a really, really big city, in fact the city proper is 790,000 and the metro is around 2 million. Indianapolis is close to Columbus, OH, as well as Chicagoland, which is still growing. In fact, along with two other mentioned cities Indianapolis is one of those Midwestern success stories that shows that there still are a good number of cities in the area that never shrunk, and were able to maintain growth through the region’s economic depression, which is still an ongoing phenomenon. Their Black Expo is a must see event for African-Americans looking to network and take advantage of some of the best entertainment that is out there. If you’re looking for light rail, as many other Midwestern cities (with the exception of Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit) you won’t find it in this city, so be prepared to drive or take the bus. The city was also the place where the sitcom One Day at a Time was played out. 25% of the population is African-American.
- North Carolina and Texas have two cities on this list. This probably does not come as shock to anyone, though it was interesting to see a larger city of one million residents place on the list (city proper) in the case of both Houston and Dallas, as cities that were of this size or larger that had placed on the list in the past, were no longer present.
- # 2 Atlanta isn’t the oasis it used to be, but still offers much in the way of opportunity. The magazine claimed that changing patterns in home ownership had something to do with this. From what I’ve heard, if you have a high-school education and were thinking about moving to Atlanta you may want to think twice about it because it isn’t the city with the promises it used to make good on back in the eighties. Housing prices are finally starting to rise, and you may find yourself getting by. The city is also undergoing gentrification, which means that other races are finally starting to move back into the area. There are still only two more cities in the country with more Fortune 500 companies, New York and Houston. The city is also becoming known for its super wide roads with upwards of 10 lanes each side on the highway, and other transportation problems, such as failed realization of its limited rail system. Atlanta is still competing with Charlotte in the banking sector. Sixty-one percent of its population is African-American, and the city is the third largest home of gays and lesbians in the country. The city proper is still less than 500,000, though the metro area remains ten times the size of the city. If you are looking for the type of aggressive and confrontational metropolis that you are used to up North, in areas like Southern New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York, or even Chicagoland, what you’ll find in Metro Atlanta is a lot more spread out and laid back than what you’ve come to know of those places. On the other hand, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of gated communities and housing developments in Atlanta, so if you’re looking for the city life, outside of the city, this is the place to be to obtain a relatively reasonably priced home. Housing isn’t as expensive as you’ll find in the Northeast. It isn’t a densely populated area, by any means.
So what have we learned of the new top 10 list, and what any of this really means for African-Americans? For one, you may want to trade in the hectic pace of the North and California for a slower, laid back pace, though definitively still “urban” in nature, in America’s South, which dominates this list. You may want to wrap your mind changing ideas of what it means to be in the city and leave your city slicker ways behind. Some of the cities still propagate the idea that when blacks are the dominate force in the city, not just population wise, but politically and economically, life is better for everyone involved. Then again, you may do better in a city where Blacks aren’t the majority, and find more creative ways to take advantage of the opportunities that are there. Some of this was to be expected; the government makes it financially viable for companies to relocate in the South and areas like Texas where land is cheaper and is actually available. If you cannot relocate to these areas it just means that you may have to work a bit harder, or find creative ways to turn around the situation where you live to make it better for you and others in the area that are still trying to make it.
And how do those cities compare to the Hampton Roads area, where I’m at now? The seven cities are a mixed bag; Virgina Beach is only 19% African-American, though you would think it were a lot less, on the other hand Portsmouth is like 50%, on the other hand, Norfolk is around 44% as is Suffolk, but then again Chesapeake is around 29%, and yes, those cities with the higher percentages, true to form, as construed as being more “urban”, with the exception of Suffolk. The area is a study in contradictions. But there are more Blacks even out in areas like Williamsburg (13%) which is the first city you hit coming into the area from Richmond, than there are in some of the cities in Southwest Virginia like Harrisonburg. It’s a great place to live, but I still am indifferent about the lack of good public transportation, which is something that just has to change.
okay so the skinny jeans didn't work out for me so well ... 
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