Pertaining my previous post about serving African Americans…
The fact of the matter is that I have so much passion and mixed feelings about who I am and the people that I relate to. No, I’m not the typical African American Man. I’ve survived a lot of issues and unfortunate circumstances in my life but I wouldn’t say that I’m any different or any more special than anyone else. The fact that I’m a straight Black Man who is deeply entrenched within wanting to explore and express my creative prowess I feel makes me unique—unique and individual.
I love my people yet I don’t feel—and have never felt—that fall into some of the general categories of what it is supposed to be a Black Man. A Black Man in America. Even in surviving the kinds of dysfunction that have befallen my life, I still turned out to be…me. Wildly complex yet still simple enough to be undervalued and underestimated.
The way I see it and the way I approach it all is that my life and existence is a Blessing. After knowing and coming to an understanding about what it is and was to be African American and/or a Person of Color in America, I consider my life a Blessing. I did not end up incarcerated or on drugs or with responsibilities that I could not adequately and appropriately handle and a tremendous ambition for entrepreneurship. My existence has been Blessed with opportunities of more time and more experiences that’ve led to more knowledge and wisdom. The GREATEST—the Pinnacle—of who I am and what I’m doing is in being a Father. I am that for which so many feel is controversial and becomes an interesting topic of discussion; a American Black Father who is in the household, married and ever-still hardworking.
As Black Men in American society are often described and defined as something dysfunctional and distorted as a comparison to some mysterious concept of a norm within society, I’ve come to believe that the way I exist—the way I choose to exist—takes much more precedence than tha oft just being a Black Man. The choice. The choice to be that for which I’ve not really ever known a man to be even within my own life is profound to me. Just the choice—in constant reflection and analysis—affects me in some pretty profound ways. I find my self committed to the idea of becoming better and better whilst accepting my faults, failings and errors in life. I aspire to grow beyond the confines of who I was established and expected to be…even if some of those expectations came from me.
As an Artist, I’m concerned and will most likely always be concerned about what it is to be “Black”, “African American” and a Person of Color, Ethnicity and Culture within this modern world—this “modern” society. Out of the histories and legacies stolen from a people for and throughout slavery, I believe we are meant to become something greater. Something GREATER than great. It all resides and depends upon what programming we’re running and operating with…and this is established, constructed and further fueled by the kinds of media we consume. I want to play a part in changing that…to change the narrative.
