A Blind State of Mind (Please Read & Share Your Views
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Posted By: Alexis E. on August 13, 2008 Letter from a college student: The other day, a friend of mine visited me in the lobby of my dorm just to chat while her laundry was drying. As we were chatting, two young freshmen came by. One of the boys wanted to 'talk' to my friend (as in date). She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18. My friend and I both laughed hysterically because we are both 22 years old. After my friend left, the young men were still hanging around and one wanted to know how he could gain her interest. The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants! He asked why, then said he liked saggin' his pants. I told him to come over to my computer and spell the word saggin'. Then I told him to write the word saggin' backwards. S-A-G-G-I-N N-I-G- G-A-S I told him the origin of that look was from centuries ago. It was the intent of slave owners to demoralize the field workers by forbidding them to wear a belt as they worked in the fields or at any other rigorous job. In addition, men in prison wore their pants low when they were 'spoken for'. The other reason their pants looked like that was they were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were likely to try to commit suicide. And, saggin' pants prevents you from running. We as young Black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying. The media has made a mockery of the Black American. Even our brothers and sisters from Africa don't take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up your pants and standing with your head held high could make the biggest difference in the world's perception of us. It is time to do right by ourselves. We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do that for us. It all comes down to perception. What people perceive is what is reality to them. We have to change not only the media's perception of us, but we need to change our perception of ourselves. Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes are on you Black Woman. All eyes are on your Black Child. People point the finger at us and expect us to engage in negative and illegal activities, to manifest loud, boisterous behaviour, to spend our hard earned money in their stores, buying goods we don't need, or really want. We have allowed not only the media, but the government and the world to portray us as a 'sub-culture.' They have stripped our culture down to the point where the image of Black people is perpetuated as rappers, athletes, drug users, and consumers of junk food, expensive tennis shoes, expensive cars, expensive TVs, cell phones and not investing in homes for our families. We are so much more!!!!!!! To all our Black Men: Its time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you walk on. We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to love, support and cherish every ounce of your being. But with that you have to show that you are willing to be the head of our households. You have to prove yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working...Not a hustler. We need you to seek higher education, to seek spirituality. We need you to stand! And trust us, we will have your back. We know that it gets hard. We know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black Man and a Black Woman can't handle with GOD on their side. To all our Black Women: It is also time for you to stand up. It is time for you to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is time to be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. You cannot sit by the wayside while our men are dying by the masses. You are the epitome of Black Love. It starts within you. You need to speak with conviction to let not only our Black Men know, but the world, that you are the Mothers of this world. You are so powerful. You a re so beautiful. You need to love and embrace every blessing God has given us physically, emotionally and spiritually. For all our Black Children: We need to love them. We need to teach them. We need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to show them that there are no 'get rich quick' schemes. We need to tell them that they WILL die trying if they submit to a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our children that no one will love them the way we can. And being a basketball player, a rapper, or a drug dealer is not reality. It's not realistic and only a small percentage of people ever make it as a rapper or professional athlete. We need to teach our children that we can be more than rappers and athletes. We can be the owners of these sports teams. We can be the CEO's of OUR fortune 500 companies. We need to believe in literacy. I am almost certain if we were to look back to the 1930's and 40's, the literacy rates for Black American Children are probably still the same. Alexis Sistahs In Unity http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SistahsInUni... If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Alexis E.
CEO, Property Express Member Since August 2006 |
Comments
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Hi Alexis, You said it all. Your words definitely hold truth to them. I'm speechless. I only wish more people realized the meaning of your blog & conducted themselves accordingly. Until we as a people "stand for something, we will fall for anything." Marlene Wednesday, August 13th 2008 at 1:39PM |
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Those 18 year olds should be scared of YOU but also blessed to have met you. You are empowered by truth. Keep sharing it and those who wants to grow will embrace THAT TRUTH. You'll see them grow like Ivy-fast and full of life!
Monday, August 18th 2008 at 10:21PM |
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I think that sagging pants are about to change. My son has been wearing tee shirts that fit. They call it the skater look but I am starting to see more of the fit shirt and fit jeans look...there is hope that this fad will be over soon.
Friday, August 29th 2008 at 9:20AM |
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Hey T, I don't know about that "tight" fit look...Its looks gay. No offense to those that swing that way, but tight pants are not for a boy or man. The sagging pants have got 2 go, no one wants to see anymore booty that we already have as mothers, etc. Friday, August 29th 2008 at 2:56PM |
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Sister Alexis E, I am glad to find this post of yours which explains this wave that have swept our young Black men and Women across this nation. See, when I was growing up in the late 60's and the early 70's , we wanted to pattern ourselves after a positive roll model, which we had many to choose from but today our children want to pattern themselves after a jail house sissy was unheard of. Now I know that it is more to learn but I thank you for putting me on the right path. Thanks again and I truly enjoyed this post. Monday, August 3rd 2015 at 4:00AM |
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If these guys are going to wear sagging pants, the least thing they could do is wear clean underwear. I know this guy on my block who wears his pants sagging, and he had the same pair of boxers on for 3 days straight. Even my 7-year old cousin herself had to tell him to go home and change his underwear!!! It's just sick!!!
Tuesday, August 4th 2015 at 4:19PM |
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This article below is satire...meaning it's not real, but I hope it made y'all young bucks think... Study Shows Sagging Pants Linked To Erectile Dysfunction LOS ANGELES--In recent weeks the controversial urban/ Hip Hop inspired practice of sagging pants has come under fire. Two weeks ago Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Dez Bryant was kicked out of a shopping mall along with several of his friends for wearing sagging pants. In the state of Florida an anti-sagging bill was passed deeming the practice as vulgar. The bill which was the brainchild of Rep. Hazelle Rogers was passed unanimously by the committee. In the state of Arkansas Governor Mike Bebe recently signed a bill banning sagging pants in public schools. “We feel the bill can improve the learning environment in schools,” said Donna Morey, president of the Arkansas Education Association. One concern of the Arkansas General Assembly was that “student competition over the manner in which clothing is worn could lead to violence and injuries during school hours,” according to the legislation. Lawmakers also said that students should learn to dress in a way that is acceptable in the workplace as they prepare to enter it. Along with this wave of anti-sagging legislative being proposed or enacted around the country comes a brand new study from the National American Medical Association that shows the health risks of prolonged ‘sagging’. According to posture and vitality expert Aaron Parnell, one of the biggest health problems is severe bad posture. Parnell who treats over a dozen young people a year with problems directly related to wearing baggy pants or sagging pants without a belt says many fail to realize is that to keep their pants from falling down, young people are forced to walk in an awkward manner. They rotate their legs inwardly at the knees and turn their feet outward to keep balance. This creates bad posture. He noted, walking this way can also lead to hip degeneration and low back problems. Further, rotating your legs like this everyday can lead to life-long knee misalignments and bunions. A two year study by the NAMA set to be released on Monday April 5th builds off the ‘bad posture’ findings of Parnell. Dr Mark Oliver Mansbach explains that the continuous wearing of sagging pants severely impacts s*xual performance. “In our study we discovered that sagging pants wearers are 70% more likely to prematurely ejaculate during intercourse. There is a 78% likelihood that sagging pants wearers have erectile dysfunction”, Mansbach noted. “We are finding increasing number of cases where men as young as 23 are having severe cases of ED. The cause is traced back to the constant mis-aligning of their hips and lower torso from the gait (people’s walking patterns) which are symptomatic to sagging pants.” Mansbach estimates that 75-82% of the men who wear saggy pants have some sort of s*xual dysfunction. Because of the machismo associated with Hip Hop, gang and urban culture most men will keep the problem hidden. They mask their s*xual inadequacy by displaying fits of anger and nihilistic behavior toward each other and toward women who they can not please. “It’s the dirty little secret in urban communities that no one wants to talk about”, Mansbach said. He points to the huge jump in sales for online Viagra and s*xual enhancement drugs. Many urban males who lack health insurance for expensive erectile dysfunction remedies have turned to over the counter solutions which contain sildenafil or vardenafil the ingredients found in Viagra and Levitra, two of the most commonly used ED medicines. The problem with over the counter ED remedies is that they cause the an over flow of blood to rush leading to early onsets of high blood pressure and other dibiletating side effects. Others have turned to excessive drinking or taking ecstasy bills. Popular rapper Kim Sharpton says sagging in his early days caused all sorts of problems We spoke with rapper Kim Sharpton of Staten Island, NY who has been on a crusade of sorts warning young men to stop sagging. “When I was younger I was constantly getting it in and running the town. I was sagging hard B. The problem was I couldn’t get hard when the time counted”, Sharpton explained. “At first I thought it was my diet or lack of exercise. Later I thought it was psychological because I was getting stressed out. It’s not like I could share my problem with the homeboys. Women wanted to know what the deal was and so I had to come up with all sorts of excuses as to why I wasn’t capable of delivering a nice package ya dig?” Sharpton noted that he became so angry that he started writing songs targeting other rappers who wore sagging pants. At one point he even threatened to lynch them. “It was bad B.. real bad, but I’m doing better now. Exercise, good diet, a strong belt and counseling to get my confidence back, help get me on track ” Sharpton said. “You wont catch me sagging ever again, luckily we diagnosed my problem early on so the conditions could be reversed, but most young brothers aren’t so lucky”. Sharpton concluded, “This NAMA study is serious and should come as a dire warning to young men everywhere. ‘If your sagging your lagging’… in the bedroom. Now that’s one to grow on. Tuesday, August 4th 2015 at 4:23PM |
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