I Rep My City

Some blacks are like "I Rep My City", which usually means they rep the hood side of their city: Violence & drugs, poverty, police presence, etc. Many times, some blacks never represent the good aspects of their city because to them that's boring. There's no excitement in representing Stop The Violence movements, or famous inner-city residents who come back to their old hood to give back. That wouldn't draw as much attention as gang warfare, drug pushing, and assault rifle fire. Little do they realize all that negative attention is drawing potential investment away from black neighborhoods because no one wants to invest in a violence & drug-ridden community. These are the same blacks that complain about having to drive far to get what they need. Maybe if some inner-city blacks started taking pride in their hoods, that maybe commercial investment would come. Part of that involves working together to get the criminal element out, and showing support for positive initiatives designed to bring light into distressed areas of their city.

In Love With The Struggle

Some black folks are in love with the struggle; they wear it as a badge of honor. It's not wrong to want more out of life.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) August 19, 2015

I'm convinced most black folks love to struggle. Let me explain: Every other conversation goes something like this: You have to go through the struggle to appreciate the blessing, or you can't have prosperity without struggle. That may be true sometimes, but what about those who have good fortune without struggle? There are some people who know how to avoid struggle by being strategic; every move they make, they weigh the risk(s) & benefit(s) before they make a move. If the risks outweigh the benefits, they don't move forward. If the benefits far outweigh the risks, they proceed. That's not to say their entire road will be a smooth ride because there will be hiccups along the way that are out of their control, but successful folks always find a way around those hiccups and keep trucking. 

The only time "struggle" should be worn as a badge of honor is if you have conquered your obstacle; otherwise, you can become so comfortable with struggling that when you finally make it out, you feel strange because all you've ever known was struggle. You won't know what to do with your blessing so you take it for granted. I don't know about anyone else, but I welcome all the breakthrough I can handle because I've struggled enough to last a lifetime. Contrary to what some blacks may think, there really is no honor in the struggle. You're always worrying from one minute to the next how you're going to get this, how you're going to get that, etc. Life is too short, enjoy the sunshine sometimes.