52 Thoughts: Expectations of an American Black Male

Expectations can wear a brother out. One of the most annoying things is to wear an amazing clean pressed suit and then all of a sudden…downpour! Rain, heavy rain, can make a great suit feel like an over burdening weight. It just makes you want to tear it off, forget how much it's worth, and simply dance in the rain.

The last few years have been just exhausting. There are these expectations of you as a Black man. It runs the gamut from police shootings, to politics, and Power. I mean Ghost is a pretty clean dude. I wonder who shot him?

Like EVERYTHING seems to be judged on the basis of race. Are you rocking the right kind of natural hair? Are you seeing the continual oppression of this country? Are you part of the group working to upend all these racist institutions?

Them: Man, are you “born again?”

Me: You mean “woke,” right?

Anyways, there are these spoken and unspoken expectations of you as a Black American male. I thought Colin Kapernick completely lost the momentum regarding his narrative. He let other folks define it for him. I’m moving on because that brother is getting paid. Good for him…I guess. Jay-Z is getting paid as well.

Dang all the brothers getting paid off this "activism." I guess Sharpton and Jackson do have legacies after all.

Let’s not get started on your President. Real talk he’s our President with some serious defects but that doesn’t mean I need to join the chorus singing he is racist. The man’s leadership skills are a dumpster fire, but racist…I need some clear evidence. I’ve met and talked to more racist people in Arkansas who thought they were “serving” my best interest. You know, that good Progressive who assumes you vote like she does and then backs her assumption up by hugging you and saying, “We won! Obama won!” Yes, that actually happened.

But hey we are diverse and inclusive right? Somehow I can’t understand why my White, male heterosexual brother is continually being reminded how evil and oppressive his presence is in this country.

I guess diverse and inclusive means something different.

I’m getting sleepy and this suit is soaking wet!

So at some point I said to myself…”It’s time to get an umbrella.”

Clean the suit and walk with style in the rain.

Dang! My black suit is FLY!

Let the expectations just roll off brother.

Don’t expect me to say every incident that happens to a Black American is racist and just another manifestation of the racist hegemony of a country that can't deal with its racist DNA.

Don’t expect me to say whiteness is a disease and the cure is….What exactly?

Don’t expect me to say the rich need to give up more of their income and wealth. You do know those are two completely different things. Like seriously.

Don’t expect me to give a philosophical, moral, and ethical defense of reparations. For what?

I do have expectations of myself and I control those expectations. It’s so liberating.

So, what you can expect from me is genuine concern and love. What you can expect is a man who has dedicated the rest of his life to treating a human being as an individual and not judging the individual on the basis of skin color or ethnic affiliation.

Dang who said that? Oh thats right, that brother whose head was blown off in Memphis and we will celebrate in about a week.

Don’t judge me by my suit. Judge me by how I treat you in my suit.


BE LOVE
BE KIND
BE GENEROUS