CAN BLACK BECOME BEAUTIFUL AGAIN?

Greg Thrasher

BY GREG THRASHER

We are approaching the end of another year and the promise of new one. In every venue across our nation the image of Black Americans has been painted and portrayed with anguish, pain,  and negativity. For some in our nation Black is not beautiful but ugly, sad, dark,  decay, failure, hopelessness, victimhood, grievance, incompetence, rage, anger, obesity, emptiness.

When the subject matter turns to Black males the indictments, the venom, the narrative becomes  an endless dialogue, discussion, portrayal of failure, misery, fear and just raw negativity. Except for the usual forays into Black males as celebrities or athletes or even the reality of a Black man in the white house, at the end of the day in America the canvas that illustrates Black males is dark and Black is not beautiful.

For too long I have avoided writing and having a dialogue about the critical issue of the image of Black males in our nation. On a number of levels I did not want to have this critical discourse in a nation that has such a nasty racial legacy against Black folks and of course Black men. I know this culture seeks to leverage Black folks against Black folks. I know this culture champions the seeds of division and internal conflict between the various intersections of Black life in our nation.

Black must become beautiful for society's image of Black males

I am of the opinion in part that our nation’s contempt and depravity towards Black men is so deep that efforts to measure this abyss have yet to be created. The depth of hate is so severe it is profound and often beyond many measure of reasonable and sane comprehension.

Yet I know I would die waiting on any measure of honor, respect and justice from a culture that continues to fear and hold anything Black in contempt. WE must change the culture and not have it change us.

So given this hard core raw truth what is to be gained by taking on this cultural equation. What value can be achieved by me on a personal level and the community on a group level in reshaping, reinventing, reimaging, polishing up our image in our nation as Black men. The answer is simple We become significant, valuable and worthy of our own genius and unlimited value and being. We become the arcitects of our salvation and destiny.

There are inherent perils in pursuing this narrative and transformative posture. Yet in spite of the risks I must undertake this mission. My community must take on this assignment.

So from this point forward in every moment, every situation, every awkward incident, every first impression, every second in lives of Black men a change must take place. WE must make a life altering transformative change in the image of Black men that is observed, reflected, in our interactions with the world.

WE cannot continue living in a world that affirms and embraces the impotence of Black males, the decay and ignorance of Black males, The fear and presence of Black males. We cannot continue to live in cities and households and workplaces where our presence is  viewed not as an asset but a liability. Our personal lives are at risk, our families and communities are in peril, our nation cannot achieve its full apex unless we make this calibrated change right here, right now. I am talking about all Black men in every walk of life from friend to associate, slug to thug, inmate to lawyer, carpenter to painter, to lover to lover, brother to brother to son to father, me to YOU.

Black must become beautiful once again. Let’s make it so in 2011.