Mario Terry
I felt inspired to write this article after being overwhelmed by the various thoughts that rush my mind each time I watch the news, go out, like many college students do regularly, and witness violence among blacks, or watching and reading negative material directed at black people produced by black people. This is simply ridiculous. We are still a minority in this country, when we should be the majority. There are numerous reasons as to why we are, but one of them is black on black crime and the nonchalant attitude of our people. When reading this article don’t think that I’m just exposing flaws of the African American race, for two reasons, even though our skin color may be similar, we all come from diverse backgrounds, and I don’t understand all the circumstances that cause discrepancies among the black community.
I just want you all to realize what our predecessors like Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman sacrificed just to get us to where we are today. No, we cannot erase stereotypes and change everyone, but we can influence one another, through various methods, such as, our ability to create music, and make it stick to the minds of all races. My brothers and sisters stop going after each other, maliciously. I’m not going to preach, as if I don’t have any flaws or don’t participate in some of these acts, whether it’s saying negative things about someone, I have done it. But we are a people capable of rehabilitation. We are a people of love and advancement. We are a people of that know how to embrace change.
We definitely understand the meaning of the word unite; look at our many establishments of organizations aimed at accomplishing collective goals. In addition to the meaning of unity, we comprehend the meaning of fight just as well. For example, last September, a high school student by the name of Derrion Albert was the victim of a sad combination of the words, unite and fight. He was sadly beaten to death by people of his own race. Derrion was black. I’m not saying that if he was beaten by another race it would have made it better, because we are all human beings that are biologically composed similarly; although, it does diminish the values and morals that our people have worked so hard to create. Essentially we must learn how to combine the two words positively.
Let us all stand together and respect one another. Don’t just attend parties; attend informative, culturally stimulating events that empower our diverse, great race that is black, brown, caramel, mocha, African American, whatever you may refer to yourself as being. We’ve made it thus far. Specifically, if you’re reading this you are most likely attending college; you have already done something that many never get a chance to do. You have power. Use it to influence our youth and encourage our adults to unite, not fight.
