Black History Month

Every year during Black History Month I get a little sad. I think about the status of black people in the world and I realize that for another year we are at the bottom of the food chain. Africa was and still is the richest nation in the world and somehow African's still live in unimaginable poverty.

I love being black (not that I had a choice lol!). The history, the culture, the stigma - all of it! You can say whatever you want about black people but you cannot deny, we are interesting and talented people. Did you know that the first surgeon to conduct heart surgery was black? Probably not. If I told you that the first rapper was black you look at me like I was dumb though and think "Obviously!".

Well why is it that as a black nation we do not promote all our achievements? (I don't know, I'm asking!) Why is it that it's only the negative parts that we promote? 

It's easy to blame it on the 'white man' but ladies have you ever gone to a hairdressers and heard anything other than "Shaniqua stole Monique's man!" and "Did you hear Ms. Charlene's boy got arrested last night?". Men, have you been chilling with your boys for a lengthy period of time without discussing someone that's been arrested or making illegal money? This obviously doesn't apply to everyone but you can't deny that the majority of conversation among black people promotes the negative, even if it is just by discussing it.

It saddens me that black people are seen so negatively by the rest of the world when we have so much good in us. Now I'm fully aware that we are no saints and that there is no smoke without fire, unfortunately I will be the first to admit that in the streets of London, where there's a crime there normally is a black person involved but is it just me or whenever a black person is involved in anything negative it just seems so much worse?

For example, Tiger Woods. Don't get me wrong, I do not condone his behaviour in any way, shape or form but is he the first celebrity to cheat on his wife? How many footballers and actors have been doing much worse? We all know that if his wife had been black we probably would have never heard about it (I'm just saying what all of you are thinking!). Do you remember when Usher came out with his "I'm a sex addict" cra... i mean 'problem'? Who cared? It was just black Chilli he'd cheated on, no paparazzi there. In fact I only knew about it because he made a whole album discussing it and the sales for that were legendary!

And this brings me to the other cause of my sadness - racism is not dead. If you think it is you're either not from an 'ethnic minority' (I hate that term!) or you live under a rock! 

As sad as this fact makes me, we as black people need to stop using the 'racism' card as an excuse to be lazy (yeah I said it!)! Too many black people complain about how hard it is to get a job and how hard it is to live in a predominantly white world etc. In what part of black history did you find the word 'easy'? Our race is built on hard work, endurance and survival so suck it up and do something constructive with yourself!

I few months back there was a programme on BBC called 'Welcome to Lagos'. BBC made a mockery of Nigerians and Facebook was rampant with jokes but I on the other hand had never been prouder of being a Nigerian in my life! There was a particular guy on the documentary who had a Agricultural Science degree but couldn't find a job anywhere (this is normal in such countries). He then went about explaining how he studied the meat market an noticed that all the animal blood was washed away so he came up with a scientific formula to turn the blood which was going to waste into farming by-products! Can you imagine!? This is what the black nation is built on, initiative, persistance and hard work!

In 1998 Tupac said "We ain't ready to see a black President" and now 12 years on we have one so doesn't that mean that the sky is the limit? We have black people in every field, male and female, and yes we do need to fight harder for these positions but isn't that what our ancestors faught for? Isn't that the whole point of celebrating Black History? 

The opportunities are there so take them, work hard at them, be the best at them and spread the word about them. Enough with the negativity already, let's start thinking, acting and talking positively so that the rest of the world can also speak positively about us.

The top of that food chain is wondering why we are taking so long ;- )