One of the first things you can do is use your critical thinking skills to determine the validity and usefulness of what you listen to read or watch on TV as well as the internet. Don’t just settle for the entertainment aspect. As a conscious person, ask yourself what the benefit is to listening or watching certain material. Remember: “Garbage in, garbage out.” If we are getting a daily mega-dose of nonsense, of falsehoods, of non-educational clap-trap and slap-stick, it’s no wonder we are so far behind in serious aspects of economic empowerment. It’s no wonder we seldom follow through with initiatives that will make us stronger, as individuals and as a collective. In case you didn’t know, as Booker T. Washington once said, “There are some Negroes who don’t want the patient to get well.” They want us to remain psychologically crippled to keep us dancing to their beat and buy what they are selling. They want us to keep on bobbing our heads and shuffling our feet and guffawing throughout the day, oblivious to our plight and totally without a clue as to how to fix it. Thus, we get a barrage of jokes, self-deprecating comedy, and exploitation on television. We are on the receiving end of mindless “beats” that are pounded into our brains by 1200 watt speakers in the backseats of our cars. We are fed some of the most useless rhetoric, much of which is not even factual, by brothers and sisters on the radio who obviously have no idea what they are talking about. And, as we read our Black newspapers, we are ensconced in a lifelong dream of hitting the number, getting psychic readings, or checking our horoscopes before we make a move. I Am G.O.N.E.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 18:11:04 +0000