Modern times usually call for modern thinking. When we are thinking in these “modern” times” we need to realize that there exist time honored traditions and beliefs that have maintained us as other modern times became antiquated.
There is really nothing new under the sun, except for lives. Lives that were created in times that are to them now antiquated, old, and past. These new lives seem to embrace in their minds that somehow whatever it is that they have “discovered” is new and refreshing. Their hairstyles are new, their clothes are new and of course they came up with it in their generation. They even seem to believe that times are vastly different from the times of their forefathers.
There is no doubt that significant progress is made daily in the realm of technology and invention. Truly things exist that have made our lives easier or harder. This will depend on your age and perspective. The hardest thing to come by originally is a thought. I have been waiting for all of my adult life to have an original significant thought that I may offer to the world. This is my greatest desire to date.
You see there is truly not much new under the sun. All of these things have been recycled and sold at a higher price as new. Skinny jeans were once called Chic’s. Mohawks go back to the days when Native American stilled owned ALL of their country, Sneaking out the house to be with her or him was something your parents did before you. Some of you are here because of it! These rappers blinging is just a repackaged form of the beginning of rap. I am recently seeing rappers with untied shoe laces. Anyone ever heard of Run-D-MC?
All of this is to get to this point. We must remember and embrace our traditions and beliefs. We have to get away from our increased divestiture of our core belief system. Somehow it is not OK anymore for all of the adults in our community to correct a child. We hate the nosy old lady on the corner. You know the one that everyone knew watched the neighborhood and under whose watch nothing bad happened to the hood. We no longer send our kids to their friend’s church. Bible school during the day went away. Granny stopped being an integral part of raising the children; most don’t even want to be called Granny! Grandpa is too afraid to sit outside the house and watch what goes on in the hood. Our kids no longer can leave the yard because the whole hood isn’t watching them.
I used to be able to walk over to Brother McGowan’s house with my granny and discuss any issues she had in her area of town. Most of you know him as Councilman McGowan. Our young ladies used to have some semblance of shame for the things that were improper, now it aint nobodies damn business what I wear and do. We used to be a village instead of our own little town at our individual addresses. What happened ya’ll?
It was once that you didn’t want to embarrass your people, you wanted to finish school and gone on(as my grandmother used to say). We used to build communities that we never wanted to leave. Our children would buy homes close to us and their children would go to their schools and have the same teachers that taught you. Those communities have diminished so much that most HISD schools have dropped to 4A and we, me included, have run to the burbs. Going to the burbs is not my shame. My shame comes from asking if I did enough off of Collingsworth to make my grandparents traditions and beliefs my own or did I just run away and compartmentalize my kids from them as well? I start with me...I have to give back more ya’ll, what about you?
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