Greatness is a choice

Who are you not to be Great?

You, with the Appetite for Knowledge and the Humility of acceptance, crème de la crème of commonality, with the ambition of distinction and the power of imagination, who are you NOT to be Great?

Who are you to be ordinary?

You, who was destined to stand out, overachieve, compel, press! And coerce tradition. If you are here for a reason, who are you to be ordinary?

Who are you to be anonymous?

You, who wasn't born to be shy, quiet and self-conscious. YOU!  whose name should be respected, retained and spoken with reverent relevance. Humility is required in the presence of disdain, but be inescapable in the presence of obscurity, because who are you to be anonymous?

Who are you to be afraid?

You are fighting for your life, your purpose, and the ability to actualize your dreams and ideas, You, who've already conquered so much, you who've already won, has nothing to fear with failure fearing you, so who are you to be afraid?

Who are you to be a slave to the past?

You, who can control outcomes, create your path with unmitigated decisions

and rewrite history with diverse perception. It's you who's chosen this path and it's that path that has created the person today which makes you the Master of your fate, so who are you to be a slave to the past?

Who are you to deny Greatness?

If you would deny it to yourself, you deny it to the entire world.

"Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us."-Wilma Rudolph 

Greatness awaits

The Nothing-to-Lose Mentality

"I am society’s child. This is how they made me and now I’m sayin’ what’s on my mind and they don’t want that. This is what you made me, America."- Tupac



The History of African Americans will always be stained by the specter of marginalization in this country. In America, anyone who deviates in any perceived way from the norm of a population may become subject to coarse or subtle forms of social exclusion. The outcome of social exclusion is that affected individuals or communities are prevented from participating fully in the economic, social, and political life of the society in which they live. Material deprivation is the most common result of this exclusion. Ensuing poverty, emotional and psychological trauma, and its resulting diseases may result in catastrophic damage to lives, health, and psyche. The psyche being the most important to the case in point is the central topic of discussion. Marginalization has lead the black man to develop what I call; "the Nothing-to-Lose" mentality.

By no means does this specific train of thought discriminate, but the problem of social exclusion is that it's usually tied to that of equal opportunity, as some people are more subject to such exclusion than others and the 1st race that comes to mind when the subject of marginalization comes up is black people. The nothing to lose mentality, to define it at best includes, but not limited too; reckless actions with no worries of consequence, little or no conscience when making a decision or taking action. Convinced that death is the only way out of a given situation; back against the wall, and being the villain. The false empowerment philosophy created is coined "the code of the streets"; real niggaz do real things, don't snitch, don't let nobody talk shit on your set, get paid, don't get caught, don't give the cops shit, and never let'em see you sweat.

Another side effect from this mentality is the popularity of being rebellious against anything positive and winning the distinction of "not caring the most". Being emotionless or without empathy is the escape, it's how people with this mentality avoid expectation. Crime rates may reflect the fact that a growing number of black people do not feel valued in society or they need value to be perceived a certain way in society. Legitimate means are bypassed in favor of illegal ones. Crime is favored over the political system, community organization and religion. This mentality summarizes ones options too; God or guns, which is better protection.

"Well we hustle out of a sense of, hopelessness Sort of a desperation.... Through that desperation, we 'come addicted, Sorta like the fiends we accustomed to servin.. but we feel we have nothin to lose so we offer you, well... we offer our lives, right. What do you bring to the table?" Jay-Z

I've always said, "We are who we are because of the decisions we make in life". The 'nothing to lose' mentality is that of a selected many, it doesn't represent the collective. In the African American community, we tend to separate being black, from being a nigga, but it always comes in full circle when we threaten people with that side of us, which implies the two aren't separate at all, just suppressed. For the sake of this argument, lets actually separate the two. As a people, our decision making has evolved and the decisions we make now takes us out of our social public dichotomy. Sadly there will always be those who accept their current situation and base their existence and happiness on materialistic value. "Niggaz", have nothing to lose, nothing to talk about, nothing to love, nothing to live for, nothing to look forward too, and nothing to give. Black men have no idea what they're doing in today's society, but carry an ancient and eternal burden placed on them by Great people, men and women alike to uplift themselves and their community. We take this burden in stride accomplishing goals, bridging gaps, and pioneering in the 21st century. Black men listen, comprehend, observe, loves, teaches, guide, and inspires. In essence, niggaz are babies and becoming a black man or woman with 'Everything to Gain' should be the overarching goal.

Significant change is needed in terms of tackling underlying causes of why we make the decisions we make with no worry of consequence. A common phrase and thought process expressed to me on numerous occasions in regards to negative lifestyles is, "this is the Life i chose". A lifestyle that suggests the only way to get right is to do wrong. Society (and individual attitudes) continues to believe and convince itself that the attitude and lack of upward mobility is somehow inherent in African Americans themselves. The pressure put on black men to succeed in this social sphere is a heavy weight, a weight some of us choose not to carry, because there is no visible path to where this weight is lifted, so a typical rudimentary lifestyle is chosen, which of-course leads us to the common phrase implying no other way out: "this is the life i chose".

The stigmatization of black men based on stereotypes of group attributes highly impairs African-Americans to develop their talents and makes it extremely difficult to be successful in the eyes of mainstream America. I believe wholeheartedly that if we change our expectation or add to it, black men will rise to the occasion. Speaking from experience, I wasn't encouraged to go to college, because it wasn't expected of me. No one in my community chose that route, so I didn't see that path. In low-income communities, no one expects you to be great, just find a way to live your life and try to support other people who do great things. As I decided to step out of my realm of influence and comfort, i was deemed an outsider; "not like us". Upon Graduating from College, I changed the thought process of many. People in my direct circle were inspired by my path and aspired to accomplish something great. Greatness isn't accomplished overnight, as I continue to move towards it, the expectations for me and the people I care about has increased. The decisions I've made thus far, has given me everything to gain and nothing to take for granted. This is the Life I chose.

You can't compare the number of black men in College than in Prison.. don't debate me

Let's finally put to rest the notion that more black men are in prison than in College. If you wanted to compare, this statement still wouldn't be true in 2013. I'll explain why a lot of Black men aren't seen in College and why others aren't accounted for. The majority of African Americans from low-income communities have the want and need for higher education, but aren't properly educated on the steps to College Admission and Enrollment. The process for going to College doesn't start when you Graduate High School, it starts the 1st day of High School, but expectation is never established. The road to college is mapped out in a series of major steps. Each step encompasses certain processes including deadlines, exams, forms and applications, time management, and research and personal insight. The 1st step, which is to simply think about going to College is the most important step because it creates confusion and ambiguity. Critical questions arise, that in-turn lead to steps 2,3,4 and so forth. The main reason black men don't go to college is financial. There are those who get full scholarships and grants, but left are those who take out loans. Students coming straight out of High School who  have little or no Credit History will not be approved for the amount an Institution of Higher Education is requesting. A Co-signer will be required, the issue is that people living in low-income communities, don't trust other people living in low-income communities and feel someone's financial future is there own responsibility, even if they're family. A person's socioeconomic status will reveal inequities in access to resources, which leaves black men pretty much in dark.

To go to prison, no need to apply, they recruit. The notion that there is more black men in prison is irrelevant to the amount of black men in College. When you account for the amount of black men in prison, factors such as age and length of sentence should be taken into consideration, because College life can range from 2-10 years. Who exactly is being counted when you compare, because more black men Graduate College than are sentenced to prison.

According to the America Survey Group:

• A black male born in 1991 has a 29% chance of spending time in prison at some point in his life.
• Nearly one in three African American males aged 20–29 are under some form of criminal justice supervision whether imprisoned, jailed, on parole or probation.
• One out of nine African American men will be incarcerated between the ages of 20 and 34.
• Black males ages 30 to 34 have the highest incarceration rate of any race/ethnicity.

The American Council on Education states that; For nearly a decade, the statement: more black men are in prison than in College has been popular with those attempting to illustrate the plight of African-American males. It's a compelling statement. It's also untrue. The origin of this statement is a 2000 report from the Justice Policy Institute titled 'Cellblocks or Classrooms? The Funding of Higher Education and Corrections and Its Impact on African American Men'. The report found that more African-American males were under the jurisdiction of a federal, state, or local penal system (791,600) than were enrolled in higher education (603,032). The report attributed this sobering finding to increased state investment in corrections and decreased support for higher education throughout the 1980s and 90s.

Making the Difference by Ivory A. Toldson and Janks Morton;

First, it is time to retire the line, “There are more black men in jail than in college.” Not only is this statement untrue today, it undermines strategies to prepare, recruit, and retain black men in college. Most evidence suggests that the percent of black men in college, or college educated, and those in prison are so far apart socially, that to juxtapose one on the other is inherently absurd. In reality, college bound black males and black males at risk for incarceration typically have completely different emotional, social, and educational needs, and black community leaders should not confuse one with the other.

Efforts to increase black males’ participation in college involve: (1) improve counseling and advisement in predominately black grade schools; (2) mentorship and internships for first generation college students; (3) ensuring every high school has a college bound curriculum; (4) sponsor college tours; (5) support black male initiatives in college; and (6) advocate for funding for Pell Grants and needs-based scholarships, and universal access to public institutions of higher education and historically black colleges and universities. Efforts to reduce the number of black males in prison involve: (1) eliminate zero tolerance and excessive punitive measures in predominately black grade schools; (2) provide resources, such as mentoring and tutoring, for students with learning and behavioral disorders; (3) shift the focus of law enforcement toward violent crimes and away from nonviolent offenses; (4) eliminate racial inequities in charges, convictions and sentences; (5) reintroduce and strengthen prison-based educational and job training programs; and (6) advocate for sentencing reform, elimination of mandatory minimums, stopping the expansion of private, for-profit prisons, and eliminating excessive public expenditures on prison.

http://beyondthebricksproject.com/cellblock-vs-college-million-reasons-there-are-more-black-men-college-prison-and-why-more-work-needs

By using the larger contextualization of American culture to understand ourselves as individuals, the Black Student Union at Pace University explores the idea of what it means to be black.

2012-2013