Growing up, I had some of the best examples of Black Men to look up to. My Uncle Garry, the educated, smart, caring pastor who instilled in me the importance of sacrifice. He taught me how a Black Man should stand tall and walk. His son Scottie, the brave, smart, talented teacher who taught me that love is unconditional. He also encouraged me to be myself. Be the Black Man I was born to be. My Grandpa Jim, the old man we call Superman. The so called “old man” that served his country, serves the Lord, saved people from a fire and still has time to come home to his wife. He taught me how a Black Man should treat a women and how a Black Man should act. Finally My Papa, may he rest in peace. The Rev. Emmanuel Conway Leak who reminded me every time we talked how much he loved me but also how God is watching over me. He instilled faith in me. He was one of my biggest fans.

I grew up without a father. I needed those examples to help lead me in the correct direction. They knew their influence would be key in my life. There are thousands, millions even, little Black Boys growing up around the world. Many are growing up without a father or a good example of what the Black Male should be like. They have the media to look to for answers to their questions. The Stereotypical Black Male: Ghetto, uneducated, illiterate, saggy pants, dirty and most likely to fail. The media then goes farther and uses Drake and other African American Male Artist as our “Role Models”. Now don’t get it twisted. I love listening to “One Dance”, “Cut It” and “Chill Bill” every now and then. Let me ask this question though, can you tell me one good thing those songs promote about Black Men? What do they portray us as? Do we want to be portrayed as pigs who go shooting each other up?

This brings me to statement. Black Men all over the world hear me now. When did we become so distasteful? I look around every school day and see what some of you all are doing. I notice things around the community and I notice things around the world. When did it become okay to dismiss our rich culture and heritage? When did it become okay to put each other down? We used to be so united, we used to be Kings and now we’ve disbanded. We’re more separate than ever. Bloodshed has torn our kingdom apart. To top it all off, we’re being shot on the daily. One by one we die away going on the kingdom of Heaven leaving behind a mess and disarray.

I pondered and thought for a long time what I was going to say. I could have gone the easy route and stated simply what it’s like to be Black a Black Male in America. I could have simply said “It’s hard and racism exists.” Instead I want to take this time to be honest, to be direct and to educate. I wish we were more united. I wish we could be brothers again. I wish more and more of us recognized what is happening to us. My Black Brothers at LT, I wish you all would stand with me when I protest Hands Up Don’t Shoot or Black Lives Matter. There are days when it is just difficult. I see you all encouraging the word “nigga” when we all know what It really means. The word that should have been put out of our vernacular centuries ago. I see that Black Men around the community are not close with one another. The passion for our rich culture is gone.

Culture is passed down. The media has taken our culture and mixed it with all the bad in the world which brings me to this question I have a for anyone that isn’t Black: What do you think when you see us? Be honest with yourself. What is your first impression of a Black Male? Do you expect them to “talk Black”? Do you expect them to know a lot about basketball? When I was a student at The Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, I was often told that by people that they were surprised. They didn’t expect me to be so literate, so polite, so styled and so mature. They didn’t expect me to know my Classical Music because they probably thought I was too busy listening to Hip Hop Music. People of the world, your stereotypes and opinions hurt us. We may not show it to your face but deep down we aren’t

amused. I don’t like when people ask to touch my hair or tell me my lips are big. I know who I am and I’ve embraced my negro nose and my hair.

So Black Men of LT, LaGrange, local communities and the world, I challenge you. Embrace your culture. How so? 1. Be real. Jesse Williams, and actor and activist, stated at the BET Awards “Just because we’re magic, doesn’t mean we aren’t real”. Beat these stereotypes and stop encouraging folk to follow the culture promoted by the media. 2. Respect the Black Female. The Black Female is a queen. She is a Goddess. Before you look in the other direction, remember that a king needs a queen to be just as great. Finally 3. Love yourself. We are Black Men. We aren’t dirty, we aren’t trash, we aren’t ratchet. We are strong, we are confident, we are brave. We were born to be kings. Don’t let the white man bring you down.

Thank You.