The Heart of Rachel Jeantel
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- Category: Blogs
- Published: Saturday, 29 June 2013 01:34
Okay so here I go....
Yesterday as many of you know, I was extremely aggravated about some of the negative comments being said about Rachel Jeantel. Honestly, I was more angry that it was my own black family that chose to be racist against someone of our OWN RACE.
Many people are missing the BIG PICTURE. We are quick to criticize yet we won't open our eyes to realize our image and race are being soured like milk in the hot summer sun. The sad thing is that we are numb to the perversions that are leading to the DESTRUCTION of "US".
Ms. Jeantel gave us a raw yet truthful image of herself that was very simply a PRODUCT OF ENVIRONMENT. Understand that her Haitian culture has NOTHING to do with the bobbing of her head and attitude. It can possibly be attributed to her everyday surroundings, environment and people.
Time to hit some nerves. It seems more of us were apt to be overly critical of Ms. Jeantel. Yet almost every night reality TV paints a picture of the black race and black women in general of being;
Combative
Conniving
Deceitful
Promiscuous
Lazy
Money Hungry
and the list goes on and on. Yet you don't see people in a
uproar when you see supposed "black socialites" fighting like grown men or using language that would make a sailor cringe. Nor do we criticize their non-etiquette or mishaps. What you see is people by the millions tuning in to help raise network ratings and help make these people stars for acting trashy. Guess what, you, like other loving fans all condone it!
The point is we are letting the media not only TRAIN & CONDITION "US", but also our "YOUTH" and most of all it suggest to the "WORLD" that such behavior is the norm for our people. Think about this, when you CONSTANTLY feed people negative thoughts and reinforce their negative images, it's really hard to change their negative PERCEPTIONS.
The truth is that in some of our homes parents aren't raising their kids, but you better believe Nene, Shay and others are raising them and giving them some kind of image lessons, (scary).
It is not all about the media, either. We have to take responsibility and accept that we have FAILED and have broken the dreams of so many who fought and died in the eras of racial turbulence and inequality so we would not be looked upon as animals. Yet here we are, complacent, like lamb led to the slaughter.
We need to accept that WE are FAILING. We are failing to hold our politicians accountable, failing to make the education system accountable, failing to make our communities stronger. We are failing to set a prosperous future for our children, and finally we are failing miserably to uphold EACH OTHER!
Understand that a DIVIDED RACE cannot possibly hope to prosper & survive, and when we turn on each other, ask yourself, 'What are we really saying about us?'
Yes, it's no denying that what we all saw from Ms. Jeantel was embarrassing. Have you thought that it may feel embarrassing because she displayed to the WORLD a raw but real image, that we feel is all right in the "hood" around "our" people but never should anyone else see it because it's going to cast our race in a negative light? (We are our own worse critics and enemies.)
Maybe, it should be looked at in a positive manner because it's a WAKE UP CALL that's clearly showing that we as a race need to reach out and help each other grow and "be better" than what others think and assume we are.
I personally commend Ms. Jeantel. For two grueling days she stood her ground against some very hard cross examination and she fought the best way she could and the only way she knew. Her heart, her image, her vocabulary, her presence was truly REAL not a REALITY SHOW.
Understand she was the LAST person to speak to Trayvon Martin and that will be with her always. What she displayed in strength was something that many could never say they have.
So maybe it's time to stop the insane "Willie Lynch" mentality of tearing each other down and focusing on criticizing each other negatively and quit acting surprised/angry because we already KNEW that there was a problem in our race!
Instead seek to open dialogue, uplift and then find the cure to making us whole again and let us recapture our lost potential of greatness.
Peace, E.L