I was a career day speaker at a Chicago Public School last year. This year I was disinvited.
Mr. Sims,
We would like to thank you for dedicating your time to this year's career day. Unfortunately due to the nature of the content that you presented to our young warriors last year, we are going to decline your request to present at this year's career day.
We hope you understand.
I agree the content of my presentation is a bit much for your students, and for most African Americans in general. I know I'm like a Black Power-Race Man from the 1970's. Also understand it is sometimes not what you say but how, when, and where you say it.
However, someone has to be the "bad cop", and tell young African Americans about the challenges they will face as adults. The talented tenth, the Black Bourgeoisie, and the pseudo bourgeoisie, cannot, will not, or are afraid to tell young African Africans the truth!
Here the truth; integration, assimilation, consumerism, deindustrialization, ignorance, selfishness, and self-hatred has rendered the African American community to Humpty Dumpty status.
You also know the truth! Only 8% of CPS students will obtain a four year college degree by their mid twenties. 70% of African American children are born out of wed lock. 70% of African American women are single. The list of challenges for African American men, women and children goes on and on in this "post racial" society.
As a people, African Americans will be around, but as a people we will be irrelevant. So the challenge for young African Americans is to figure out how
successful can they be as an individual. Young African Americans will, like all African Americans have, consciously or unconsciously make the choice to how much they will integrate and assimilate into the American main stream society. The choice is to become homogenized or to be marginalized.
I made the choice to tell truth and became marginalized.
Marc Sims
Chicago
http://marcsims.blogspot.com/
I believe, as I suspect most people do, that the potential for change among human beings is virtually limitless. But I also believe----- and my work on this book has strengthened this belief---- that it takes a truly exceptional person to transcend his or her social environment and that we are shaped (and limited) by our backgrounds and by the thinking of our generation more than we know or are comfortable admitting, even to ourselves.
Ellis Cose
The End of Anger
