What is the future if not that what we all wish for, but has not yet come? A dream. The past has already happened and we can’t change it. The past is too inflexible to be a dream. The present is so hectic sometimes we barley even realize we are in it. The present is too high paced to be enjoyed as a good dream. The future affects everything we do, as our dreams do.
The way we think about what has already happened depends a lot on what we think its affect will be after our time. What we say or do in the present depends constantly on how it will be perceived a week, a day, or a minute from the time we do the action. The future has no limits. No dream is too big for the future, and the minute it becomes too big, we associate it with the present. There is nothing more perfect in the society we live in than the future. However, with the power that perfection brings to any entity comes with it the challenge to make it more than a word and the responsibility to keep the dream breathing for all those that use it to keep gong themselves.
I have been asked to describe what I will do for the dream that we call the future, taking in to consideration the past. I answer this challenge the only way I know how, by looking at my situation and adding my dream of what could be better to the collective.
I look at the young American black male today and I see a social construct bought into by group of people that had very little say in the constructing. I see a house built and sold at a high cost, but the inhabitants never really got to decided whether or not they wanted to live there at that time. We, as black men, could be so much better then what we are. However, we must be careful because I am sure every generation look at themselves and hope the next generation would be better, we are no exception. The difference is control. Control over what we produce and the social image we project. Hip- hop started as an art to give expression to the oppression of those in the ethnic ghettos. My dream is that we return to our roots. I think I can contribute to a better future by supporting those artists that do return Hip-hop’s roots. I think I can contribute to a better future by my peers that are doing the right thing. In the discussion on Wednesday night there was much talk about the independence of the Black male. The funny thing about independence is that is never truly stands alone. It takes a group of thinkers to lead another group of thinkers in the right way. That is how communities and neighborhoods move, not necessarily one by one but one group of young men leading other young men in the right way. That is independence. My dream is that no matter what a young black decides to believe in, he is the source of that decision.
I think I can contribute to a better future by supporting a refocus on the family. Black men we have too often failed black women. We are immature and naive. We use our natural gifts for self gratification rather than service, and that is not God’s will. We are too often barbaric and too seldom compassionate. It is way past time that we replace the thug culture with a culture worth. It is way past the time that we allow our bodies to grow physical, but allow our biggest most productive organ, our brain, to shrivel up like a dream deferred. If I could contribute one thing directly to the future it would be a black man that some black women could bring home both to her mom and her best friend. A balck man that she could carry both to the bank and the night club. A balck man that both her boss and pastor could respect and be impressed by. A balck man amazing both when the door closes at night, and when the kids need to go to school in the morning. This is my dream.
My contribution to a better future will be a son who respects the life that God has blessed him with. It is my hope that I will raise a young man that is successful in school, respects his past but lives for the future. If there is one thing I could give my son to live on it would be that his life is not to be judged by what he made it, but rather the affect it had on his family, community, and society. If I could give anything to the future it would be that.
Black women you have too often disappointed balck men. As strong and intelligent as black women are, I think they often forget the line between strong and arrogant or the difference between intelligent and fool hardy. You sometimes take independence to extremes that no real man can accept (for if no man is an island currently women was into meant to live alone), and you overestimate the strength of even the strongest black man. My dream is for my God to bless me with a black woman that is not just the Queen of our house, but the Queen of my heart. This is my dream.
My contribution to a better future will be a daughter who respect herself and has reference for her Lord’s law above all else. I want to raise young lady that knows and is not afraid to show affection, but knows the limits of even her strongest desires. I want to inspirea young lady that submits her heart, but not her mind, to her husband when the time is right and raises black children that were a little more successful than those that gave them their name when she is ready. If I could give anything to the future it would be that.
What is the future if not that what we all wish for. I can hope all I want to, but no matter how small or easy to achieve, it takes a village to achieve a dream just as it does to raise a child. By adding my dream of what could be better to the collective, it is my hope as we work together to make that collective dream a reality we will make the future better.
BY D.W
