Personal Narrative: The Quintessential Black Man

I am writing to express my support for Tyresa Jackson in both her professional and academic endeavors. I first met Tyresa as a student worker for the Adult Men of Color Initiative (AMOC) at DePaul University’s, School for New Learning. In her role as a student worker, she served as the graduate research assistant, while there she demonstrated an innate ability to adhere to deadlines, compose short written pieces, and to extend herself beyond work hours by assisting in information sessions for AMOC.

African American males who live in poverty are the most vulnerable and oppressed population in society. Since the first slave ship set sail from Africa with hundreds of Blacks in tow headed to America, black have endured the worst treatment of any one individual race in America. Slavery lasted over three hundred years and has been illegal since 1865. However the underlying effects of slavery continue to plague Black males in society. In our modern day society there are still underlying racial injustices. Black males are racially oppressed in educational setting as they have the lowest high school graduation rates than that of any other race. Black males are racially profiled by law enforcement and are represented in prisons and jails than their white counterparts. Once Black males have paid their debts to society, their criminal records place them at higher risk of becoming underemployed or unemployed. If the American Dream is promise to all U.S. citizens then structural changes are needed to assure their survival. I believe empowering Black males using the Strength Based Perspective helps to identify individual, family and personal strengths in effective problem solving and application of the Critical Race Theory helps practitioners to understand the core issues of oppressive barriers throughout the lifespan.

This article climbs into the struggle of young black males. Many issues that are recurring such as early school dropout, delinquency, poverty, unemployment, incarceration, fatherless, and they don’t have much of a chance to lead a successful life. Most black males are set up to fail at this rate and all this leads to a need to develop interventions to save those lost lives of the young black communities.

The institutionalized social imagery of the Black community is not a positive one. Holistically, “mental pictures, stereotypes, and fake histories,” have created, “...social domination, economic exploitation, and political disenfranchisement,” of racialized groups-shaping their norms into hardships that displace the victims further away from self-actualization and upward social mobility. A tremendous amount of Black males are not meeting their academic potential or cultural dispositions because of the social imagery behind the Black male archetype. The preconceived perceptions prohibit Blacks from partaking in sufficient schooling, further hindering their success rate of competing in an ‘increasingly global market.’ Without this involvement, exclusion from the American social, economical, and political mainstream occur.

Many problems are facing African American males. Few people are knowledgeable of the disparity between African American males and females as it relates to incarceration, homicide, suicide, alcoholism, and many other ailments (p. 9).

In both the past and modern times, black people in America have been in danger from our society, but not all agree upon the proper response to this danger. It is obvious that black people in America have faced racial discrimination from both authorities and regular people in the past, but this danger continues into the present. Although it is agreed that this danger exists and needs a response, not all black men agree upon the actions that should be taken in this response.

I'm so tired of black men making it seem as they can disrespect black women , but they have a BLACK mother that'll love them till the end . Black men these days sicken me by their videos of how black women act , smart comments , and mistreating black girls just because they're black. This generation of black men are just scared that a black women can be independent by herself and do what she needs to . No black women is going to let someone disrespect her in any kind of way , because we know that we're goddesses that deserve way more then to deal with BS from a little boy that knows he doesn't have the balls to handle that women

Researchers concluded from the interviews that Black men face the realities that they do because they are treated and seen as a problem across wider society. One of the interviewers mentioned how “Black men are always under

Society has outlined supposedly what it means to be a black man for us, causing several inner conflicts. Suggesting that Black men are hypersexual, violent and incapable of healthily expressing anything other than rage and anger. Showing anything other than these societal norms, are seen as “feminine” and critiques the idea of manhood. Black masculinity is an internal bondage device that destroys the self-expression and self-worth of Black men, ultimately altering how they interact with others.

I woke up, dazed, taking in my surroundings. I was in some sort of white room with a security camera and a shiny black wall. Glass, maybe? Bang! The door to the room closed, drawing my attention. An African American man in a black suit was standing there. When had he entered the room? I couldn’t remember anyone coming in.

Left, right, left right left! Eight states - in which you absolutely love or simply just hate- two elementary schools, five middle schools, and three high schools all throughout my childhood. At times I could not actually tell individuals where I’m from or even tell them who I truly was as a person. Having those moments where you never understood why you had to leave those friends that you created such a strong bond with. It doesn’t hit you until years that it’s just not society that emerges throughout life: it’s our allies that develops and matures, as do ourselves, and our tie with those friends (Flinn, J., 2004). I finally understand how moving every eighteen months has influenced my scope on society as a whole. It shows how “sites undergo

America has seen many civil rights movements. Yet, Americans cannot say that every race has gotten the civil rights many races have fought for. African American’s, in particular, have had a very hard time in America. On average a black job seeker must put in 15 applications to get a call back while whites only have to put in 10. This alone shows that America has not moved as far forward in civil and racial rights as some would like to think. To top that, African AMerican women are stereotyped and Sexualized. Due to the color of their skin, they are forced into a society who sees them for nothing more than sex and a “nice body”. Black women have to fight so much harder to live happily in American society due to the stereotypes that hang over their heads everyday. Not only are the stereotyped and sexualized, the tend to be forced into more promiscuous jobs, such as stripping or prostitution. Roughly 75 percent of the prostitution population, in Chicago alone, are black females. While 55 percent are young children, primarily young girls. Black are thrown into gangs and sex crimes due to the way they were shown how to live. They were not integrated into society as they should have been. Thus, showing that America has not come very far in Civil and racial rights.

Meanwhile, Men of Impact focus on the concept always being determined and staying focus while loving yourself which is necessary because “Black Americans are reared in a culture that discounts black brilliance. When we excel, we are exceptional; if we fail, we are proof of inferiority.”

And turning them into pillars of success, for if they see us being what they thought we couldn’t be then they’ll have to start changing perspectives of us. With both of those in effect, I believe without a shadow of a doubt that we can see a lower rate of black male incarceration. And I don’t know about you, but it hearts my soul to see another black man get his life thrown away…regardless of the reason. So I will be that guiding light for as many young black men I see, and I will show them that regardless of your background you can succeed and not throw away your life. Additionally, I will do what I can to reform the justice system. I will do my part to vote and transform the system from the outside. And these are my actions, not as an Alpha, but as a black man. But as an Alpha, I look around at my brothers and I see nothing but success…from all kinds of backgrounds…through all kinds of trials and tribulations. And so I think that if we all exist why can’t we make sure that these young black men have the same chance to succeed. And there is no doubt in my mind why any of my brothers feel the same

What do I stand for, I stand for opportunity. As a black person, living in the united states, for some reason you are always inferior to the other races in America. You always have to work ten times harder, to prove that you are just as good, or better. Its good to have role models like jay-z, diddy, and dr.dre that you can do any thing that is possible. But , people like ben carson or president Obama are more inspirational to me. These men actually wen to college, to get an education. They are wildly successful in there own right. This should let young black men know that you have a bright future a head of you. You just have ti know, bow to choos your battles wisly. Once you have a plan A make sure that if plan A doesn’t work out make dure