Over and over it plays— “wake up, everybody, no more sleeping in bed. No more backwards thinking, time for thinking ahead.” Every time I communicate with someone, thinking we might just be on the same level, the verse begins anew.
By someone, I mean, other Afrikan people. I swear there’s this switch that clicks on whenever someone tries to elevate their thinking.
Me: “So, girl, like I was telling you, it’s time for us to get together and open our own grocery stores, alterations shops, farmer’s markets, blah, blah, blah. I got a good book you might want to read about building our community.”
Other Afrikan person with chip employed: “Oooh, I don’t know ’bout that—reading makes my head hurt. And my money funny right now, anyway. I just got my hair did and was barely able to pay for my nails.”
So, OK, I don’t actually hang out with people whose only concern is how much hair they can buy and how much acrylic fumes they can stand. But I do know quite a few who think being broke is a Black badge of honor.
The reality is that too many of our people are cop-outs when it comes to growing Black what we lost. Yeah, I said growing “Black.” It’s like everybody partied too hard, drank too much, went to bed too late—everyone except me—and I’m now the only one up.
I know that ain’t so, because my husband feels exactly the same way, but when you don’t have anybody outside the two of you to grow Black with, it’s easy to become disillusioned.
Every now and then I meet another Afrikan outside of our little 2-person sphere, but that person always seems to be miles away—never in our immediate community. Now, that doesn’t mean we can’t work some things out, but—and there’s always a but in this world—that could prove to be similar to a long-distance relationship. When you need them to be there, they can’t be. And when they are, they can’t be for long.
What I do know, though, is that we have to find a way. A way to come together and get things rolling. I want to see a grocery store in my neighborhood that belongs to us, employs us and feeds us. I want to see all kinds of shops and businesses that are about the growth of Afrikans. Let’s make FUBU a real thang.
*wake up, everybody, no more sleeping in bed. no more backwards thinking, time for thinking ahead*
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