Universally Speaking
Rahim Islam
Rahim Islam is a National Speaker and Writer, Convener of Philadelphia Community of Leaders, and President/CEO of Universal Companies, a community development and education management company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Follow Rahim Islam on FaceBook(Rahim Islam) & Twitter (@RahimIslamUC)
It’s very clear to me that the Black man has an invisible target on his back and that target makes him subject to every negative issue facing humanity today.
It’s equally clear that this isn’t a new phenomenon but a historical fact that too many of our fathers inherited the psychological trauma (pain) of the enslavement of our ancestors which is deeply buried in poverty and maintained through a flawed socialization process.
This combination has contributed to a significantly high proportion of male abandonment within the black community (in many of our large cities, 7 out of 10 children live in single, female headed households).
This abandonment, not only makes escape from poverty more problematic and nearly impossible, but the inherited trauma coupled with an extremely hostile environment (physical, emotional, and psychological) communicates black inferiority (trauma) to our Black boys from the moment they are born until the day they die.
If one doesn’t recognize this trauma and the impact it has on one’s life and seek help, he will/ must likely self-medicate (use of drugs and alcohol). This pent-up anxiety will be addressed one way or another, either through self-medication or through a flawed socialization process that suppresses the trauma and denies use of any/all much needed coping skills.
This type of trauma, which comes in so many forms, creates a higher propensity towards drug and alcohol addiction (self medicating) and negative social behavior and this cycle is repeated with every generation.
I contend that too many of our Black boys are absolutely defenseless against an environment that is so hostile towards them which is further exasperated by unstable families and a male socialization process that passes down the trauma, hurt, and legacy of the enslavement of our ancestors.
I asked you what does the average Black child living at or near poverty see on a daily basis, he sees a heavy dose of pain and despair (trauma) and he is fed a heavy dose of projected psychological abuse (trauma). Collectively, this represents his environment. What messages are being communicated to the mind of that Black child that will help shape his perception of himself and allow him to cope and excel?
Forget about what we, as parents, tell them. What children really learn is what they see, hear and feel from the external stimuli.
Scientist has described a portion of the brain called the “frontal cortex” which serves two key functions: 1) calculate, quantify, compute, and cognitive and 2) defend and protect the person from external negative and harmful images and messages that have the ability to compromise and weaken his good ego (I call it the psychological immune system).
This part of the brain can only do one thing well.
For too many of our Black boys, this function of the frontal cortex has to work overtime defending against the many negative images which compromises their cognitive ability and their calculating skills suffer. The negative images and message are a CONSTANT for our Black boys.
Let’s examine what I mean by environment. I mean a composite of the key surroundings that help to define and ultimately create the man (the emotional and mental womb). One of my great teachers taught me that “man means mind.”
That man is a creature of emotions, ideas, messages, images, and thoughts derived from his surroundings (environment). As they say, you are what you eat. A man is also what he thinks and what we think is a by-product of our environment.
Let me unpack the environment so you can get a better understanding of what I’m trying to communicate to you.
Family, school, neighborhood, media (television, radio, movies, and newspapers), church (religion), language, commerce and business (ownership), and culture (group expectations and beliefs)” all of these represent the environment that helps to shape the mind of a child and reinforces the beliefs of adults.
Obviously, I can’t speak about all of them, but I will touch on a few environment examples.
In addition to our socialization processes perpetuating black inferiority and white supremacy as a legacy of the enslavement of our ancestors (this is the worst form of trauma), too many of our families live in poverty.
The environment of poverty is crippling especially when one’s culture is compromised by low expectations, indecency and a propensity to live in the lowest levels of our humanity (i.e. sex, self absorption, etc.). I believe that our culture has been hijacked in the worst way because poverty didn’t mean that we didn’t strive for excellence.
Today, while sometimes exaggerated and promoted by an unfair media and many times with no counter, there appears to be too much attention being placed on ignorance and abnormal behavior within the Black culture which can be clearly seen in our music and our language. Hardcore rap music and its derivatives that promote indecency, lewd behavior, and demeans our women was replaced by rhythm and blues music that primarily promoted working hard to overcome our social conditions and reflected the beauty and struggle of love and togetherness between man and woman.
Some say, that today’s so-called art is only a reflection of what the artist sees; therefore he can promote the filth seen in society.
I say, and those of past generations believed, that art should be a reflection of what could be. It should push humanity to its highest heights and not to the lowest lows.
Art should be uplifting and encouraging and should be the milestone by which we measure social development.
This will ensure that our culture remains active, energized, creative, and relevant.
I also believe that language is a factor and a big part of one’s environment and unfortunately, like most of the Black world, we speak a foreign language. For all of the Africans that live outside of Africa (i.e. North and South America, Caribbean), our language is not ours (i.e. English, Spanish, French, etc.).
This is understandable given that the majority of us were brought to these places as a captive people and over time, we lost our native language and adopted these foreign languages (I know many of us don’t believe this, but this is fact, English was not our native language). Unfortunately, through the colonization of our motherland, Africa, many African countries also have an “official” language that is not their native tongue.
There is a consequence for this.
Why, during the enslavement of our ancestors, over a period of time, was our native language removed?
This was purposeful and orchestrated for many reasons.
The fact of the matter is that it was done because within our language is our history, our pride and our culture.
Let me fill you in on a little secret: The English language doesn’t empower Black people.
In fact, it’s just the opposite.
Within the English language, there are nearly 150 “commonly” used words that convey negative connotations about black.
Remember that man means mind and words make man.
These words and this language can be perceived as hostile, especially to the Black child. What is being communicated to our babies when they hear these words (without explanation) on an ongoing basis?
Many of these words have a negative meaning and/or history (i.e. black baby is frowned upon; black cloud is trouble looming; black cat is bad luck; black devil is extremely mean person, etc.).
It’s not enough that there are so many “black” words with a negative connotation, there are too many words in the English vocabulary that have a positive connotation for white.
While all of this is troubling, nothing is more troubling than how we have allowed the use of the “N” word to become commonplace.
We have allowed our culture to romanticize the use of the “N” word, not knowing that this word carries and masks the real pain of our past and the inherent inferiority that this word historically has conveyed.
Therefore, language, as an environmental factor, continues to wreak trauma (invisible) on the Black man.
Poverty, in itself, is extremely traumatizing to both adults and their children and when nearly two-thirds of Black families and their children live in or near poverty, this alone is cause for alarm because the large-scale impact has exponential psychological and emotional ramifications (poverty squared).
Extreme poverty creates a significant level of despair and hopelessness which manifests in one’s culture.
It also manifests itself in living conditions” too many of our children live in substandard housing and substandard neighborhoods (blighted neighborhoods).
Part 2 of this article will be continued next week.
