Imagine a man. He is well suited, drive nice cars, charismatic, and he has many followers. His words can be used to uplift or to divide or ultimately to get what he wants. Who is he? He could be a Preacher who inspires and ministers to his flock or he could just be a Pimp, who is all about his money and his hustle.
I'll just say this right now that most of my readers will not understand this phenomenon and connecting the dots can be very tricky. Most of you may not attend church regularly (or at all) and I may disclose more than a few dark secrets of the Black church, but these need to be brought out. There are plenty of Preachers out there who are doing the LORD's work and I have high esteem for them, but this is for those few Preachers with a Pimp's mindset and attitude. Let's try this simple rule: if a Preacher is offended by anything that I say next, you may be a PIMP in preacher's clothing.
I grew up in a legendary church for which I have not yet found an equal. The Pastor of that Church was above reproach and the church felt like family with soul and brotherhood. He was a true man of GOD, who also happened to love his cars, but his focus on the Church and making it the best it could be. This man baptized my sister and me and we are still connected to his family to this day even though he passed away almost a decade ago.
Since leaving that Church after an ugly change of leadership and its aftermath, I have found it very hard to look at Pastors and ministers the same way again. Usually the first thing that I hear is the Pastor say that infamous part of the Bible (Malachi 3:8) that brings up my shield instantly, "Will a Man rob GOD?" It is then when I look at the Pastor or minister's wife and ask myself is that hat more expensive than the suit that I am wearing and whether the church is thriving or are all the resources going to the Pastor and into his pocket. I swear that there are more Black churches than 7 Elevens because Pastors especially Pimp Pastors want to have his own church so he can be in charge and in control.
So now we get to the Pimps and let's run through the similarities. They both usually have nice cars, clothes, married nice looking women while single women cling to and are fascinated by them. They both have huge egos, demand attention, can speak well, want to control everything, and have the skill to manipulate especially if one is not properly armed to think for him or herself. One main difference is that a Pimp will say what be has to get what he wants. For the Pimp Preacher he will justify himself and quote any scripture he has to in order to add more money to the collection plate for his benefit, not the church's. You will usually see this in the form of one month long Pastor's Appreciation Services that a honest Preacher would conduct in one day or other schemes to have members compete to see who can raise the most money for the Preacher's benefit and not the church's.
Even the Holy Bible warns as such. Read Matthew 7:15 where Jesus says, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." In fact, you should probably read Matthew 7:15-23. The last thing I need to hear from Pimp Preacher is that GOD told HIM that I should put "X" dollars into the collection plate and by that action alone, I will be blessed. I'm not easily influenced and while I don't know my Bible as well as I should, I know how to check the source before I ever believe or follow a Pimp Preacher and I hope you now do too!
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
The Sum of All Fears... A Realistic Version
We as a nation have this notion that there is only one way to tell and view a story which is only through our own point of view. Our lives and our experiences are individual to us, the more diverse the people, the more diverse the experiences. In this melting pot of ours, there are so many experiences that are different from our own and this causes misconception, stereotypes, judgment and misunderstanding.
The movie The Sum of All Fears is based on a book by Tom Clancy and is a great piece of fiction. Without giving the movie away a group of terrorists try to push the United States and Russia to the brink of nuclear war by playing up their misconceptions, preconceived notions, and their fears about the other.
Allow me to present to you our real version of this story, the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial in the killing of Trevon Martin. We all know the dividing lines to start with. Just like the Russians and the United States in the movie, this real version majorialy deals with African Americans and "White America". There is nothing more "nuclear" here than the state of race in the United States and yes the fear is on both sides.
For African Americans (which I am one of) it is the unjust criminal justice system that sends mainly African American males to prison in a higher proportion than other racial groups, higher unemployment, a higher rate of single parent households mostly led by unmarried women, and by far a higher murder rate of young African American males committed by young African American males. We also have fewer opportunities for justice and it is usually unlikely that a white person will be found guilty of murdering an African American than the converse. When an unfair or what is considered an unjust verdict is made like in this case or the Oscar Grant murder case that happened in my hometown, protest and riots ensue. Now take note that most of these people who riot, made the choice to riot before they arrived at these said protests and the media is there because they as well as everyone else knows that this will happen. After all of the rioting and the civil disobedience is over, we (through the media,) have a conversation about race (like CNN just had this week) and some action happens, but somehow we return to the status quo, because once the passion of anger and outrage passes, we become numb and inactive to more young African American males being killed and we remain silent.
For White America, my best guess (which all I can do since I am not White) is that they perceive most African Americans mainly young African American males as threatening, not intelligent, and lazy. What doesn't help the situation are the assumptions made upon African Americans based of reality and daytime television that African Americans are in and the "hip-hop culture" of baggy pants, 20-24 inch rims (which I especially detest), men wanting to be hustlers, gangstas, wanna be pimps, professional athletes and rappers, and the belief that every African American male is this way. Just to let you know, we all not this way and while this is prevalent in the African American community, we as African Americans have a responsibility to do what I would like to call "family business" to take care of these idiots that give us real men a bad name.
Here's where the fear comes in. When a young man wearing a hoodie can't walk home without the fear of being shot and killed because of fear, stereotypes, and misjudgements that he was grouped into. While I wear a shirt and tie to work almost everyday, like President Barack Obama said, this could have been me while taking a morning jog on a cold day. While these judgments still exist, there are forces that continue to divide us, the media, which points and counterpoints to delirium and the extremists on both sides that have no common sense and want to tear down walls instead of building bridges of understanding.
This ending must be one similar to one portrayed in the movie. Both sides must back down from their fears of the other and in time we just may start to understand each other.
Oh and one final thing, ALL life is precious regardless of skin color. Whether it be in Florida, Chicago, Oakland, Colorado, or Connecticut the families of those departed have lost a child, a brother, a father, or a husband. They suffer with their loss and that pain never goes away. I just hope that your family don't have to endure what the Martin family is right now.
The movie The Sum of All Fears is based on a book by Tom Clancy and is a great piece of fiction. Without giving the movie away a group of terrorists try to push the United States and Russia to the brink of nuclear war by playing up their misconceptions, preconceived notions, and their fears about the other.
Allow me to present to you our real version of this story, the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial in the killing of Trevon Martin. We all know the dividing lines to start with. Just like the Russians and the United States in the movie, this real version majorialy deals with African Americans and "White America". There is nothing more "nuclear" here than the state of race in the United States and yes the fear is on both sides.
For African Americans (which I am one of) it is the unjust criminal justice system that sends mainly African American males to prison in a higher proportion than other racial groups, higher unemployment, a higher rate of single parent households mostly led by unmarried women, and by far a higher murder rate of young African American males committed by young African American males. We also have fewer opportunities for justice and it is usually unlikely that a white person will be found guilty of murdering an African American than the converse. When an unfair or what is considered an unjust verdict is made like in this case or the Oscar Grant murder case that happened in my hometown, protest and riots ensue. Now take note that most of these people who riot, made the choice to riot before they arrived at these said protests and the media is there because they as well as everyone else knows that this will happen. After all of the rioting and the civil disobedience is over, we (through the media,) have a conversation about race (like CNN just had this week) and some action happens, but somehow we return to the status quo, because once the passion of anger and outrage passes, we become numb and inactive to more young African American males being killed and we remain silent.
For White America, my best guess (which all I can do since I am not White) is that they perceive most African Americans mainly young African American males as threatening, not intelligent, and lazy. What doesn't help the situation are the assumptions made upon African Americans based of reality and daytime television that African Americans are in and the "hip-hop culture" of baggy pants, 20-24 inch rims (which I especially detest), men wanting to be hustlers, gangstas, wanna be pimps, professional athletes and rappers, and the belief that every African American male is this way. Just to let you know, we all not this way and while this is prevalent in the African American community, we as African Americans have a responsibility to do what I would like to call "family business" to take care of these idiots that give us real men a bad name.
Here's where the fear comes in. When a young man wearing a hoodie can't walk home without the fear of being shot and killed because of fear, stereotypes, and misjudgements that he was grouped into. While I wear a shirt and tie to work almost everyday, like President Barack Obama said, this could have been me while taking a morning jog on a cold day. While these judgments still exist, there are forces that continue to divide us, the media, which points and counterpoints to delirium and the extremists on both sides that have no common sense and want to tear down walls instead of building bridges of understanding.
This ending must be one similar to one portrayed in the movie. Both sides must back down from their fears of the other and in time we just may start to understand each other.
Oh and one final thing, ALL life is precious regardless of skin color. Whether it be in Florida, Chicago, Oakland, Colorado, or Connecticut the families of those departed have lost a child, a brother, a father, or a husband. They suffer with their loss and that pain never goes away. I just hope that your family don't have to endure what the Martin family is right now.
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