THE PAST MEETS THE PRESENT TO CHANGE THE FUTURE
You know a lot has happened in the world in the last 40 years but the more things change, the more we continue to share in common. There has been a lot of talk about this Generation which I am a part of, not taking responsibility like the Generations before us. There has been a lot of talk about this Generation better known as the Hip-Hop Generation or Generation X not doing as much as the Civil Rights Generation or the Baby Boomers Generation to impact this world. However I beg to differ. We have done our share of great and positive things to help impact this world just as much as the Generations before us. While our progress probably will never be seen as impactful in the eyes of those who have come before us, it is just as memorable and symbolic to us as the progress of those Generations before us have made.
However how soon do we forget that the history of the Hip Hop Generation/Generation X has not yet been written in its entirety yet and while we can easily look back now to see the impact of the Civil Rights Rights/Baby Boomers Generation, it was not too long ago that those Generations place in history was not written in its entirety either. Therefore both Generations have been criticized by not only our elders but by the masses at some point for either not doing enough or ruining the quote unquote progress America and the world was making. So I am here to share with us the reality of the matter so that we can understand just how far we have come as a nation, as a people and as Generations.
While many in my Generation probably didn’t participate or know of anyone who participated in WWI, WWII, Vietnam or the Korean War but we did participate and know of many who participated in the first Gulf War and the two wars currently being fought today in Iraq and Afghanistan. While my Generation doesn’t know how it feels to have dogs attack them, water hoses being blasted at them, or belly clubs connecting with their heads as you all stood in peaceful demonstration lines. My Generation does know how it feels to be pulled over for DWB (driving while black), stopped for WWB (walking while black) and we know how it feels to be attacked by gangs for simply having the wrong color on in certain parts of urban cities. While my Generation does not know about having a cross burned in their yard but we do know about bullets being sprayed into our house in drive bys that take place on our blocks.
While my Generation didn’t experience the March on Washington or the Selma March, we did experience the Million Man & Family March in DC as well as the Jena 6 March. While my Generation didn’t experience the poll tax at voting booths, we still have to fight for our rights at the voting booth just as much as your Generation did back then because the right to vote is not granted to all as it should be. While my Generation didn’t experience the “I Have A Dream” speech, we did experience the “Yes We Can” speech. While my Generation didn’t have the opportunity to hear the likes of Malcolm X in person, we did have the opportunity to hear the likes of Tupac Shakur.
While your Generation experienced the deaths of JFK and his brother Bobby, my Generation had to deal with the deaths of Princess Diana and JFK Jr. While the Civil Rights Generation lost its great north and south leaders in Malcolm X and MLK, we the Hip-Hop Generation lost our great west and east ambassadors in Tupac and Biggie. It is these moments in life and death that define the strength of our Generations to show that a movement can be defined by its symbolic figures but it is bigger than the heads of Generations and larger than the stature of any human being born out of our perspective Generations.
While your Generation fought to end separate but equal and Jim Crow laws. My Generation is fighting to keep Brown vs. Board and Affirmative Action alive in well for not just the 21st century but centuries to come. My Generation might not have experienced racism outright like your Generation but we are still experiencing undercover racism which might be a little bit harder to fight than what you all experienced. While your Generation saw and heard about the beginning of Apartheid in South Africa, my Generation was able to experience with you the ending of Apartheid in South Africa which culminated with the countries election of its first black president Nelson Mandela in 1994.
Our Generations have experienced so much together as well as separately. While we can agree about things being given to my Generation, we can’t deny the progress my Generation has contributed to in this society. Like the Generations before us, my Generation has helped to create movements like the “Stop the Genocide in Sudan” movement that was launched by college students before other organizations picked up on it. Our Generations have shared so much but we still debate about who has done what and who hasn’t. While my Generation has not done as much as the Generations before us, we still have time though.
My Generation might have more resources at our disposal than Generations before us but all that means is we have more responsibility and a better opportunity to make sure we bring our message to as many people as we can at a faster rate than Generations before us. My Generation has the technology resources that those Generations before us never had and with those resources, we are using it to connect with people hundreds of thousands or millions of miles away in order to make them aware of things taking place in towns like Jena, Louisana. My Generation might not have had to deal with the same things of those Generations before us but we have just as much pressure on our plates as our predecessors.
My Generation has seen the impact of single parent homes (mothers wanting to be young like their daughters, absentee fathers), drugs being sold in schools, gang violence at an all time high, gun violence rapidly increasing, a failing world economy, high unemployment rates, and diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, etc. increasing at a faster rate than the birth rate of the world. My Generation faces a higher poverty and famine rate than any other Generation before us even with all the technology at our disposal.
However despite all of that, our Generations have found ways to make history together. We made history together on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 as we elected the first African American President in America’s history. It was a culmination of the “I Have A Dream” speech meeting the “Yes We Can” speech and creating an opportunity for our future to have a “Yes We Have A Dream” speech. Our Generations have stood together time and time again to face adversity and create opportunity.
The Hip-Hop Generation/Generation X is just meeting the tasks that Generations before us like the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation had to meet. All Generations have had to face challenges, have had to overcome obstacles on the way to the mountaintop but like the Generations before my Generation, it is not about the obstacles and challenges that we have faced or will face that will define how history writes about us but it is how we overcome such adversity to succeed in changing the course of history that will define us in history.
This is the moment when the past meets the present to change the future forever. This is the moment when the Hip-Hop Generation and Generation X finally gets acceptance from the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation. This is the moment that we have all been waiting for and never knew would be possible until this defining moment that was born on a January night in Iowa when the torch of leadership from the Civil Rights Generation was beginning to get passed to the Hip-Hop Generation. It is out of that moment that “A Dream” was starting to become completed.
This is when the past meets the present to make the future a whole lot better than previous futures that soon enough became our past and our present. We cannot get caught up in the mistakes where past Generations before us failed which was in holding on to leadership too long that ultimately it damaged the progress of the movement and left a void that is now finally starting to become whole again. This moment is not about who did what or who will do what but it is about how we did what and how we all did what to make “I Have A Dream” and “Yes We Can” more than just words but a reality.
Our Generations finally come together like never before to fight so much that plagues us, divides us and haunts not only our present but our future. It is the merging of two big powerhouses into one to create perhaps the greatest political, social activism and policy making machine known to humankind. This is greater than the Roman and Greek Empires because the unification of the Hip-Hip Generation and Generation X with the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation is something that many in our society have feared for years.
They would rather see us divided and fighting each other on frivolous things such as baggy/sagging pants than to actually coming together to show respect to one another as we all share leadership and perhaps the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation grooming those in my Generation to be the next leaders, something that wasn’t done for the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation. This is the beginning of a brighter future for the Generations to follow mine.
It is when we support each other, challenge each other intellectually, and respect each other physically, socially, mentally, economically and spiritually that we not only define our own history and how our perspective Generations will be viewed but we re-define each other’s Generation and how history will view our Generations for years to come. The past meets the present for the first time to re-define and change the future of not only America but the world and we can only do that by working together by creating new seats at the tables of leadership for each other’s Generations.
The Hip-Hop Generation and Generation X need to make room at our tables for the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation so that we can teach them a couple of things and learn a couple of things from them as well. The Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation need to make room at their tables for the Hip-Hop Generation and Generation X so that they can learn as well as adjust to the changing of the times in terms of technology. The Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation need to welcome with open arms as well as greet new blood and energy into the fold of social activism unlike the type of reception that many of them received when they tried to get involved in the civil rights movement during the period of 1950-1970. However the Hip-Hop Generation and Generation X need to come to the table humbly and respectfully meaning we shouldn’t be forcing the Generations before us leadership out the door but rather we should think about assigning them to different advisory tasks so that they are still involved in the movement.
The past meeting the present is not an easy thing but as long as both sides come to the table with an open mind set than the possibilities of creating opportunities and a better future for the Generations to follow my Generation is greater than ever before. This is OUR MOMENT. This is OUR TIME. This is what we have talked about. This is what we have wanted. We are what we have been waiting for. WE ARE CHANGE. WE ARE THE FUTURE. WE HOLD THE POWER TO ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES.
THIS IS THE GREATEST MERGER EVER because this is when the PAST meets the PRESENT to CHANGE the FUTURE.
However how soon do we forget that the history of the Hip Hop Generation/Generation X has not yet been written in its entirety yet and while we can easily look back now to see the impact of the Civil Rights Rights/Baby Boomers Generation, it was not too long ago that those Generations place in history was not written in its entirety either. Therefore both Generations have been criticized by not only our elders but by the masses at some point for either not doing enough or ruining the quote unquote progress America and the world was making. So I am here to share with us the reality of the matter so that we can understand just how far we have come as a nation, as a people and as Generations.
While many in my Generation probably didn’t participate or know of anyone who participated in WWI, WWII, Vietnam or the Korean War but we did participate and know of many who participated in the first Gulf War and the two wars currently being fought today in Iraq and Afghanistan. While my Generation doesn’t know how it feels to have dogs attack them, water hoses being blasted at them, or belly clubs connecting with their heads as you all stood in peaceful demonstration lines. My Generation does know how it feels to be pulled over for DWB (driving while black), stopped for WWB (walking while black) and we know how it feels to be attacked by gangs for simply having the wrong color on in certain parts of urban cities. While my Generation does not know about having a cross burned in their yard but we do know about bullets being sprayed into our house in drive bys that take place on our blocks.
While my Generation didn’t experience the March on Washington or the Selma March, we did experience the Million Man & Family March in DC as well as the Jena 6 March. While my Generation didn’t experience the poll tax at voting booths, we still have to fight for our rights at the voting booth just as much as your Generation did back then because the right to vote is not granted to all as it should be. While my Generation didn’t experience the “I Have A Dream” speech, we did experience the “Yes We Can” speech. While my Generation didn’t have the opportunity to hear the likes of Malcolm X in person, we did have the opportunity to hear the likes of Tupac Shakur.
While your Generation experienced the deaths of JFK and his brother Bobby, my Generation had to deal with the deaths of Princess Diana and JFK Jr. While the Civil Rights Generation lost its great north and south leaders in Malcolm X and MLK, we the Hip-Hop Generation lost our great west and east ambassadors in Tupac and Biggie. It is these moments in life and death that define the strength of our Generations to show that a movement can be defined by its symbolic figures but it is bigger than the heads of Generations and larger than the stature of any human being born out of our perspective Generations.
While your Generation fought to end separate but equal and Jim Crow laws. My Generation is fighting to keep Brown vs. Board and Affirmative Action alive in well for not just the 21st century but centuries to come. My Generation might not have experienced racism outright like your Generation but we are still experiencing undercover racism which might be a little bit harder to fight than what you all experienced. While your Generation saw and heard about the beginning of Apartheid in South Africa, my Generation was able to experience with you the ending of Apartheid in South Africa which culminated with the countries election of its first black president Nelson Mandela in 1994.
Our Generations have experienced so much together as well as separately. While we can agree about things being given to my Generation, we can’t deny the progress my Generation has contributed to in this society. Like the Generations before us, my Generation has helped to create movements like the “Stop the Genocide in Sudan” movement that was launched by college students before other organizations picked up on it. Our Generations have shared so much but we still debate about who has done what and who hasn’t. While my Generation has not done as much as the Generations before us, we still have time though.
My Generation might have more resources at our disposal than Generations before us but all that means is we have more responsibility and a better opportunity to make sure we bring our message to as many people as we can at a faster rate than Generations before us. My Generation has the technology resources that those Generations before us never had and with those resources, we are using it to connect with people hundreds of thousands or millions of miles away in order to make them aware of things taking place in towns like Jena, Louisana. My Generation might not have had to deal with the same things of those Generations before us but we have just as much pressure on our plates as our predecessors.
My Generation has seen the impact of single parent homes (mothers wanting to be young like their daughters, absentee fathers), drugs being sold in schools, gang violence at an all time high, gun violence rapidly increasing, a failing world economy, high unemployment rates, and diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, etc. increasing at a faster rate than the birth rate of the world. My Generation faces a higher poverty and famine rate than any other Generation before us even with all the technology at our disposal.
However despite all of that, our Generations have found ways to make history together. We made history together on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 as we elected the first African American President in America’s history. It was a culmination of the “I Have A Dream” speech meeting the “Yes We Can” speech and creating an opportunity for our future to have a “Yes We Have A Dream” speech. Our Generations have stood together time and time again to face adversity and create opportunity.
The Hip-Hop Generation/Generation X is just meeting the tasks that Generations before us like the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation had to meet. All Generations have had to face challenges, have had to overcome obstacles on the way to the mountaintop but like the Generations before my Generation, it is not about the obstacles and challenges that we have faced or will face that will define how history writes about us but it is how we overcome such adversity to succeed in changing the course of history that will define us in history.
This is the moment when the past meets the present to change the future forever. This is the moment when the Hip-Hop Generation and Generation X finally gets acceptance from the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation. This is the moment that we have all been waiting for and never knew would be possible until this defining moment that was born on a January night in Iowa when the torch of leadership from the Civil Rights Generation was beginning to get passed to the Hip-Hop Generation. It is out of that moment that “A Dream” was starting to become completed.
This is when the past meets the present to make the future a whole lot better than previous futures that soon enough became our past and our present. We cannot get caught up in the mistakes where past Generations before us failed which was in holding on to leadership too long that ultimately it damaged the progress of the movement and left a void that is now finally starting to become whole again. This moment is not about who did what or who will do what but it is about how we did what and how we all did what to make “I Have A Dream” and “Yes We Can” more than just words but a reality.
Our Generations finally come together like never before to fight so much that plagues us, divides us and haunts not only our present but our future. It is the merging of two big powerhouses into one to create perhaps the greatest political, social activism and policy making machine known to humankind. This is greater than the Roman and Greek Empires because the unification of the Hip-Hip Generation and Generation X with the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation is something that many in our society have feared for years.
They would rather see us divided and fighting each other on frivolous things such as baggy/sagging pants than to actually coming together to show respect to one another as we all share leadership and perhaps the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation grooming those in my Generation to be the next leaders, something that wasn’t done for the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation. This is the beginning of a brighter future for the Generations to follow mine.
It is when we support each other, challenge each other intellectually, and respect each other physically, socially, mentally, economically and spiritually that we not only define our own history and how our perspective Generations will be viewed but we re-define each other’s Generation and how history will view our Generations for years to come. The past meets the present for the first time to re-define and change the future of not only America but the world and we can only do that by working together by creating new seats at the tables of leadership for each other’s Generations.
The Hip-Hop Generation and Generation X need to make room at our tables for the Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation so that we can teach them a couple of things and learn a couple of things from them as well. The Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation need to make room at their tables for the Hip-Hop Generation and Generation X so that they can learn as well as adjust to the changing of the times in terms of technology. The Civil Rights Generation and Baby Boomers Generation need to welcome with open arms as well as greet new blood and energy into the fold of social activism unlike the type of reception that many of them received when they tried to get involved in the civil rights movement during the period of 1950-1970. However the Hip-Hop Generation and Generation X need to come to the table humbly and respectfully meaning we shouldn’t be forcing the Generations before us leadership out the door but rather we should think about assigning them to different advisory tasks so that they are still involved in the movement.
The past meeting the present is not an easy thing but as long as both sides come to the table with an open mind set than the possibilities of creating opportunities and a better future for the Generations to follow my Generation is greater than ever before. This is OUR MOMENT. This is OUR TIME. This is what we have talked about. This is what we have wanted. We are what we have been waiting for. WE ARE CHANGE. WE ARE THE FUTURE. WE HOLD THE POWER TO ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES.
THIS IS THE GREATEST MERGER EVER because this is when the PAST meets the PRESENT to CHANGE the FUTURE.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment