Belong

"I Tried" by Anthony Hamilton

...tried for so long / for you to hold on / but you won't belong to anyone, anything, any love, at all...

Some people have been saying that the future has arrived and we are already late (John!). I believe I agree. The future has arrived, the alarm clock has gone off and we are still sleeping.

Unfortunately for us, we did not have a mother or a father to come into the room and awaken us so as not to be late for the future.

So we have slept through several lectures in the future.

But children, we have been adopted. We are out of the darkness of the orphanage and into the light of a good, solid home.

Barack noticed that the children were still asleep and Michelle has come into the room to wake us. Us, little Black girls and boys are we.

Barack and Michelle mean a great deal for Black people. Let me be clear though, racism and prejudice are alive and are severe impediments in all of our lives, White and Black alike.

But it still means something very significant and very positive. We little Black children have not had prominent, easily accessible, and highly publicized examples of Black intellectuals, professionals, humanitarians, and the ilk.

We have looked to entertains in sports, music, movies, etc. for mentors, heroes, and role models almost exclusively. Nothing is wrong with any person of the aforementioned careers. Quand même, there is something dangerous and devastating about those individuals being the only ones Black children consult about how to live their lives because they are just entertainers.

Many have come forward and complained about the burden of "mentorship" or "role modelhood," especially when they are behaving in an embarrassing or criminal manner. They have come outright, time and time again, and told us wee children not to look to them for guidance for they too are late for the future.

For that reason, the children have been unintentionally misled. Our "heroes" do not want to be heroes, but since we have nothing else to follow, we have followed them, erroneously believing that the crowd behind them would motivate them to change, do better, and show us something brilliant.

Oh but we have a live alarm clock in Michelle and Barack. Little Black girls can walk with poise, confidence, aspire to be intelligent, be excited to learn, use their minds over their bodies, and believe again. Little Black boys can pursue books instead of balls, be intelligent with swagger, love a Black woman, be a good father, and change the world.

This scantily clad lady above smiles and closes her eyes, cocks her head to the side and dances to what others hear as silence. You know why? Because she has been awakened too. She knows she can put on some clothes, grab a book, read that book, create beautiful synapses, and change the world too.