#WarriorPoet- BLACK DOLLARS

What’s wrong with us?!? I just came back from Cancun. I’m not much of a drinker so there were times when I would sit in a party and watch a room full of drunk people having the time of their lives. There’s not a whole lot wrong with that but to know that each person there (on average) has easily spent $1,000+ on that trip, and then I overhear things like, “I’m not sure how I’m gonna pay my rent when I get back,” OR “My cell phone is disconnected, can I use yours?” OR “I had $600 for my hotel but I borrowed the $800 for my flight,” it makes me scratch my head. Why do we go so hard to impress people we don’t know, and look important in front of people we don’t like, and go hard at things we really don’t need, and spend money we really don’t have? Why do we do this?!?

I know people who actually have decent salaries and decent credit and the thought of owning a home hardly ever crosses their mind yet they make a habit out of  spending money on material goods. I know people who have children who need a new book bag or new paint in their bedrooms or saving bonds that’ll increase in value over the next 10, 15, 20 years but instead they blow a couple of hundred dollars on bottle service. I’ve gone to people’s houses whose refrigerators and cabinets are bare or full of the most non-healthy things you can think of but they have Louis Vuitton travel bags. And (at least in my newtwork) 60% of these people are black, the other 40% are Latino. Why do we do this?

The only reason I can come up with logically is that we are still celebrating our “Come Up” as a people, I guess? There are Africans who look at Black Americans as Super People. Their logic is that we were taken from our original land, beaten, killed, ‘diasporized,’ separated from family, forced into harsh working and living conditions, fought for our own freedom, discriminated against, lynched, unjustly jailed, and a lot more…. yet on the other end of it, we still have Oprahs, and Obamas, and Jordans. That is amazing to them. And in that regard, we have the right to spend as much time and money as we want in celebrating the fact that we didn’t always have. You can see it in our music, in our films, and unfortunately in our habits. If that’s your logic then I guess I can understand it but I definitely don’t agree with it. I’m sure that we are all guilty of this in varying degrees including myself. But I just want to know why this is not only a habit in our community but it gets encouraged! Why?!?

I’m tired of standing in line at the ATM behind the woman with he Gucci glasses and matching bag and when she leaves the machine, it spits out a receipt that says Available Balance: $16.24. I’m sick of people asking me to borrow money who I know have a $50-a-week, weed habit. I’m getting annoyed by those of us who spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on clothes, shoes, and jewelry but always ask for a ride somewhere. I’ll ask you again, what’s wrong with us?!?

 

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FRξSH PЯINCξ OF BЯOOKLYN | ManOfGod | American Music Award Winning Writer | Thespian | 1/2 of ME&MYBROTHER | #TeamElexis | #TeamSuperStupid | #ChixDigMe | #GreyGooseAllStars    #WAЯЯiORPOξT