[img]583|left|Eric L. Wattree||no_popup[/img]I received such a huge response from people across the country regarding my article on Dr. Richard Allen Williams that I've decided to add a permanent feature to my column. I will call it “A Tribute to Excellence,” and use it as a platform to highlight both the character and accomplishments of those who bring excellence to our community.
While reading the responses, it occurred to me that when we look at the myriad of problems that we have in the Black community, we generally attribute them to joblessness, crime and a poor educational system. While they undoubtedly contribute to the dysfunction, they are merely symptoms. The actual source goes directly to the image we have allowed our young people to embrace regarding what we represent as a people.
An excellent example is Tyler Perry's “Madea.” While all of us know, love and appreciate characters like Madea, our community has much more to offer the world than what is reflected in Madea's character. Tyler Perry himself is representative of the wealth of creative excellence residing in our community. Unfortunately, that is rarely reflected in the media.
If extraterrestrials are monitoring our media transmissions, they probably think all Black people are athletes, criminals or clowns. We've got to change that perception because extraterrestrials are not the only ones monitoring those transmissions. In their homes, our children don't have positive examples of Black manhood or accomplished Black females to counter negative imagery. Their mothers are often good people, but struggling to make ends meet.
What It Means to be a Man
Young people from single-parent homes have no idea what it means to be a man or how a man should relate to a woman and a family. They get their definitions from e the street or the media, such as BET. Their idea of manhood is the willingness to blow a person's brains out for the most inadvertent slight or to treat their woman with disrespect and disdain. They know nothing of the nurturing side of manhood necessary to raise and comfort a little girl or about the tough-minded character and determination necessary to overcome life's adversities with dignity, perseverance and resolve.
Once a month I intend to feature a man or woman who has demonstrated excellence in achievement, character or selflessness within the community. I hope other Black writers, producers and people in the media will follow. Long ago, we should have been flooding our community with these images of Black excellence.
Please feel free to suggest people who you think should be featured in this series to the email address below.
Mr. Wattree may be contacted at wattree.blogspot.com or Ewattree@Gmail.com
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