My Take On Black In America

By now I'm sure everyone has had a chance to view the CNN two day mini series/two part documentary, Black In America. If you haven't then I don't know where you've been because it seems like they replayed it every other day. There has been a lot of criticism of the piece produced by Soledad O'Brien, fair or unfair. Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion of what they thought of the piece. I won't debate that, but what I will say is this....

Personally, I applaud CNN for having the courage as a news organization to show our pain and struggle so vividly in great detail. A lot of times in this country we as everyday black people don't feel relevant. What CNN and Miss O'Brien were trying to do, was make us relevant. Relevant not to ourselves as black people living in America but relevant to the rest of America. I think some critics missed that point.

The other day I over heard someone saying, in a neck rolling tone, "I don't need CNN to show me what it feels like to be black in America. I'm black. I already know what it feel like." True enough, but someone outside of our race might not really know what it feels like. Some people need visual proof of a black mother or father struggling below the poverty line as they try to put food on the table for their families, or worse yet how drugs, disease, and violence are destroying our communities every day at a rapid pace. America needs to see visual evidence of this fact of every day black like, because America needs to learn to care.

For far to long our struggle and pain has been swept under the rug like it doesn't exist. It seems like the rest of America has this attitude like it's not our problem, that's their problem. I hate to break the news to you America, but it is your problem. How can we progress as a great nation when we have a great mass of people struggling to make ends meet as if they were living in a third world country. It's sad, because artist of all genres have talked about it for years. Rappers, singers, and poets like they were reporting for a black version of CNN trying to raise awareness of the dire situation at hand, but it seems America has failed to listen. Maybe, just maybe, because of Soledad O'Brien and the real CNN, America will take the time to listen and try to understand what it must feel like to be Black In America. KUDOS!!!!