As a child, I was told to go to school, but no one ever taught me that depending on student loans to gain higher education was a financial trap.  No one ever showed me how to detect misinformation, useless information, contradictions, and baseless opinions on the television, in the newspapers, and the classroom books. No elders held my hands and taught me the value of thinking critically, and other techniques, in which to improve how I examined the world around me.  There was no knowledge passed down to me expressing the importance of social entrepreneurship, and how to become a social entrepreneur.  Instead, I was encouraged to embrace capitalism, unable to detect capital exploitation, and the mental and physical slavery of humanity.

I was played

I was told to embrace my skin color and my African roots, but the images of black culture, which I learned to embrace, came from hours of watching, “Black Entertainment Television”.  I learned how to guzzle down 40-ounce alcoholic beverages, I gained interest in smoking weed, and I accepted the exploitation of women, while embracing capitalism, and the value of material wealth.  Swearing and having a large ego was also part of the narrative.  No one ever taught me the philosophies held between Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois, or asked me to compare the two.  I was never challenged to use critical thinking techniques to determine which philosophies I valued or agreed with most between the two men.  I was never educated on the objectives and strategy used by, and against, the original Black Panther Party.  I was never encouraged to use critical thinking techniques.  Meanwhile, I was “trained” how to feel about the principal concepts of capitalism, socialism, and communism, without being taught a balance approach, and study, behind all three philosophies.  I was told to be proud of my African roots, but all the television and schoolbooks showed me about Africa were, war driven countries stuck in poverty and ignorance.  I was taught that I came from a land of divided men and weak people, and most of the Africans I knew were in America because there countries were in the middle of civil wars. Not to mention, most young Africans I knew were just like me.  We mostly wanted to emulate and celebrate the individuals we were watching daily on “Black Entertainment Television”

I was played

My introduction to spiritual life (religion) was to worship Jesus, who looked just like the people who had enslaved my ancestors, or to accept forever-lasting hell in the after life.  While searching for the truth and a righteous path to follow, all I found were contradictions and confusion.  While looking for leaders, all I found were hypocrites and exploiters.  I went to church on Sunday, only to be told it was a sin, and that I should be going to church on Saturday instead.  I was told to not be broken as a Christian, only to learn that the Christian church had been broken for some time now.  All of this, while I was told, “God is not a God of confusion.”  (Protestants/Catholics/Jehovah Witnesses/Mormons/Seventh Day Adventists/Non Denomination Christians)

I later learned about Orthodox Islam, The Nation of Islam, The Five-Percent Nation, The Kabbalah, Buddhism, Judaism, Ancient Egyptian religions, Kemetism, and Paganism.  I quickly realized that truth, freedom, wisdom and the righteous path, in which I was seeking, would not come to me, by me embracing my race, or one specific religious or political organization.  I could no longer depend on, or trust, my elders, blindly, because the elders were divided, un-disciplined, and un-organized, while fighting among themselves.

I was played

Once I reached a certain age, and had gone through certain life experiences, I stepped back and did a self-evaluation check.  I decided to take self-responsibility for my actions.  I lost my so-called family and friends in the process.  Evil, contradictions, confusion, hate, and trickery showed their faces at my door.  I was determined to revitalize my spirit, and I started to embrace the concepts, and techniques, of critical thinking.  The more I learned about capitalism and capital greed, the more I feel in love with the concept and strategies of the social entrepreneur, as a way of rebuilding communities and societies.  So now, I’m an advocate of these two ideas, as a fundamental approach in developing, mentoring, and inspiring young men and women, to avoid being played.  Let’s all stay 1up.