So this morning I had a little tiff with a “Brotha” about helping him out cause we “Brotha’s”.  What does this all mean anyway?  Here is the scenario.  Say you work at a Burger King behind the counter.  You know how they take your order and then give you receipt and then you move to the side so they can get your order ready?  Well say I got my order then the guy behind me “that has not paid for anythings”, asks to get my receipt so he can get some free food.  Well I say no and then he calls me out saying I should help him out cause we “Brotha’s”.  In fact he says, “You shouldn’t even care anyway cause they gonna make their money and we need to stick together.

Now this just rubbed me the wrong way on so many levels.  I mean does being a  ”Brotha” mean that I have to help you with your crimes?  Then if I don’t that means that Im a sell out or a snitch?  It was also disturbing because the young man was not over 23 years of age.  He had money in his pocket and he spoke to me like he had to school me.

Now I made the scenario up but this did happen, I just am not allowed to talk about things that actually happen on my job, so I had to change the scenario to protect the innocent, and my job LOL!

Here in Milwaukee I see people on the street asking for a handout all the time.  Mind you many of these people are able bodied adults.  What is happening more and more now is that you are seeing kids pick up this habit as well.  Not because they need to, but because this is what they are being taught through example  by the adults that raise them.

The culture of “getting over” is becoming larger and larger.  Whether it is people with food stamps selling them for cash or your everyday beggar on the street, it seems like more and more people are just trying to scam and get over on someone.

I know times are tuff and with the economy the way that it is many people that would not normally commit even a minor crime and considering it now.  My point is where is our pride and how are our children learning more about how to “get over” on stuff rather than how to excel within the system we live in.

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but if I have to allow you to “get over” then I guess we can’t be “Brotha’s”

Being black is nothing Im trying to be.  It is what I am

– Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bell Air

Since being in Milwaukee I have noticed something that may be a bit disturbing to some.  To others it is just the norm.  Whenever an African-American “comes out” as a conservative they are literally hated and belittled by other Blacks.  Even some whites challenge them on the validity of their race since they are not Liberal.

Right now the Black community in Milwaukee is trying to redefine itself and its leadership.  Well that is as far as the official voices of the Black community.  This is somewhat of a challenge of a few levels.  You see the largest voice for a long time was the radio station 1290 WMCS.  Last month the powers that be there decided to take the ONLY talk station targeted at the Black community off the air and simply play music.  I wont rehash the whole story.  You can google it and find out all about it.

What is concerning me now is that we only have one 2 hour a day talk show on a  very small station now.  That show is on WNOV 860am.  I have listened to the show a few times, but like most Black talk shows in Milwaukee there is only one perspective.  Mind you we need this perspective, but we also need even more diversity.

One of my complaints about what I see here is that Blacks are diverse group.  We do not all believe the same or share the same political views.  Even thought most would like to put us all in the same group, we are not.

There are obviously many Black Liberals, but also to a smaller degree we have Conservatives, and even Libertarians.

What is going to allow our community to grow is the diversity of our culture.  When once sect of our community demonizes another or looks down on another for their views or ideologies, we all suffer.  We suffer because our creativity is limited and our full potential is not realized.

When it comes to our politics in particular, we are at times, violently opposed to one another and if you are a “D” then associating with and “R” is simply out of the question.  Even calling into a talk show with an opposing view QUICKLY breaks down into a game of the dozens.

There simply is not one voice with all of the answers.  In order to grow and thrive we have to learn how to pull from all political avenues and use our influence to shape and mold the political views and opinions so that they best meet the needs of all.