Letter to Melo thinkers

I absolutely love satellite radio and if you are one who likes to hear ‘it’ from the horse's mouth and get it as unbiased and diverse as now possible….get into satellite---you can thank me later.
Listening to Melo (Carmelo Anthony of the Denver nuggets, that is) earlier on Hip Hop 40 (one of the Sirius satellite channels), I enjoyed his replies and comments, one particular conversation stood out to me amongst the others. Let me first say that I have had the pleasure to be in the company of Melo before, while in the VIP section of a LA club years ago now. That night that place was just pure pleasure for all of us who had found our own ways to gain our statures and success that led us all there, with our “teams”, to enjoy the views and being viewed. Base on the impression then and now and just solid word from those shared in common, I see him to be a stand up gentleMAN…..who found his own spirit early enough to see him through his path. His composure, play and leadership thus far this season (his time in the lime-light) has only gone to prove my insights of him correct….Good for him. That being said I had one point of contention that after this I believe he also would say…..”yeah that’s kind of what I meant”…
The topic was Melo cleaning up his image (cutting off his corn-rolls more specifically) in order to operate in the corporate (big money and power) world; his response was sure he did cut off his corn-rolls for that reason and sure its truly necessary……in other words what I got from this was, indeed if you’re going to play THIS GAME (money, power and respect), you have to look a certain way……hmmmm hmmmm hmmmmmmmm…..See right now everyone, I believe hand picked by God to be in my life, who knows me, knows I’m about to go ooooffffff……but understand I go off at the concept not the voice that said it.
Let me explain something first to prefix the argument I’m about to possess……I run a good enough size conclumerate (the word I use to describe a few companies operating on their own (not corporized-put under the umbrella of 1 parent company (word patent) but yet all owned by me)…..On average my dealings net me hundreds of dollars for every hour I’m awake; now pay attention to what I said….I didn’t say for every working hour, I said for every hour I’m awake, that means doing whatever I’m doing in a day…..driving, eating, working out, working, laughing, fucking, reading…..whatever. But understand, that’s because I own mine….that means my money works for me more than I have to…..also that is important to understand the opinions I know to possess. And what’s said by the masses and reiterated by Melo does apply for all those who just don’t have IT and you know what IT is, if you don’t have IT naturally, there’s no shame in that, but there is something wrong if you’re not on your journey to get IT…..Back to my point, I make a lot of money and I garnish much power….my hair has dawned corn-rolls for damn near 8 years…..shit that’s a long while, I never counted till now…..shit now I see why my little sister wants me to cut it off…anyway I digress. Inspite of my hair style I attained and maintained my position and power, because I knew how and to be a MAN regardless of what outsiders saw in my hair (and skin color for that matter). I had this instilled in me early by both the virtue of having my father (a MAN) ever present, not only for me to imitate and emulate, but also there to straighten my thoughts and actions when it didn’t match the path followed to become a MAN. Now I know this is a case that becomes all to rear in our inner city population but the point is to see that the opportunity to become that Man inspite of hair is still possible but there are pre-requisites. The reason it is important to always acknowledge ALL possibilities is it teaches all of us coming up that there is a certain way to live, which will attain a certain world, but if we as individuals (and a community on a larger scale) wishes to have that stronger life, we have to work for it, and more importantly sacrifice ourselves to and for it……Let me break it this way: if we want to leave in a world where acceptance is given to a boy who grows up to have dark black skin, to be the number 1 scoring basketball player, to be 1 of the most well paid athletes, to be 1 of the biggest givers back to society with time and money, to be a well educated business man and yet and still have corn-rolls, then we fathers most build that boy into a Man and show the world that it is possible. It is human nature to believe only whats been seen….the public consensus is corn-rolls are negative because that’s the majority of whats been seen. It is still our duty as strong soulful and spiritual characters to exemplify that something that is indigenous to us, is not to be held in a bad light and in form prevent our maturity into MANhood. This is what ultimately counts the most to successfully exist in corporate America and many other genres….Being a solid Man (or Woman).
That’s what Melo should have said (maybe downsized a tad to fit tv). If maturity into Manhood translated to cutting off his braids for him then so be it. What is certain, is that at a point in life, if you’re going to gain ultimate respect and success, in any field, for a boy he must become a Man. This translates at many different ages and many different forms, but there is always a manifestation of this transistion, either outwardly physical or an internal change that takes on a physical manifestation…..for the best of us there is also a certain time frame that this transistion should occur. Of course the sooner the better, and the later we worry. For me it was my blessing to undergo this transistion into manhood at an early stage, and therefore I have spent many years motivating the world around me and maneuvering the world around me as a Man. Therefore at this stage of my primetime life I and those around me feel completely comfortable and confident with my hair expressions (corn rolls at this point and the foreseeable future, well maybe not that far ahead), because they know it bares no weight on the Man I know to be.
All that being said, for you the one eager to sport the daring hair style, there are 2 big *s to consider
1…We all don’t rock what we rock for the right (or same) reasons. I began wearing my braids as an artistic aesthetic expression that spoke to me. The same way I have been intrigued and therefore purchased a Van Gogh or my original signed publication of Langston hughes’ collection of poetry, so too did corn-rolls capture my imagination and therefore I wear it, and apparently nothing has pushed me stronger to a different direction since. There are many who began wearing and wear braids as an expression of defiance; a Man would not have that attitude towards the environment he dwells, he would take more charge of his society and his ability to make his own niche….if that is what the “braids” represented for the boy then most likely they disappear as a Man.
2…There is a stereotype that goes along with braids, its an addition to the regular amount of stereotype that goes along with being a black man, which is already an addition to the stereotype of being black period. Notice the steps up the ladder of stereotype one takes on by wearing braids. Notice the steps because with every step there is more weight added. I couldn’t intentionally fight (verbally) with every misconception of me and my life (at this point) even if I wanted to (and I don’t), but I can do and what I do do is realized that I am watched and heard (maybe more than the average, but others are also to whatever the extent), so I let that be my proof. I let what I say and the way I say it be my proof; I let what I do, how I do it and why I do it, prove whether the stereotypes they carry in their eyes are justified by Me, this Man…..not the other 50 that might have lived up to those eyes before. The point is that, if your strength isn’t enough for the weights that come with taking so many steps up the ladder, then have no shame and cut the “braids”, because the positive impact you will be having won’t be worth the battle for you. The positive impact I relish is, realizing that if I meet enough people or if enough (Black) people, of like mindedness as mine exist, then eventually 1 persons’ thoughts are changed and corrected….and that 1 spreads to others….I have had that impact on my community, but it’s a greater time before a state is effected, longer for a country, and countless for the world. You must decide how long you can wait or better yet how much you can take.
I have endured, survived and succeeded through much and many years….after such I emerged as a Man who wears “braids”, at a higher “level” than even Drake.