"You got to choose between tightening your belt or losing your pants."
Navjot Singh Sidhu
I asked a young man today why he won't pull up his pants and he turns to me and says, "I don't know. I just grew up that way." Really? Is this what we've been reduced to? It is bad when we accept this not so small issues as our "culture". We didn't bring that over from Africa, whether we left in chains or First Class. This is not our culture and we must leave it alone. Like many other things that have been thrust upon us.
Now, I'm not attempting to be more pious or even socially devout than the next. I still "cling" to things that are not indigenous to the spirit in these walls. Some things are indeed harder to remove from our conscious meditations than others. For reasons that began during bondage, we Africans in the Diaspora have a hard time trusting each other generally. This and a devastatingly horrible acceptance of our situations and stations in our current dispensation, have led to schisms in our psyche and scars deeper than the ocean depths that hold our ancestry. Still there are things that we just should not tolerate and accept. Not simply because we need to shake off certain shards of barbarism and bondage.
But it is just a matter of decency. These young men, and more disturbingly young women, don't seem to realize or maybe just don't give a damn, that there are women and children walking the very same streets with them. Elders who deserve more respect and little ones who need to see better examples of ourselves. I mean, I must give thanks that there are some young ones who actually seem to pay attention when I ask them to pull up their pants and comport themselves better. Maybe it's only to placate me in the moment, but I know the seed is still sown. I will take my time sowing the seeds no matter how few catch.
Now if what they are really attempting to do is advertise that their bodies are for sale to whomever is buying, I've heard both male and female prostitutes do this, then while I'm still disgusted, I generally will feel even more sorry for them. And for the men and women that find this attractive and continue to allow these harbingers of slovenly contempt for self dignity and pride, I also blame you. You help feed this poor poor excuse for fashion. You too should be ashamed of yourselves.
So please, whoever you are, when you see pants hanging below acceptable sagging standards, tell them to pull it up. They owe it to all of us, and especially themselves. Teach them that you see the dignified person they are, even if they don't right just now. We need to be the adults that we want to see in the world. Ones who don't sit idly by when tragedy strikes. Please, wake up people.
Navjot Singh Sidhu
I asked a young man today why he won't pull up his pants and he turns to me and says, "I don't know. I just grew up that way." Really? Is this what we've been reduced to? It is bad when we accept this not so small issues as our "culture". We didn't bring that over from Africa, whether we left in chains or First Class. This is not our culture and we must leave it alone. Like many other things that have been thrust upon us.
Now, I'm not attempting to be more pious or even socially devout than the next. I still "cling" to things that are not indigenous to the spirit in these walls. Some things are indeed harder to remove from our conscious meditations than others. For reasons that began during bondage, we Africans in the Diaspora have a hard time trusting each other generally. This and a devastatingly horrible acceptance of our situations and stations in our current dispensation, have led to schisms in our psyche and scars deeper than the ocean depths that hold our ancestry. Still there are things that we just should not tolerate and accept. Not simply because we need to shake off certain shards of barbarism and bondage.
But it is just a matter of decency. These young men, and more disturbingly young women, don't seem to realize or maybe just don't give a damn, that there are women and children walking the very same streets with them. Elders who deserve more respect and little ones who need to see better examples of ourselves. I mean, I must give thanks that there are some young ones who actually seem to pay attention when I ask them to pull up their pants and comport themselves better. Maybe it's only to placate me in the moment, but I know the seed is still sown. I will take my time sowing the seeds no matter how few catch.
Now if what they are really attempting to do is advertise that their bodies are for sale to whomever is buying, I've heard both male and female prostitutes do this, then while I'm still disgusted, I generally will feel even more sorry for them. And for the men and women that find this attractive and continue to allow these harbingers of slovenly contempt for self dignity and pride, I also blame you. You help feed this poor poor excuse for fashion. You too should be ashamed of yourselves.
So please, whoever you are, when you see pants hanging below acceptable sagging standards, tell them to pull it up. They owe it to all of us, and especially themselves. Teach them that you see the dignified person they are, even if they don't right just now. We need to be the adults that we want to see in the world. Ones who don't sit idly by when tragedy strikes. Please, wake up people.
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