In the human species, there has always been the mantra that we are higher-order beings. Even though the Homo erectus led to Homo sapiens, it is still true that we share some common DNA with great apes. They’re proven to have reasoning skills, dexterity, cognitive and affective domain traits, as well as the social paradigm structure of nuclear and extended families.
With that backdrop, it’s hard to figure out what caused the social breakdown of modern society, and particularly in the African-American persuasion. No physiological, sociological, psychological, or ideological constructs are able to prove clinically and/or empirically what’s wrong.
New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, Miami’s Overtown, Chicago’s Westside, Gary’s Glen Park, Memphis’s Orange Mound, New Orleans’s Ninth Ward, and Los Angeles’s Compton could well be the same places where all the same social stereotypes and maladies are ever-present. The same could be said about most other US urban centers, as they relate to the fate of African-Americans. To be sure, the black male is a low-valued commodity and is arguably close to extinction.
Life Pages is an anthology of poems that will take you on a sensory journey of emotions. Its aim is to inspire you to seek and gain a better understanding of history and a better self. I hope you’ll embrace or at least find new appreciation for our ancestor’s crucibles, pain, and unwavering fidelity to their personal constitution. When boiled down to a low gravy, that means you should approach life with zeal and forthrightness, with all deliberate speed. I trust that among other things, you will come away with the distinct understanding of the thought processes of the inner-city youth, and the day-to-day struggles growing up in today’s society. This is a quest to figure out where the black youth belong in this swath of earth called America.
Man can clone man, but he’ll never be able to clone my pains!
