Growing up Black was and is something I take pride in. I loved coming up in the South.

Of course, I’ve known about Black injustice and my history for some time, BUT I never really chose to dive deeper.

Now that I’m twenty-two, here’s what I noticed about my people. My culture.

1. Yes, slavery was clearly a MESS.
2. Our history is deeper than what we’ve been “taught”
3. Folks in our own communities are stuck in survival mode.
4. Issues like mental health seem VERY outlandish for some Black folks.
5. Why is it that Black men and women treat each other so poorly?

Now, that’s just five things I can spit off the dome. But I’m sure y’all feel me on this.

I want to draw your attention to item #3.

Black people get the worse rap ever. Period. Our history is clear, sometimes, but since the enslavement of our people, it just seems like that generational pain has followed us into 2023.

Plenty of people will say, ‘it happened a long time ago,’ but we really can’t deny that pain.

Anyway…

I think that being “stuck” in survival mode has caused a ripple effect of desensitization throughout the culture.

Now, for some folks, being desensitized looks like being exposed to something like porn or nude imagery for an extended period of time and pretty much not showing a reaction to it anymore.

In the context of Black culture, we’re pretty much over the frequent exposure to violence and inequality that is so pervasive throughout society.

Like, think back to almost ALL the police brutality incidents in the last twenty to thirty years.

Now, of course, “the man” seems to have it out for us, but what about those who look just like us?

Right. We’ve become so “numb” to the injustice that it doesn’t matter who inflicts it.

It’s the Black way of “living.”

In this article by Thea Pekarek, she focuses on the Black/POC experience and the numbness that is recurrent. Pakarek interviewed a man from Chicago and learned about encounters he had growing up Black.

It’s just common everyday occurrences that are traumatic events, but POC don’t see it like that,” Kelley explains. “It’s an everyday thing. Even with the George Floyd situation, that wasn’t unusual for five police officers to tackle someone in the neighborhood like that. What was unusual was for you to kill him right in front of me. – Anthony Kelley, 2020

I love Hip Hop but this is a reason why we have so much violence and lack accountability in the culture.

It’s prevalent in the music that we call ours. The genre went from a forwarding moving entity to something almost shameful in some spaces.

Why is it that someone that looks like me want to harm me? Even kill me? (regardless if it’s cap or not)

BUT, we’ve grown accustomed to it. Again, it’s just the Black way of “living.”

Desensitization in Black culture is an important topic to discuss because I think it hugely impacts how we view the world around us and each other.

I think as people of color we, of course, have a lack in many areas and long for what’s in front of us.

That’s the violence. the lack of responsibility. And the lack of true community.

Now, there are some artists that use their “superpowers” for good, including independent artists like Clark out of NC and Rope Da Komposer out of GA. But that’s only two voices.

Imagine if we had a million voices advocating for the protection and betterment of the culture? SHEESH.

We’d literally take over the world, but it starts by educating oneself on the issues, engaging in meaningful conversations with other people of color, and advocating for change.

this blog post was created as a perspective/opinion piece by the G tha Journalist. feel free to comment with your thoughts and feedback to help us provide more interesting content. thank you.