Black Kids and Negative Influences.

Recently, some colleagues and I were discussing the dilemmas facing a lot of young black kids in this country of ours. One of us lamented that his son had become a victim of the nation's social ills. The kid could barely remember anything he was taught at school. This prompted his parents to assume that he had a poor memory. But that was until they discovered that their son could recite every rap song in an entire CD with absolute ease!



The problem with a lot of kids in Black communities across the United States is that their psyche and consciousness are constantly bombarded and “fed” with grossly negative ideas and images through music, movies, internet and other media. There is virtually no room for positive images to be celebrated. And when parents are not paying much attention or creating more time to fill-in the gaps, the kids will just have to make do  with whatever negativity is shoved down their mental throats.



This is why many Black kids know very little about Black people’s achievements in education, commerce or any enterprise of positive nature. The same kids will readily sneer when pointed in the directions of great professions such as medicine, law, engineering and teaching. And why not? All they see and hear on TV, newspapers, magazines and the internet are glamorous stories about rappers, hip-hop artists, actors, drug dealers, basketball players or football players.