Black People Just Need to Focus

Black parents need to teach their kids not just how to survive, but how to thrive.

I come across a lot of Facebook videos over the course of a day, but one recent clip I came across really stuck with me.  It was a video of three black men sitting around a tree discussing why black people have difficulties succeeding.

To hear them break down the plight of my race seemed basic.  How can our problems seem so simple, yet take such a Herculean effort to attempt to correct?  One guy in particular spoke so many truths that I couldn't keep up.  It made me wonder why we don't seem to be able to have the success that other races have.  Whites had a head start, so I won't compare blacks to them.  But Asians, Indians, Middle Eastern, and other races are arriving to this country after us and are transitioning quite well in some cases.

Why is it that black people appear to be stuck in the mud?

Then I heard it in the video.  The mention of the word "wealth."  So many of us black people have spent most of our adult lives wanting to be "rich" because no one taught us how to focus on being "wealthy."  There's a difference.  We need to teach our kids how to leave something behind other than a burial debt owed to the funeral home.

Is it the YOLO life style that keeps us focused on today and not tomorrow?  To a certain extent, it is, but there's more to it than that.  Black families just simply need to focus and teach.  That's all.  It's that simple, but we just won't do it.  Some of us would rather be seen in public than heard by our children.  Think about that.  So many black people would rather spend their time entertaining themselves than raising their children.

How do we fix it?  In my opinion, it starts with the men.  We're the key to all of it.  It's not to say that women don't contribute, because they do in a mighty way.  But black men are the starting points to the success of black people.  We need to teach our sons how to handle their business.  We need to teach them that there's a time and a place for everything!  You can have fun like a baller and still be a financially stable child of God in the process.

But it takes FOCUS!

Keep your eye on the prize!  Don't let a pair of $200 shoes cause you to ignore your power bill.  Don't let a disagreement with the mother of your kid prevent you from being a father to your child.  Don't let something as trendy as tattoos affect your earning potential in the workplace.  Focus!

Black people spend more money on fashion and entertainment than probably any other race, but what do we have to show for it?  When you die, what will you leave your children?  Nikes?  Bottles of Ciroc?  What?

You deal with life just like you deal with emergencies: make sure that your loved ones are safe first and then take care of yourself.

• Make sure that you have life insurance and plenty of it.  A lot of millionaires came up on what their parents left them in life insurance policies. 

• Make an effort to own property if given the opportunity to invest.  It's one of the best legacies that you can ever leave your child. 

• Lastly, and it's probably the most important: make sure you condition your child's mind to do the same for their children.

The difference between black culture and other cultures is that we don't always prepare our kids properly.  Black parents need to teach their kids not just how to survive, but how to thrive.  We get so caught up in day-to-day, check-to-check things that we fail to teach our kids that they can do better than what we did.  We owe it to them to give them a little boost when possible.  Leave them with something to build upon so they can leave that and more for their children.

Don't send your kids into the world without a weapon.  Arm them with knowledge and opportunity by focusing on their futures.  Only then will your job as a parent be complete.