His Point of View

If you have read much of my blog you know that I have been around the world a couple of times.  I encourage all Americans, especially young African Americans to go beyond the borders of this country, and go farther than the Caribbean. When you travel you change.  When you travel you change the people and the land you are visiting.  When you see how the rest of the world lives you can have a better idea of how you fit into the world.  Not only will you grow and become a better person, but you will teach the people you encounter how diverse America is, beyond what they see on television (assuming that you venture beyond the traditional tourist areas, and you actually interact with the local citizens).  The majority of the world only sees the images that movies, music videos, and the daily news display of African Americans.  As we all know those images are not the complete picture of our culture or lifestyle.

Recently I was having a conversation with a woman I work with, who was born in South Korea.  Once she learned that I had visited her native land not only did we have a lot to talk about, but she also asked me how I was treated when I was there.  She asked because she knows that many South Koreans born in the last 30 years have not seen people of African descent in person and in many cases they have no knowledge of us beyond music videos.  Music videos…Music Videos… Music Videos…It’s terribly disappointing and sad that most of the world is exposed to African Americans via music videos.  Currently there are not many positive or accurate images African American culture i

When I was waling the streets of South Africa I was speaking to a local citizen and he made it clear to me that even many people of Africa think that most African Americans are gangsters and rappers.  The world in general has no concept of the middle class African American lifestyle and they want to learn just as much from us, as we want to learn from them when we visit their land.

There is a lot to see in the world, there is life beyond Jamaica, go and see as much of it as you can, before you can’t.  Not that I have anything against Jamaica…I am just saying that there are other options especially if you have been there a couple times.