My Thoughts During BLACK HISTORY MONTH...

First they were called "nigg*rs" and "coloreds", then they were called Blacks, and as of late African Americans (AA)...

Yet the stigma had never truly changed. Even as a child from the Caribbean I heard about the stereotypes... But as I got older, I got to know the truths behind them and as in every group we will find: great, good, bad and mediocre people.

So... today the term nigg*r has been diluted by young AA artists to make being called a "nigga" COOL. That in of itself is SPECIAL and GENIUS!

Anyhow...

AA = African Americans (AA)

America w/o "AA" would be simply:

A-meric-A MINUS "AA" = MERIC.

MERIC = a combining form meaning “part,” “segment,” “unit,”

In other words INCOMPLETE! Yup, America would have been INCOMPLETE without AFRICANS AMERICANS... They are like the SPICES that added TASTE to the MELTING POT!

There are many people, including and often more so people of Caribbean descent, who are also of African descent and even AAs that have failed to fully appreciate the GREATNESS and unparalleled CONTRIBUTION of AFRICAN AMERICANS to AMERICA, many of them are my OWN RELATIVES who are quite frankly VERY IGNORANT... AAs are special... their hearts... their willingness to FORGIVE. To me, they are the MOST FORGIVING and UNIQUELY UNDERESTIMATED and UNDER-APPRECIAED PEOPLE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. At 13% of the Population, despite being DISENFRANCHISED and OPPRESSED, they have somehow managed to occupy all LEVELS OF POSTS in the very society that used to oppress them and arguably still does. Their inventions are not only unique but transcending, their music unparalleled, their swag amazing, and they have even occupied many of the he highest posts of the land and many are even BILLIONAIRES on a land on which they were considered to be "PERSONAL POSSESSIONS".

Almost everyone including AAs have been taught to hate AAs at some point, which is what has been part of the causes of the stagnancy. YET, without AAs and AA GIANTS like KING, Rosa Parks, Malcom X, Garvey etc, the conscience of this great land would have still been innocently or heartlessly DISTURBED by Europeans who would have still been inducing blows to souls of the natives and the Black slaves. AAs persevered and used their souls, resilience and geniuses to peacefully combat the brutal institution of slavery. They worked for FREE and helped build this great NATION.

Despite being taught not growing up in the Caribbean and by Whites in America, I have learned to love AAs not because societal stereotypes encouraged it, but because my own experience revealed a different story. A SOULFULLY AMAZING and FORGIVING PEOPLE of African descent, yet with so many mixtures and so much strength even in despair. Their artistic nature, creativity and soul remind us of both the spirits of the ancestors and the struggles of all segments of the human race in their fights against oppression.... THEIR FAITH and CHANTING of "WE SHALL OVERCOME SOME DAY"... through them, the spirits of Africans. Natives and even their White Ancestors lived on as they changed all aspects of what would have been a purely EUROCENTRIC NATION had it not been for their ancestors' enslavement.

TODAY, there is nothing I'm prouder of other than being my father's son, than to be called "AA" too! THANK YOU to all the AA GIANTS who changed the conscience of America forever and allowed me to live FREELY on this land called "LAND OF THE FREE"! AAs shouldn't just be loved, they really should be ADORED by AAs and America at large. People like Dr. King saved American with their message of LOVE and NON-VIOLENCE.

I Love THEM, from the BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

IN A RUSH!

This Article was written by Dr. Pete Lorins... and has been brought to you by MultiServiceBusisnessNetwork.com -- an Entrepreneurial and Networking Movement.