A Love Letter to the BlackMan.

Since I moved to Honduras and became a teacher, my time has been consumed by my new found responsibilities. I have traded the late nights with the girls, drinking and partying, for late nights at home grading and planning. In the mist of it all I have kept an eye on America via Twitter which keeps me in the loop of the good, the bad and the ugly of the good ole USA. A few weeks ago Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls hit the theaters. I have not read the book or watched the movie to provide a legitimate review, however from the feed back I've seen, it appears that the BlackMan is negatively portrayed, attacked, and stereotyped as the (no good ni**as) we all love to hate.

Many reviews attack Perry's work for contributing to the destruction of the image of the BlackMan. It is no secret that we live in a society, where the BlackMan is depicted as a sociological menace, lacking the ability to prosper and uplift himself and his people. At the same time, there seems to be this notion of dependency between blackmen and blackwomen. Which argues that it is not the blackman that holds the weight or foundation of the family, instead, given the lack of good blackmen, women have taken on this role. I wont address the level of truth of that statement however, I do believe that society has a moral obligation to uplift the blackman. Over 200 years of slavery, segregation, discrimination, and racial destruction hinders the prosperity of the blackman, and yet, he is strong enough to fight through such adversity and make it to another day.

So, to all my Blackmen, this note is for you........

You have risen from the ashes like a phoenix (#NoKanye).

You have built a nation and surpassed all expectations.

Under the bludgeoning of chance, your hard-work, determination and kind heart has persevered. Your beauty is unimaginable, and your love conquers all. You overcome at the face of adversity, and stand strong for your beliefs. Your smile, brightens the gloomiest kind of day. Your passion, is so amazing, leaving me speechless. Your love, loyalty, respect are all unconditional to those who are deserving. You are a son, a brother, a father, and a king. I love you, I appreciate you, and I thank you.

Love,

Yenory

"You illegal little b*tch": Would the battle between blacks and browns ever end?

A few years back, I got the opportunity to see the play Platanos and Collard Greens, which exposes the ongoing feud between blacks and Latinos in the context of interracial relationships. I must say I never truly experienced this type of racism mainly because at first glance people think I am black. More importantly due to my dark skin complexion I can easily navigate both worlds and be easily accepted. I have dated a lot of African American men (it seems to be my preference) and I often hear phrases like "Oh, I didn't know your girl was Spanish, well at least she is black" or "You are not really in a interracial relationship because you look black." However, interracial relationships is not the only battle field between blacks and Latinos. In this recession Latinos mainly illegal immigrants are being accused of stealing jobs from African Americans, which has led them to be unemployed.

Now, lets keep it real unfortunately the majority of the jobs done by illegal immigrants are not the type of jobs done by African Americans. I am yet to meet an African American who mows grass for $5 p/h or works in agriculture making $5p/h sometimes even less. Often as a result of their illegal status immigrants, which comes from all over the world are forced to take those types jobs in their quest for the Sueño Americano (American Dream). Their intent is not to come to America to deprive others of their rightful jobs, far from it. All these immigrants want to do is save money, take care of their families back "home" and one day go back to give them a better future. Although there are a lot of illegal immigrants in this country, there also an equal amount of legal immigrants whom like myself pay taxes and do things the "right way".

A few days ago, I was ridding the bus on my way to work, and as the bus driver pulled up to the next top everyone ran over to try to get in line to secure a place in the already crowded vehicle. (If you are not from NYC and have no idea what riding the MTA is like, here is a brief description. You pay your fare, get inside and mind your business. If it happens to be rush hours forget about sitting down, and prepare to be bumped, pushed and stepped on by passengers who want to get to their destination because the bus is always crowded.) With that being said the bus driver (who happens to be a Latino) opened the doors and allowed everyone to come inside, suddenly I hear an African Woman yell "You illegal little b*tch, don't you dare challenge me". At this point I looked over to see who she was talking to, and I saw a little girl who couldn't be older than 8 years of age. I was in shock, because the woman was yelling at her and calling her names and cursing every Spanish person on that bus, because the little girl bumped her on her way in. The anger in that woman's voice was indescribable and it really made me think about the "Blacks vs Browns" battles everyone talks about but I had yet to experience. However do we really have to battle each other instead of helping one another?

Please post your thoughts on this issue and any stories you might have! I am extremely interested on what everyone has to say about this topic!