Hello UI faithful. The following is a top 10 list of misconceptions made by the Black community, or whit I like to refer to as… CONFESSIONS AGAINST POPULAR OPINION.

1. “You don’t need to depend on anyone but yourself to make it in this world.                     ”

-The reality is that you need people to survive let alone make it in the world. Between the good ol’boy system, and the fraternities that exist both collegiately and through work experience you need the man or woman next to you to help you achieve the success you seek. Your boss right now has more than likely attended college with other bosses or people in higher management, in the same frat or sorority, or was in a training class with the other management when they began with the company. There are a lot of homeless people, jobless men and women, and lonely singles who have had the ideal of doing everything by themselves and not networking. It happens to musicians all the time. We wonder how and why a guy like Trinidad James is eating off of music when a guy who really has something to say is still making mixtapes in his momma’s basement. No it’s not America and some other conspiracy out there keeping conscious music from getting out there. It’s the fact that the conscious person needs to network and market him or herself, and have not done so. Can we do it alone… The answer is no.

2.“You can’t get a job in this economy… Especially not a Black man. Thanks OBAMA.                                               ”

-That is one of the biggest loads of BS I have ever heard. There are always jobs. The real question is are you willing to work. Telemarketing services, restaurants, and department stores are always hiring. For a lot of people the problem is the fact that the job you are able to get is and will not pay your bills (whether need based or unnecessary) and other convinces.  SO guess what… You simply have to do more than 1 thing. Honestly your actual work ethic comes into play at this point. Admit it… You have turned down jobs, even not even applied for certain positions because they either did not pay enough, or you felt that they were simply beneath you. So what is you can’t just sit on your butt and collect a check like someone else. Not every person is the same. There are the kids who talk in class that never get caught… Then there are these kids who cough and get sent to the principal’s office. So you have to work harder than the next man… Big deal. Then there’s the blaming of Obama… Please. Back in 2009 people were fighting for a job at Mickey D’s and the US was so unemployed that it made national news. Fast forward to 2014 you sit at you 40hrs work week JOB with HEALTH INSURANCE and still he’s F’ing up the country GTFO with that.

3. “Me… Shoo I’m out here grinding getting this money at my 9-5.” 

-No you’re not. The fact that you have a 9-5 job tells me that you are not “grinding” or “getting money” at all. The fact is you are sitting back on your butt and allowing the cooperate world run by the same people who you feel oppress us take care of you. Companies are in the business of making money not giving it away. Knowing that do you really think they are paying you what you are worth? Again the answer is no. Just like you when going to your local grocery store, business look for deals and discounts. If your actions can earn them 100k for the month and they then pay you 5% of that for the year which is $60k for the year, you still feel is if you have a good job. That’s not what people who truly make money do. People who make money want to be paid in full and control their own destiny and work days… Not waking up every morning on time and doing what they are told in fear that they will lose their pennies that the “Masters” give out for earning their big boy money.

4.”Women don’t want a good man… All they want are Assholes to treat them badly.                         ” 

-This cannot be further from the truth. Most women want a good man. No one wants to be treated like crap… Nobody. The problem isn’t whether the man is good or bad… The real issue is your confidence. Ass holes have all the confidence in the world because they don’t give a damn. This means they have zero expectations and therefore do not seek validation from said woman. Sadly many women are blinded by this and mistake it for confidence. You have to find that delicate mix between confidence and humbleness that a woman is looking for. In many instances people try and mirror the whiny R&B singer/ “Do-Boy” persona to try and catch a woman which does not work. Although women scream for these guys at the concerts, it is not truly what most women want. You will be seen as thirsty and they will move on. It’s your job as a man to be a leader, and give the woman the confidence to follow you. There is a saying that that goes… “I can lead because she has my back… And she has by back because I can lead.” This is something men need to implement in their lives so they can exude the confidence it takes to have the woman they truly want and love.

5. “Obama ain’t done nothin for me the whole time he’s been in office.”

-Ha! I’m sorry but it’s comical that people actually believe this. Let’s start with the fact that this is more than likely “water cooler” talk. The fact that you have a job to go to and are able to pay your bills or at least pay enough to survive is a HUGE indicator that there is much that he HAS done. At one point I bet you were on unemployment like over 67% of America. You collected you benefits and prayed for the opportunity to work. Fast forward to 2014 you are now working and complaining about the president that made it possible for you to go back to work. Oh and let’s not forget that you are able to purchase a home and get a reasonable loan to do so. The prime rate is back to 3.14% from the 12.4% that it was back post George W. Foreclosures have almost gone down. He deemed Arm loans to be illegal. This basically means if you lose your home it is simply because you failed to meet the requirement. I worked at Wachovia during this time as a loan counselor and had many instances where someone was about to commit suicide because the debt they had accumulated simply by purchasing a home. We can now say that this is not our reality… Yet he has done nothing? And let’s be honest here. Black people with the deadly 2 which are High Blood Pressure and Diabetes were not getting the health coverage they needed because insurance companies had the right to deny them because of “pre-existing illnesses”. Now because of the reform people with all kinds of problems can get the medical attention they need. They don’t even want to call it “Obama-Care” anymore because its working and people are happy. Personally I feel it was a way to weed us out of society but that’s another story. The point is he has done an amazing job with cleaning the poop smeared floor that we asked him to clean with a toothbrush.

6. “I mean… All the facts are there. It says so in this meme I read.”

-Arrraaaggghhhh! The most maddening thing that I have seen in these past few years is the popularity of the meme. They are funny at times and are interesting. They tell jokes and give some valid information from time to time… BUT THEY ARE NOT ABSOLUTELY FACTUAL!!! Forgive me for screaming this but people out there are missing the point of a political or socially conscious meme. It is to simply to engage people in conversation, get a message out there, or for you to do a bit of research on your own. It is not a cheat sheet. You still have to seek knowledge and find answers for yourself.  Here is an example of what I’m saying… A meme once said that basically that broccoli has more protein than red meat. For months people were going around saying that broccoli has more protein than red meat and that it was a proven reason to become vegan. Well upon research it as found that this was a very doctored philosophy. The red mead in question was cooked to the point of being well done, while the broccoli remained raw. If you cook anything to a given point it will lose nutrients and value. The same test that was done with a medium cooked piece of red meat completely blasted away any notion of broccoli containing more protein. See my point. Remember memes are not absolute. They are simply propaganda… Some positive… Some not.

7. “Girl these booty injections are gonna step up my game for real.”

– Ridiculous… You simply look ridiculous. The only thing you are doing is setting yourself up to have sex with a dude that more than likely does not value you, but a cluster of fat cells, and synthol oil injected into your posterior. Most of the time when people get plastic surgery it is cosmetic, because they lack the confidence in themselves as they are. I’m not going to preach about being yourself or anything, but consider this… The effects of these injections only last for a small period of time. That means that you only have that small widow to attract people to the “big booty” you. Once it wears off its back to the drawing board with another few hundred to a few thousand dollars to keep this dangerous illusion going. So what’s the goal? Are you trying to catch a man…? Are you trying to feel better about yourself? Attention only goes so far in a person’s life and really… Most men will want to have sex with you… But no one will marry you. Sorry ladies but you need more than that to be appealing to most REAL men. Frankly you are disgracing the black community. You are becoming a living reminder of the atrocities that were committed against Sarah Baartman. Look her up before you alter yourself to look like her. It is almost like a reminder of oppression and the devaluation of our women.

8. “Yeah I talk this way, and so what? I’m black and they just need to accept me for who I am.”

-No you simply sound uneducated. Being that the 2^nd half of my double major is Phonetics this belief angers me more than anything. I speak well and have heard all the stereotypes about that like “I wanna be white.” Then “You hate yourself” and also “You think you are better than your own people.” Yeah, yeah… I have heard it all before. The sad thing is that most black people have adopted this SLAVE mentality and accepted it as black culture. Although my ancestors before me were forced to speak in this slack-jawed and horrifically improper manner does not mean this is a part of my culture. It is an atrocity. Do you even know why we were forced to speak the English language in such a manner? It’s because slave owners wanted to keep us as animalistic as they could and keeping us STUPID. No educations other than how to plow a field or serve a dinner was permitted, and if you did speak properly you were beaten like a dog for it. Yet knowing all this black people want to make fun of and deem other blacks who speak properly as hating their own race and wanting to be white. If anything you are perpetuating the slave mentality that you claim to be fighting against. Why ridicule someone for mastering the language they speak. In Mexico there is a population that speaks what is considered Castilian Spanish, and there is another that speaks what we here in Texas call Tex-Mex which is one of the most improper ways to speak Español. Guess which one is considered the lower class way of speaking… Right. No other country in the world does this but us. Escape the slave mentality and give yourself a higher standard.

9. “The sellouts have changed the game and taken the fun out of hip-hop.”

-No… We the intellectuals have taken the fun out of hip-hop. I remember back in the days of Das EFEX and Digital Underground when we wore loud colors and actually danced. Music was fun free and had a sense of whimsy to it. We all long for those days, especially since all the crap that we listen to now. Since that time the smarter hip hop heads have not only killed the fun, but have lumped it in with coonery and being a detriment to black people. Don’t get me wrong… I LOVE AND LIVE OFF OF CONCIOUS HIP HOP. However, I had to realize that I had filled my musical plate with so many serious topics and intellectually thought provoking track that I had lost what it meant to have fun with the music I love. Let’s take an artist like Waka Flaka for example. He admits himself that he should not be taken seriously, nor does he claim that he is a good rapper for that matter. He is about having fun and turning up if you will. Knowing this about his the intellectual crowd has vilified him as a coon and also as a horrible example of what black youth should be. He never said he was an example of anything people. He is simply a dude having fun. It is up to parents to teach their kids reality from truth. It is also up to parents to be role models instead of allowing the media to raise your kids. That’s where your fun went black America. You killed it yourself with turning the fun lovers into villains, and not being the true guiding force in your children’s lives. No one felt this way about Shock G aka “Humpty Hump” when he was talking about sex with multiple women and drinking heavily… So why not give the new “Humpty” style artist a chance? Let’s not be so quick to blame certain artists for having fun then turn around and call them evil for portraying a negative image. Now if they are serious about music and still put out poison then by all means have at it. Just let the ones who want to have fun have it, and allow them to bring the smile back to rap.

10. “That dude (Scarface/Frank Lucas/John Gotti/Iceberg Slim/Alpo Martinez… You get the picture) was the man. He handled his business like real G.                                    

I feel this one is the most important ideal to debunk. All the men we mentioned above were criminals… People who broke the law for financial gain… Killed… Forced a woman to sell what was most precious to her… Sold poison to the bodies and minds of people… NOT HEROES!!! I cannot say that enough. We glorify these men on a daily basis though merchandise, movies, tattoos and other means to honor these diseases on our community. It is the saddest thing I have ever witnessed. Think about the major problems of the inner city. 3 of the major problems are murder, drugs, and prostitution. We sit here and say that these things are ruining the community… Yet we hold men like this as the God’s of the “hood”? What is wrong with the state of our people?!To sit here and think that all three of these things hurt us daily and we worship the causes. I have never seen a people so hell bent on their destruction than any other. Here is what make this so poisonous… It would be one thing if it were a simple matter of teaching children that this is not a way of life. However, many adults feel this way about these criminal minds and because of the current state of minority communities, this ghastly method for living life works and daily people are exposed to visual evidence that it works. If we did not glorify the violence and wrong doing or give bad men such as these passes simply because they are from the same neighborhood, then the momentum would shift and the true lives they lead would be exposed as the cyanide that it is. It kind of falls back on the basic rules of supply and demand. If there is no demand for the evil that consumes our community… There will be no demand for it.

We have more to come so keep looking out for more CONFESSIONS AGAINST POPULAR OPINION. Do you agree? Or do you have your own confessions? Till next time UI.