Social media, is new. It is also everywhere, it is this generation’s light bulb. It is at once liberating, as well as pernicious. We have become so addicted to social media that we don’t realize that just ten years ago, we were all into MySpace, Black Planet and Tagged. The major difference between those platforms and FB is those other sites were limited in their reach. They appealed to a certain subset of individuals and very rarely did the groups mix.

FB however is different. On FB you can be whoever and whatever you’d like and more than likely you’ll find like minded individuals who share your viewpoints. Now we have the rise of what some erroneously call the keyboard revolutionary. These are individuals who are pro black on FB but are seemingly intergrationalist outside of cyberspace. There are those who despise these individuals, they are harassed and trolled. They are called out and made to feel as if they are not serving a purpose.

I’m here to stand up for these brothers. I’m a living example of the times that myself and some of the brothers I rotate with were shouted down. We were met with the eye rolling response, “there you go with that black shit.” Now because of the advent of twenty-four hour news cycles and access to sources beyond our generation’s wildest dreams, people are beginning to see that “black shit” is everywhere all around you. When we used to tell you about white supremacy and class-ism and racism and how you need to look to your past, because a person who ignores the past is doomed to repeat it. Now its in your face everywhere.

That doesn’t mean however that we are so pro-black as to cut off our noses to spite our faces. If I hit the lottery and had unlimited resources, I’d probably be assassinated within a year. I, like many, know that I must live here at least for the time being. Going back to Africa is not a real solution for me as I know about as much about Nigeria or Kenya as I do about Colorado Springs or Beverly Hills. My people bled and died to build this demonstration over here and I want my part of it. That means that I have to deal with the dominant culture and find my space within it. I can wish all day long that there was an alternative structure that I could participate in, a structure that would be fairer to people of color, but wishes don’t pay the bills. Wishes don’t keep the lights on, or gas in the car. So what that means is that you have to do what you have to do, even if that means flipping fries at McDonald’s. He is no less a revolutionary than any other brother. To all that think it makes you fake to be enlightened on FB but work a 9 to 5, explain to me what you believe a revolutionary is.

A revolutionary is not someone who dresses up like a Pharaoh or a black panther to take selfies. That’s someone going to a costume party. A revolutionary is that person who sees an issue that needs to be addressed. A revolutionary is not simply a person who gives grand speeches, that’s a demagogue. A revolutionary is a person who puts actions to those words, even if it is after he gets off from work. For all those people who identify with the meme, who laugh and say “yeah, that’s why I can’t get behind them so called black power folks,” ask yourself, do you have a job? When you get off work are you working to improve the plight of our people? Nah, you’re on FB deriding a brother who is at least attempting to turn on the light switch, while your ass sit in the dark “because you’re happeeeee!!!”

Drops mic, and walks from stage drippin blackness!!!!