My Personal Crusade

"Loving Black people is my life and using this vehicle to combat the negative images of Black America is my fight." - Nameka R. Bates

Greeting to all those who have decided to join me in starting your day with positive thoughts and uplifting spirits. The quote that you see above will be my daily mantra to guide me in sharing with you my daily research on the positive things happening in our communities, to and for Black people. I feel that this blog is necessary because I am frankly tired of hearing about all the negative things going on in the world. I work on a college campus, where everyday I see positive undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and staff people who are progressively impacting lives, so I know that these things exist. I share this blog with you so that you can see as well.

A few weeks ago, my mother sent me an email that had over 50 photos of Black athletes, entertainers, politicians, and musicians and their White wives. I was not as appalled by the photos as my mother clearly was through her desire for my immediate reaction to this email. I explained to my mother that the greatest problem with this email was not those who were in the photos but those who were not. I explained to her that one of the things that we have to do as Black people is stop allowing our state in America to be dictated by those who want us to believe that this is our reality, when in fact it is not. I proceeded to make her a deal. I agreed to spend some time searching the internet for Black athletes, entertainers, politicians, and musicians and their Black wives. And sure enough, on the very same website that most of the photos from her email were probably taken from, I found triple the amount of Black couples than I did interracial.

This was not the first time that I felt the need to combat the images that our media chooses to portray of "Blacks in America". I attended the Brothers of the Academy Think Tank in Memphis, Tennessee last year, where I had decided that we need more access to the amazing things that we are doing in our communities. I realized at that meeting that if we want to see the positive impact we are having, we must utilize some of the same vehicles of communication that others utilize.

In all honesty, this blog is certainly more for me than it is for any other purpose. As an administrator on my campus, impacting the lives of hundreds of Black students everyday, I have to continue to find ways to keep myself motivated. I am personally tired of being bombarded on my campus, in the media, and almost every other aspect of my life, with constant propaganda of why I should not be steadfast toward the betterment of my community. I need this blog! I need this blog to remind myself of why each day I rise from my bed, get in my car, and drive 10 minutes to my office to play the small part of preparing our future leaders to somehow raise awareness and make their own mark in the history books.

Disclaimer: This blog is not ment to disregard the aspects of our community that are broken and destroyed. There are plenty of ways that you can find out about people, places, and things that are systematically creating spaces for us to look down on our race. This blog is not that space. While I will certainly take under consideration that negativity exists within our world, I will not utilize this blog to contribute to people's insatiable desire to deal with their own personal misery by enjoying someone else's. If you would like to share any comments about anything that I post or say on this blog, please be aware that I will also not allow you to contribute either. I will very strictly monitor those who will have the ability to share their thoughts and information, as this will truly be a space for uplifting with awareness and acknowledgment. I believe that there is something positive in all of us, even when negative things happen. I hope to begin a movement of condemning those things (television shows, news media, radio shows, blogs, etc.) that will surely send a message to our children and those who are unfamiliar with the true value and worth of Black Life that we are not worthy of sharing this space on Earth.

I hope that you enjoy this daily dosage of positive Black things about positive Black people.