Jay Poynte
Virginia Beach, VA
A friend of mine, a 30 something black woman, was working full time and going to school part time. Originally from inner city LA, she worked herself out of real poverty after getting pregnant as a teenager by a boy in the projects where she lived with her family. The forced marriage didn’t last and, sadly, the baby died. The courage and determination of this woman to press forward to make something of herself was nothing short of inspiring. Her roll-up-your-sleeves-and-go attitude impressed everyone who worked with her. But not everyone was happy for her. She confided in me that none of the other black women in the office congratulated her when she was offered a significant and well paying promotion. “They’re not happy for me. Nobody even mentioned it.” Bitterness and envy seemed to permeate the environment. I don’t get it. Disunity among the black community including the ‘skin shade prejudice’ within itself hurts everyone and promotes further anger and hardship for all. The most pronounced evidence is in the black-on-black gun violence. The stats are horrifying. They just don’t seem to care about each other. Discouraging.
