by J.S. Buford
For many of my peers – thirty plus but still under forty, HipHop grown up – 2009 will live on in infamy. I recall reading about the Great Depression in middle school, discussing the probability of economic collapse in AP government classes in high school, and debating its encroachment over jack and coke, while cheering and cringing at Mike Tyson with my fellow activists in college. Yelling, drinks spilling, folks tripping over non-existent objects…. it was the best of times.
Seriously though. 2009 was tough. And there are plenty of reasons to be disgruntled with what’s transpiring in this country. Undoubtedly, many of us could draft a list as long as I am tall detailing the ills and shortcomings of the United States of America.
I crossed paths with a former client of mine, back during by days as a modern day sharecropper with the banking industry. We chatted it up a bit. For the sake of his privacy, let’s just refer to him as Penne. Penne is Nigerian, freshly returned from the homeland. Though, I didn’t ask, Penne happily shared with me his reasoning for his return. Our exchange covered the gamete; from the blatant political corruption he encountered during his travels, images of young men and women getting shot for speaking out against tyranny, the state of the African Diaspora, President Barack Obama, the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight, and the poverty, the poverty, the poverty.
Penne spent his last to return and spoke glowingly of the relief he feels at being able to speak his mind without fear of being chopped or shot to death, even if no one listens. He shared in detail his ambitions to set up a brick and mortar business, possibly invent something of value to the marketplace, or dive two feet first into a service industry to achieve financial independence.
Mind you, he wasn’t seeking security. Brother wasn’t looking for a job. His stated goal was financial independence. And if you don’t know, there is a difference.
Many of us make fun of, mock, eschew, and even offer up disdain of recently arriving immigrants to this immigrant country. Too many just don’t get it, but they get it. That’s why when you look at the supermajority of the multimillionaires and business owners (there is a strong, undeniable correlation) produced in this country; you soon realize they are disproportionately immigrant. Or let’s be provincially ignorant for a moment. Not born and bred quote unquote Americans; whatever that means.
Consider for a moment, that despite the idea of job security being about as romantic a notion as Republicans actually being committed to anything other than obstructing the Obama administration…I digress. Is it not true that most citizens seek security from a job, and then seek maximum security with a second and third (sounds like prison, eh?), rather than financial independence?
I always found it ironic that citizens manipulated by fear, provincial ignorance, racism, sexism, and various other isms can be marshaled pretty much like cattle to make herculean efforts to destroy what is good about this country, while simultaneously being duped out of it.
See, what inspired Penne to return in the face of the current economic crisis was the promise of this country holds for those who are willing.
Yes, the promise.
For despite all of our problems, the United States still offers one of the best opportunities in the world – whether you be a beggar, high class or low class, hooded out or black brass – to alter the circumstances that color our lives in a relatively short amount of time.
Freedom. Financial Independence. Entrepreneurship. These are bedrocks of what made this country great. A destination place for the downtrodden, disenfranchised, and well to do alike. The promise. And simultaneously, it is the denial of promise that has weakened this country, and ultimately stunted its growth. Too bad Congress doesn’t spend more time creating policies that spur more of it.
Yes, we can learn a lot from Penne and many of the immigrants who cross the oceans on a raft, equipped with nothing but their desire for the promise.
Black America especially. Yes, I said it.
It is the reason why Penne who is no stranger to discrimination in this country returned anyway. He doesn’t take what we’ve grown accustomed to for granted. Penne believes every second, moment, and experience is ripe with opportunity. And if we can marshal the will, anything is possible. The isms be damned. Penne doesn’t hope to. Penne will start a business. That’s what he came here for.
Faith and hope absent desire and effort are empty notions. We, rather, you will or you won’t. You are either living or dying. There is no in between. If you are Christian, then you believe the breath of life is metaphorically the gift of choice. Regardless of religious persuasion, ethnicity, sex, or whatever isms exist. We all are blessed with it.
Once again, there is plenty to complain about. However trust, Penne certainly isn’t complaining right now. He’s chosen to spend his time celebrating his faith and indulging his love of his family, friends, and food. And when he awakes tomorrow morning he’ll get right to work, but not for someone else. For me, Penne is an interesting (and contagious) reminder of what it means to be a U.S. citizen in this country. And hopefully he can serve as a source of inspiration for those of us feeling down on our luck this season.
Merry Christmas!
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