When I was growing up I truly realized how fortunate I was to have the parents that I did. Although my Mother and Father divorced when I was 7 years old, the strength of their ensuing friendship remained, and they STILL raised my Sister and I with love, caring and devotion.
One of the things that I'm most proud of is the fact that they learned to appreciate and adapt to the music that we loved...all of it.
I can remember vividly watching my Sister Caroleigh ( who was a gifted musician and singer) strut around the house singing Jackie Wilson's "Baby Work Out," her hips swinging hard to the beat of the music. It used to make my Mom cringe, because she knew about Jackie Wilson's past as a criminal and pimp, and at the time few people knew this but Jackie Wilson had raped singer extraordinaire Patti La Belle.
My Mother was aware of this case because she worked in the Bronx District Attorney's office, so news of that caliber travels...
None the less my Mom kept a watchful eye on us, and still allowed us to form our own opinions about music and who we loved, or liked.
I'm saying all of this to say that every generation has it's share of people that make some of us frown or question young people's tastes, but now more than ever we all need to learn to work with each other.We need to find joy in each other's presence.
Folks my age these days are slightly baffled about some of the "music" of today, I'm the first to admit that I don't get alot of it, but like my Mom did, I'm making a conscious effort to be more open minded, but watchful of the music of the younger folks.
For the Hip Hop generation you too need to understand at least some of the things that we "older folks"are trying to impart to you.We want you to have as much fun with your lives as possible, we want you to fulfil your dreams as much as you can imagine, but we also want you to learn to stand on your own 2 feet and work for the things you desire. We want you to truly realize that all women aren't "bitches and 'ho's, and for the ladies, every man ain't a cash cow, and because you saw him on TV, it don't make him a hottie.
My only true advice is to put Allah (God) in your life first and foremost, and try to be open minded about all generations...in short, let's stay together, because like it or not, or believe it or not at some point you too will reach this age, and I just want you get there lovingly.
We all make our own calendars, a person may die young at 80, or old at 30...Holla !!
Support Live music today tomorrow and always, and support young people's interests.
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1 comment:
yes, i hope that we all try to understand these things. so odd that now we are the ones looking at the music and the culture of youth and are trying to understand it all.
at least we ARE trying. most of the folks my parents age when i was younger just lumped everything as bad. oh and don't forget the record burnings, tho i have seen a bit of that nowdays as well.
it still all comes down to treating people as individuals, not as any one group of people and treating people as you would want to be treated.
i've learned to apprieciate most forms of music and to love quite a few different types, but to push violence and to degrade another human being for the sake of money(and i believe some lyrics are written just to make money)is just wrong and hurtful.
love can save us, respect can heal us. there are so many different things to enjoy and learn from in this life, be it music styles or foods or people and their cultures
i say be open and enjoy.
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