Thursday, December 18, 2008

Manhood, Power and Respect

Interesting . . . . This focuses on black men (in London), but some of it applies to manhood in general.
A short documentary film contrasting styles of manhood exhibited by Senator Barack Obama and Rapper/Mogul Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent.
I think this whole video is interesting for what it says about the role of women in this part of our culture - and the failure of mature masculinity to create boundaries and structures to reign in egocentricity.

50 Cent represents a (stereotyped) Red Meme egocentric, power drive in the African American community, while Obama is more of a (stereotyped) Orange Meme self-actualizer. Interesting thing is that Obama has more of a connection with 50 Cent than Reverend Wright (Blue Meme, sort of) or Maya Angelou (Green Meme, sort of) might - he can speak a language (of success and respect) that 50 Cent and other young people like him can hear.



If we want to change the "thug" culture of inner city black men, we need equal parts Bill Cosby and Barack Obama to do so.


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