"It's Like That"

1983...Years before I was even thought about, Run DMC released a song titled "It's Like That." This song was ranked number 40 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Imagine that...A song that talks about real world problems being one of the greatest Hip Hop songs...Hmmm. Check the lyrics for a minute.

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Click here to see lyrics

So anyway the lyrics in the song are so relevant to what is going on today, in 2011. 28 years later, blacks still dealing with the same ish and hmm, apparently that's the way it is. But hold up, hold up. Why hasn't something been done about these issues plaguing the black community. The first verse talks about unemployment rates at record highs, hmmm, thats a problem today. Jobs are going and people can't work, people can't work, welp thats more crime to deal with, more issues of idle hands and we all know where idle hands lead. Crazy thing though, with all of the ideas of progression this government sells to us every single day, why have blacks been the bottom of the barrel with certain issues for as long as blacks have been in this country. Talk about the "American Dream." Well apparently, that is just for specific skin tones and the darker ones ain't it.

28 years later. The major problems in the black community are not just from society, if we could only get past the societal woes and pick ourselves up by the boot straps, I know we can all rise from what is plaguing the black community these days. Too much money out there for people to go back to school but no one wants to commit to four years to get a degree...We won't do that but we will go out and complain about being underpaid, not being able to change jobs because the money was good at one point. Like these lyrics say,
"You should have gone to school, you could've learned a trade
But you laid in the bed where the bums have laid
Now all the time you're crying that you're underpaid
It's like that (what?) and that's the way it is
Huh!"
Man, if we don't take advantage of this little thing called education, we aren't going to keep up with this moving economy and we will surely stay at the bottom. Regardless of what people think about getting a degree, that is one of the few things that will keep us recession free. Blacks have to make the move to keep up because otherwise, when those poverty reports come out, it will have Blacks with the most poverty because we aren't doing what we need to do to rise to the occasion. Yes, it is hard out there but if it was easy, there would be no reason to go for because everybody would have it. Go for your dreams. Shoot for the stars...Otherwise, people who do not have our best interest at heart will be out there, making our decisions for us...

"It is in fact a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time—for we are bound by that—but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time"
- T.S Eliot

Make it happen because it starts with YOU.

Do You Doubt the Value of Your Education?

As I scrolled through the daily news a few days ago, I ran into an article posing the idea that college is a waste of time. In the article, the young man thought that putting his talents forth without a higher education was more important than taking time out to be educated. He received an internship to pursue his desire to be an entrepreneur instead of going to college. People have plenty of reasons not to go to college. This opportunity that the young man in the article earned is great but one thing we must not forget about many of the entrepreneurs that we know of today is that...THEY WENT TO COLLEGE. Whether it was for four years or one, they took the opportunity to explore the option. They might not have liked it but how many of them would have been as successful without the entrance into college, at some point?
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That is all well, it really is but for those of you who have a college degree, have you ever doubted or found that your degree was not worth the heartache, headache, blood, sweat and tears put into those four years for a piece of paper with your name on it? In all honesty, I cannot say that I have not doubted my degree. Though I am fresh out of college, about a month free of a 15 credit hour week, I find that many of my peers are jobless, grad-school-less, and clueless as to their next move. I myself have been blessed with a great job that will open many doors for me as well as give me the opportunity to do what I love, public service. But for those many peers and fellow graduates, graduating college means a whole new world of worries, woes, and lots of bills...So, what exactly does a college degree do for me? (As I can only speak for myself)

Coming from the place I was raised in, I am grateful to have the opportunity to get out of that town and experience life, uninhibited and uncensored. Going to college was the best thing I could have done for myself and my future family. I gained so much knowledge in and outside of the classroom, much which would not have been offered had I stayed at home and just worked straight out of high school. For me, college was a huge step into a life that I know I could have only through the access of the network that matriculating through a higher degree could offer. The invaluable lessons I've learned, the people I have met, the classes I have taken, all make me the person I am today. Now college may not be for everyone, I can attest to that, but everyone can have a shot at making that decision for themselves. Had it not been for the support of my family and friends, I could have easily taken the route back home and in Back Yard University, much like many of my peers from high school. Not to knock their decision because to each his own, but for me, going back home was not an option. No matter how bad college was going, I never considered going back home to what I knew was comfortable. College forced me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to look deep inside and reflect on what I really needed to gain from the experience. For many, college is a step that is not an option. For some, college is a way to gain access to education. For some college is their key to unlocking many doors to opportunities that will be afforded to them later in life. For me, college did all of that plus more. According to statistics, I was not supposed to be there. According to me, I had no choice but to make it happen. No matter what happened in the course of the four years of undergrad, I know that I am better, wiser and more prepared to go forward in life and do what I was born to do, make a difference...

What has your degree done for you?