We have all seen the countless memes about your MCM does ______ but has never ______. We have seen the various tweets pitting one aspect of black interest against another and using it as a blueprint to show the deficiencies in black people collectively, but there's a major problem in doing that. Black people are not one dimensional, despite what mainstream entertainment tells you. There is no limitation on blackness. When we feed into the limited representations of ourselves we alienate the flexibility of what it is to be human.
As a whole, there are not many other cultures who practice this type of "conscious" shaming on each other. Some act as if there is a rule book or an unspoken guide to what black culture can be inclusive of. While I completely understand that there is a vast difference between jail culture and black culture, the lines between turn up and lift up are not always black and white.
There are black doctors who love to turn up at the club, there are educators who love to travel, there are activists who love to twerk, there are black sophisticates who read and listen to trap and the list goes on. Robbing ourselves from the ability to fully express all sides of our complexity feeds into the narrative that people of color are less than human. The rights of passage to being black are far and wide – we can not be reduced to simple stereotypes.
What makes Black existence the coveted lifestyle that it is – is the ability to surpass barriers and time. We are found all across the world and with a variety of experiences and perspectives. No one narrative fits all. If the purpose or intent of that kind of post is to educate those who are ignorant of the history and depth of Black Culture it is best to not be condescending during teachable moments. In the era of "cancel culture" where one disagreeable act cancels any other amount of great work, we have to be an advocate for nuance. There are layers, context, and intent with anything. Always keep in mind we are capable of running a country, smoking a blunt, while Jay plays in the background – at the same damn time.
