All posts by Dr. James Thomas Jones III

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Prince Harry’s Master Class to Black Men

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If such things were not routine on social media sites, the audacious statement from some Black women that it took Prince Harry to show Black men “how to protect a Black woman” would have been alarming. Unfortunately for the sake of such critics, I, and the vast majority of Black men, have become desensitized to such commentary from a small group of Black women who appear to be afflicted with a host of psychological maladies.  

This matter reverts my mind to social critic Ishmael Reed’s assertion that “a people can be no stronger than their stories.”  Reed’s observation holds much truth regarding how people’s dominant narrative reveals much about how they view their past, present, and future. Hence, the assertion that Prince Harry is conducting a “master class” to Black men titled “how to protect a Black woman” speaks volumes about the past, present, and future perspective of a portion of Black women regarding the uselessness of Black males.

Now, the salacious allegation that I am a glutton for punishment may be verified by the fact that I find the comment sections of issues such as this one particularly riveting. The anonymity of message boards presents an unadulterated glimpse into the psyche of disgruntled Black women. So, while this issue was trending, I followed the lead of famed NFL Wide Receiver Terrell Owens and grabbed my popcorn and read through hundreds of comments regarding Prince Harry’s “Master Class” on “how to protect a Black woman” as proven by his treatment of Meghan Markle, the former Duchess of Sussex.

As I expected, some Black women celebrated Prince Harry’s actions while issuing scathing critiques of Black men. I was surprised that these comments were counter-balanced by a cross-section of Black America that not only challenged the prevailing narrative, but also seized it for their own purposes. A task that I have advised my community to do in this space on numerous occasions.

If I did not know any better, I would have been convinced that those lauding Prince Harry’s treatment of his wife did not live in the Black America that reared me and droves of others like me.

Although it would be deceitful to state that I do not know Black men who absconded their familial responsibilities, such realities do not blind me to the fact that I hail from a family of Black men whose foremost priority is taking care of their home. Within my Black America, I witnessed Black men work themselves into the grave as they attempted to provide for their offspring despite the presence of demonic entities known as prejudice, discrimination, racial bigotry, and institutionalized racism. The men that I speak of are analogous to fallen service members who gave all for those that they loved.

If provided the opportunity, I would tell the relatively small cadre of Black women fawning over Prince Harry’s actions to treat him as they have treated Black men who routinely accomplish the same task. They should purse their lips, give him their signature side-eye look and inform him that “you don’t get credit for doing what you are supposed to do.”

Seize and change the narrative y’all.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.

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The Time has come to Take Definitive Action to Save America’s Working-Class Voters from Themselves: The Call for a Pre-Qualifying Test

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As an African-American Studies Professor, I long ago realized the sickening reality that America’s traditions of unadulterated irony and shameless contradiction began when slave owner Thomas Jefferson penned the words that “All men are created equal.” In the wake of the most pregnant moment in this nation’s history, America birthed a disappointing child that has yet to display character traits such as truth, justice, and honor. Such failings has forced African-Americans to engage in a never-ending battle for crucial politico-economic resources.

The battlefield for this contest is a political arena that theoretically provides all Americans some level of influence via its “one man, one vote” ethos. Unfortunately, a cursory examination of American history displays that many times, “the franchise”, the most crucial component in America’s Representative Democracy, has not always been accessible to all Americans.

Succeeding generations will review this moment in time and pen a historical record that details the shocking reality that the vast majority of our contemporaries lacked understanding of the vote’s supreme utility. There is no greater evidence for this assertion than the average American’s propensity to vote against their interests.

Poor and working-class Americans’ penchant to vote against their interests has grown to a level that the time has arrived for decisive action. This unbridled display of ignorance must be stopped “by any means necessary.”

Although I assert the following with a heavy heart, it is time that this nation to institute a logic test as a prerequisite for access to the franchise. As a historian of the African-American experience, any call for a qualifying test prior to the casting of a vote terrorizes doesn’t sit well within my soul. I am well-versed in the literacy tests and other qualifiers used by Whites to prevent Blacks from voting in this nation. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. America needs to be protected from the hordes of uninformed voters whose allegiance is won via phrase-mongering instead of proposed political policy.

I am certain that a few skeptics will consider this call a covert means of lessening the influence of a particular political party, it is not. This request flows from a desperate attempt to save America from low information voters guided by emotion, not intelligence.

One could argue that one of the fatal flaws of America’s Representative Democracy is that it provides all citizens an opportunity to voice their opinion via the vote; unfortunately, those political utterances are increasingly motivated by everything but intelligence. Unfortunately for Democracy’s sake, far too many Americans have proven incapable of evaluating their present situation and voting with an enlightened understanding of where the nation needs to go in the future for their lives to improve.

It is a bit embarrassing that the most marginalized among us are not the most engaged in the political process. They have yet to understand that their non-participation dooms them to continued politico-economic marginality. Unfortunately for the sake of Democracy and equality, America’s poor and working-class citizens have detached from the political process and doomed themselves to an inheritance of misery and suffering. Political strategies of misinformation will never cease by the ruling class as it is a primary pillar in the maintenance of their power quotient. It is only through voter education that this gross exploitation can be appropriately addressed. There appears to be no better way to guarantee the generation of an informed voting populace than to place an obstacle in front of the voting booth. Hopefully, it would raise the general understanding of Americans whose ability to voice their concerns via the ballot is a foundational principle of our representative democracy; I just hope that they have something substantial when they enter the voting booth.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

#ManhoodRaceCulture 

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Why Umar Johnson’s Penchant for Conspiracy Theories Does a Disservice to His Followers

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Unfortunately for Black America, Umar Johnson has reappeared. Yep, despite innumerable promises that his “public career” was over, Umar Johnson is back. If nothing else, Johnson should be applauded for his uncanny knack to break every promise or commitment that he makes to anyone willing to listen to mounds and mounds of his foolishness. In every way, Umar Johnson is nothing more than the latest in a long line of self-proclaimed “Race men” whose antics have retarded the progress of Black America.

Prior exposure to Umar Johnson’s foolishness makes his most recent video essays regarding the tragic death of former Los Angeles Laker superstar Kobe Bryant inevitable.

In response to Bryant’s death, Johnson issued a wild conjecture filled conspiratorial tale whose most tangible support was of a helicopter crash of the incident. The only problem with this crucial piece of evidence was that the footage was not of the crash that led to the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and others. Johnson’s total ignorance regarding this being the incorrect video is in a word, revealing. In fact, it is predictable as none of what can be termed his signature conspiracy theories are evidence-based. His followers are apparently not bothered by a small thing such as evidence.

Make no mistake about it, Umar Johnson’s antics have done a grave disservice to the downtrodden Blacks who follow him. You know the type of people that I am referring to, those whose daily experiences inform their intuition that the deck of life is somehow stacked against them. Devoid of the means of articulating their angst, they turn to the Umar Johnson’s of the world to articulate the voluminous pain that shadows them daily. History will remember many of Umar Johnson’s followers as well-meaning lambs who were victimized by greedy conmen who simultaneously filled their pockets while building towers of self-importance that benefited their followers in no appreciable manner.

Umar Johnson’s roving sideshow serves as the antithesis of Malcolm X’s charge to Black leaders to “Tell the truth.” Instead of truth, Umar Johnson intentionally makes up theories and stories based on nothing other than the fanciful, flighty, and frightening notions of his mind. In many ways, it appears that Umar is actually sharing with the world an internal dialogue that would be best shared on the sofa of some credentialed psychiatrist. Yet, there are those in Black America who are so desperate to make sense of this world that seemingly rests on deplorable principles such as denigrating Blackness at every turn that they not only listen to the conspiratorial stylings of Umar Johnson but allow such foolishness to significantly alter their world. If they are not careful, they will accept Johnson’s implicit argument that blackness dooms them to be oppressed their entire lives.

When one really thinks about it, Umar Johnson’s standard shtick that conveniently attributes tragedies ranging from Kobe Bryant’s death to his own failed endeavors to a yet to be identified conspiracy from “White folk” fashions Whites as Gods capable of destroying the plans of mere Black mortals. I am sure that I do not need to tell you that this reliance on conspiracy theories must be abandoned immediately and replaced with Marcus Garvey’s mantra of “Up, you mighty Race, achieve what you will.”

It is the only reasonable path forward, and that is no conspiracy.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.

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Redefining Cool: Why Black America Must Alter What They Teach Black Boys About Being “Cool”

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There is no room to doubt that despite their obvious diversity, African-American men have historically considered themselves to be the personification of “cool.” This ownership of “the cool” may be the only thing that Black men agree on. Let’s be honest about this, Black men have historically possessed a monopoly on “the cool”.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Black men, “the cool” has proven to be a double-edged sword that boosts self-esteem, yet widens the path toward evil. In hindsight, it is obvious that “the cool” is of little utility beyond the veneer of self-confidence it provides.  

It is this “cool” quotient that African-American men emit via dress, walk, and talk that young Black boys learn to model during their adolescence. According to Richard Majors, the “Cool Pose” is a set of language, mannerisms, gestures and movements that

exaggerate or ritualize masculinity. The Essence of cool is to appear in control, whether through a fearless style of walking, an aloof facial expression, the clothes you wear, a haircut, your gestures or the way you talk. The cool pose shows the dominant culture that you are strong and proud, despite your status in American society…Much of cool pose is ritualistic imitation of peers. If you’re not seen as cool, you’re an outsider. It’s a way to be included.

Considering the present state of African-American males, one is faced with an over-arching question of “Is the “cool pose” working against the formation of healthy male/female relations within Black America?”

A subtle glance at the Black Family would convince any objective person that “the cool” is a negative for African-American males, the women that they create children with, and the alluded to offspring.

Although “the cool” benefits a few African-American males by bolstering their status among peers, it simultaneously ensures their rejection by a larger White society who despise its manifestation in Black bodies. Make no mistake about it, a segment of African-American males’ well-documented inability to secure meaningful gainful employment, a pre-requisite to marriage and the starting of a family, hinders every aspect of potential relationships within Black America. History has proven that African-American males who have spent their cultural capital investing in the “cool pose” will eventually find themselves permanently ostracized from mainstream society.

Unfortunately for younger African-American males, their ritualistic imitation of peers frequently leads them to prison, probation, parole, unemployment and/or early death. The “cool pose” is integral to understanding why

  • 1.5 Million African-American Males are involved in the penal system via incarceration (Federal, State, and Local) or on some form of probation.
  • There is a 85% recidivism rate for African-American Males.
  • 60% of African-American males are involved in the penal system for a drug-related crime.
  • In 1979 there were 100,000 Black males in the judicial system, today that number has swelled to 1,500,000.
  • The majority of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails are people of color, people with mental health issues and drug addiction, people with low levels of educational attainment, and people with a history of unemployment or underemployment.

This begs the question of what is Black America to do?

It may be time to forge a socialization process that redefines and promotes a new form of “the cool.” This alteration to a basic element of so many African-American males’ identity would allow Black males to retain their “cool quotient” while directing them toward success. There is no need to argue against the reality that our failure to redirect Black males down a more productive path will lead to the continuation of today’s unfortunate realities. The onus for such an alteration belongs to Black parents and families interested in the success of such individuals; not a “Black leadership cadre” whose in-action all but signals their abdication of such responsibilities.

It is imperative that future generations of Black males abandon what Richard Majors appropriately terms the “cool pose” and replace it with a new view of themselves and what a Black man ought to be and ought to do. Noted poet Gwendolyn Brooks predicted in her poem We Real Cool that the failure to do such all but guarantees that if they fail to do so, “We Die Soon.”

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.

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The Matter of Silence: A Call for Action

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Now, I do not want you to get the impression that I abhor silence. I do not. I have intentionally carved out portions of my day to be in a word, silent. I guess that is not entirely correct as that silence is routinely broken by Jazz pianists such as Red Garland and Ryo Fukui. I find it strange that the same silence that provides comfort has the ability to transform into something that I abhor.  

I am certain that you understand that as an African-American Studies Professor at a Historically Black University that silence from students communicates a series of unfortunate realities that serve as the foundation for much of Black America’s suffering.

My students deafening silence regarding matters ranging from the contributions of Africans to the Jamestown colony through the impact of Reaganomics on Black America communicates an educational deficiency not easily overcome. Although often ignored during discussions of what is best termed a non-representative American educational system, the initial intellectual curiosity inside of every child is slowly eroded via years of “instruction” with little to no utility to Black life. In all fairness to my students, I often wonder if it is possible for them to remain interested in History or any other academic endeavor that never includes anything substantive or relevant to their experience.

Unlike the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the American educational experience that shapes and informs the opinions of African-American schoolchildren seems to avoid racial matters “by any means necessary.” The alluded to lengths include

  • The exclusion of African-American authors addressing matters revolving around Race and identity.
  • The crafting of a historical narrative that keeps the contributions of Blacks on the periphery of issues that they were fully involved in.
  • The continuation of a non-representative ill-equipped faculty and culturally illiterate administration that has little awareness that their presence is offensive to those they have been entrusted to “teach.”  

When combined with a disengaged cadre of parents who have foolishly decided to trust that public schools will educate their children, the above inadequacies serve as a reliable deterrent to the progress of African-Americans via traditional avenues of improvement such as educational achievement and the continuation of the deafening silence that envelopes the Black and Brown youth who populate my courses.

I am sick and tired of this silence. I pray that there are others in my number who are willing to do something about it.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III