Prisoner Blackness

Is our blackness to be worn as a badge of honor or is it a chain-linked fence that curtails aspirations and makes failure acceptable? This is the question that I believe must be individually and collectively examined in the black community. For many of us, we have adopted a communal approach that forces black to toe an invisible line of black authenticity. Where style of talk, aspirations and who one chooses to date must be measured against the choices of a silent majority that seems to dictate one's level of blackness. The question is whether or not this is a mentality is liberated or simply of a transformed mentality that originated in the confines of slavery where whites set the limits on black action and created the norms of the black community. Were the struggles of the past fought for blacks to be seen as individuals and to break from the shackles of monolithic identification? Or was it simply to break from white control to a more "acceptable" black elite that shapes the opinion of our people. In reality, our blackness should be worn as a badge of pride, but we must allow for individuals to be shaped by blackness in whatever way they choose. We cannot allow for to conformity to alienate those whose idea of blackness does not coincide with our system of beliefs. We must allow for blacks to be free to allow for their identity and understanding of blackness to be shaped by their experiences. If we cannot do this, then the desire for liberation will continue to be an illusion that lies outside the realm of the masses of our people.