What I Think About Black History Month

with our society these days. It's a lot going on kids, and so people would ask me my thoughts on this subject, and my thoughts are varied, and I'm gonna share some of them with you, of course, because we got what we do on the show. We share thoughts. All thoughts are my own, of course, and it's just things that I feel and think on some level. I I was born during the Civil Rights movement. I first went to

school during desegregation and bussing. I was inside, was in school when they were it was gang ridden, and I didn't get myself out of there. I entered a workforce where there were jobs. I did not get approaches on that get because I was black. Then I raised children at some point and got to see the world do that situation as a parent, as a black parent, and as a black parent to mix children, and I'm an older man watching got to see a president be black,

and I don't mean Clinton a little joke there. And I'm an older man seeing a lot of stuff go down and in politics in America and the world. So my thoughts are always going to be very varied because I went through all the different experiences and many of you have to do you right there, right there with me. I always found it funny that Black History Month was in February, which we all always did, because that's like, you know, that's a short month of the year, right.

I always a joke about that, but I always thought, Okay, so it's during a winter time, and I was like, well, at black is like the party, like the party, so it should be during the summertime. Where I said a tongue in cheek, of course, but I always we always made jokes about that, But I get why at one point we had to have a Black History most so to speak, just to kind of remind people that black

that Black history is American history. That's completely why I always say that all the time, Black history is American history. And I always wanted to believe that the the purpose was to accent those Black Americans who did stuff for America that was very positive going to school for me in the seventies and eighties, there were a lot of

textbooks left a lot of these folks out. There were a lot of there were a lot of teaching that didn't happen in the classroom about other peoples of color that did a lot of you know, a lot of building of America. Most of that back then was independent study. For me, I didn't go look for it, or somebody would tell me about it, and I didn't look for it. Nowadays a little different. You can well google, we'll tell

you everything, but like it's a little more different. When I was a kid and I was a teenager and young adult, I had to search for it. So Black Astrey Month would say, I'll go, oh, I never knew that that. I never knew that either, And it gave me a sense of pride being a black man, to see somebody looks like me accomplished things. And that's that's the thing I think about Black Astry Month even today. The thing about Black Astrey Month or Latin American Heritage Months,

or Pride Months, or at least these special months. I know that folks who are not any of those groups. I think it's ridiculous. There's a Portgan Pride parade in New York, there's an Italian right Irish, you know, say Patrick's Day. Basically everything you happen, there's all these different things. And I think one side may say is it's separatists, Like you say, you're still separating yourselves. You're separating yourself. Why do we have to celebrate that, your blackness or whatever?

And I just I don't know, I guess I just I don't see it that way. I just see it. I see it as who cares? We have a month that's black history? Well, why does it bother you so much? Especially if you're part of a group where you're always celebrated. I mean, there's all it's just it's always celebrated. And yes, we all want the utopia of post racial life and that everybody's treated equally and everybody's and everybody's presented equally. It just is not happening. It's happening in some areas

here and there, but not really. You know, there's hardly any black folks playing in baseball. There's hard any black coaches in football, Like there's there's a few, there's not a black person, uh leading a soap opera, Like we're like just all these things are just not that just aren't happening, that have not happened and had not I just I and we want them to happen. I don't know. I look at I look at black casts. As I get older. It's not necessarily a thing that I go

hard on. But I've seen my friends really now, especially today, are really posting all this stuff and I'm learning. I'm still learning in my fifties, I still learning stuff like that person did what. I don't know everything. I don't

know everything, so still I kind of appreciate it. But as I look back and as I look at my age and everything, I think the whole thing of seeing people who look like me or my relatives and seeing that they had successful roles in this country is motivation black because you could be a motivational tool because in some black pers are great. We can't be victims, we should be victims. We shouldn't be in a victim mentality.

I totally agree with that. But if you never see anybody who looks like you doing anything, he doesn't say that, well, people don't understand. I was trying to explain this to you. A friend of mine who's white, I said, I know for a fact we walk the world differently. We just you can't tell me we don't. We do. We have some things to intersect that are color in common. But for the most part, because you walk it differently, I'm

gonna see it differently than you do. You will seething like just just every it's not even enough for debate or argument. That just that just is. Somebody goes to New York and somebody goes up in La go see things differently. Just going to somebody who's sixty five, we see this. Somebody who's fifty five, somebody who's Asian will see things this, somebody who's Massic. It's just just just there. There's no problem having difference. That's what makes the world go.

We're all different. Now. The point is talking about the differences, listening to them, you know, being there for each other. The differences. That's what needs to happen. Not this. We don't talk about it, don't situate it, don't anything. We're all the same. We're all the human race. That's it. It's like, well, that sounds great, but why not talk about history. History is love history. I love hearing about

some other people have done. Love my ancestors, but seriously, why can't we use it as motivation and motivational tools for the younger generation to say, see they did it, you can do it too. And not just athletes, musicians all that stuff, but just like people who are in the sciences. And you know that some of the industries that are dying out because they can't get people to

do them. You know, let's let's lesserate those people. And you know if they're in the or Latino or black and so folks who go, I see that, Wow, I have an interest in that to you kind of but now I know I can go and do this. There are people that I looked up to that I what I saw them do. They're like, okay, they can do it. And there's no one saying you can't look up to somebody of a different race and have them also as a mentor or as an idol, or as somebody you

want to emulate. For me, it was James the Different Extra Studio. It's Casey Casem on the radio, you know, as Larry King as a host. Like, I mean, they're not black, and I TOI looked up to them. But then when I hear people voices like James Earl Jones, Isaac Hayes, Barry White, that's one of my voice idols,

and they're black. I love it something you can have all of that, but I don't understand the problem with having Why not have it used as something motivational As I get older, that's more because I think everything is teaching moments, and so I'm more I'm more apt for that else. And that's why I said this one. I'm going to talk about like history was in my own ways.

I do every year because in America right now, they're cutting their the words woke DEI, all these these words are being weaponized, back immigration, all of this stuff's being weaponized. And in my opinion, again, in my own opinions, I feel it's all color based. You can't. You can't convince me otherwise. I don't. The optics are too strong, and I just don't. And I'm like, it's just not, it's just you won't. You can't convince me otherwise. But I'm

a discussion with you about it. We can talk about it. I'm not I've never closed discussions. I'm always close to them, and my friends and I who are a different, different thing differently, they appreciate the fact that I will talk. I think the key to everything, and maybe I know reason why Black History Month was started was to get conversations going. I don't sell a quanta. I'm like quanta person, I'll say, but I appreciate it's different folks. You do.

Let's talk about it. Why is it there? Why is it you know? What does it mean? What are some of the tenants like? That's I have no problem with any of that stuff. Conversation. That's why I do this talking talking. Anybody says off, you get something out of it, and it's audio only. But if you get something out of this or agree or disagree, I have no problem with that. But that's the beauty of living in a country where you're supposed to have free speech. We be

able to talk and free thought. There are some countries around the world you can't even do that. So I appreciate that. And I'm an American. I am an older American, and I know I'm heading towards my time out, so I'm looking out for my kids, grandkids, and if I have great grandkids one day, what the world will be like for them. That's where I'm at. I'm James Lott Junior. This is fifty plus. We're out all audio streets, doing service platforms. Todju aim