Lie to the Kids...They're Dying Anyway, Right?

A Personal Statement from Dr. Sujan Dass, also known as Supreme Understanding:

All around us, Black children are dying. Some are dying quick, brutal deaths at the hands of criminals and abusive relatives. But many others are dying the slow, painful deaths we would associate with those afflicted by a terminal illness. If you think this is some sort of poetic exaggeration, think carefully. A young man who doesn't expect to live to see 21 isn't really living life anymore. He's simply living to die. And like anyone diagnosed with a terminal illnesses, he's likely to see little point in pursuing productivity for what little time he does have. After all, for what?

Black youth are surrounded by images of poverty and despair, while being bombarded by ideas of their own inability and inferiority. The majority of Black youth who are born into poverty are more aware of these facts than any author who has written about them. They did not need Jonathan Kozol to tell them they were a bastard generation, scraping for leftovers. Everywhere they look, they see adults struggling for self-determination, and failing miserably. They are raised in households where adults have little time available to raise their children, often because these adults are busy humiliating themselves for a minimum wage, or because the adults never fully matured into adulthood themselves. So Black youth born into poverty spend a great deal of time watching television. As a result, they witness the mythical utopias of the "good life" where whites live well simply by being themselves, while Blacks become prosperous only by personifying the most negative stereotypes…or playing ball.

Our youth have little hope for the future. Sure, they may mouth empty promises of becoming firefighters and astronauts in grade school, but by middle school they are fully disenchanted and dejected. They now shrug their shoulders when asked, and when prodded, it becomes clear that they have very few realistic plans for the future. It makes sense, how can this young person offer enthusiastic optimism for the future when he knows that very little opportunity exists for his dreams to become reality? We fault our Black students for not planning better for the future. Perhaps we should fault ourselves more, for not creating a society where they can feel that they actually have a future in the first place.

The old adage is that School + Hard Word = Success. This is believed by the majority of people who are academically successful. Unfortunately, academic success doesn’t readily translate into success in life. When Black youth witness their older friends and relatives - many of whom are high school graduates - still struggling to make ends meet, they begin to realize that the old formula was something of a falsehood. This begins occurring as early as the third grade, when Black boys begin disconnecting from the school and making their own rules. It is between third and fourth grade that Black boys begin seriously falling behind their peers academically. It is between third and fourth grade that Black boys begin increasingly accumulating disciplinary infractions and being sentenced as juveniles. It is between third and fourth grade that these Black boys begin realizing that they've been lied to.

Regardless of the inspirational slogans plastered across school walls, there is no easy road to success for Black people. The few who become successful are the exception to the rule, not the rule itself. They are the minority who were able to navigate the complex dichotomies of being Black and poor in urban America, and somehow making it somewhere else…far, far away, of course. Black youth don't need Howard Zinn to figure this out. They can tell that freedom, justice, and equality - although benign ideals - are rarely realized in this society. The scales are weighted in the favor of the people who already have the power, privilege, and prestige, and all evidence suggest that little can be done to change that fact. In fact, the gap between the haves and have-nots is wider in America than in many third-world nations. Our young Black boys are acutely aware of this fact, even more so than their female counterparts. Without knowing the statistics, no Black boy would be surprised to hear that one out of three Black males will end up in juvenile detention or boot camp, before progressing to adult prison, probation, or parole. They won't be surprised because they can see it all around them. They don't need a scholar or statistician to convince them. And they aren't prepared to sit back idly, conform, and take whatever hell life has to offer them, in the vain hopes that one day things will improve. Our testosterone-laden boys are filled full of rage and frustration - some of them silent, some of them vocal, but all of them angry.

They are angry with the status quo, for allowing these wretched conditions to exist. They are angry with white people, for creating these conditions, and then pointing fingers of blame. They are angry with poverty, for making the drug trade seem more promising than an honest living. They are angry with the schools, for teaching an obsolete curriculum full of false promises and useless information. And they are angry with us, for not doing anything about any of it.
Our youth are angry enough with their present life to have lost an interest in prolonging this pain into old age. Our youth are living to die. So they see no point in delaying their needs for instant gratification. They are not concerned with our religions and value systems, many of which have seen us little benefit. They see more wisdom in being raised by an older teenager with money than a poverty-stricken parent with problems of their own. They are motivated by sensory thrill and material gain. Why not? They have little else to look forward to.

It is for this reason that the middle class's attempts to improve Black culture by chastising Black youth have been unsuccessful. The attempts to change our young men's lives by forcing them to pull up their pants and attend school daily have been misguided at best. We have failed to hear our boys crying in silences while screaming in defiance. We have missed their accuracy of their perception, which in many cases, has been a clearer vision than our own. We have ignored the proverb that "great wisdom will come out of the mouths of babies," and have instead leaned to our own understandings. Perhaps we are wrong. Perhaps the answer is not more school, more manners, and more sitting still in your seat and listening to teacher.

Perhaps our children are watching us being destroyed, and they refuse to be destroyed in the same way. Perhaps our children are watching us destroy ourselves, and they have lost respect for us as a result. It is quite obvious that a change must occur among Black youth. But who is responsible for creating the society where such changes will prove to be rewarding? Perhaps we, too, must change.

Supreme Design Publishing - Reinventing the World

What is Supreme Design Publishing?

Supreme Understanding here. I won't be the only one posting at this blog (we actually have a staff now!), but, knowing me, I'll probably still be all over this blog. So, at times, this blog may become semi-autobiographical, comical, or downright controversial. The remaining 15% of the posts will be comprised of the straight dope on what's happening at Supreme Design Publishing. I thought I'd start things off with a brief missive on what our company is all about, for those who don't know.

About Our Company
Founded in 2006, Supreme Design Publishing is an independent press dedicated to the urban community. Our titles cover all areas of the urban experience – from music to politics – but present the information in a way that “hits home” with readers, as well as non-readers. Our authors are expected to offer life-changing information in plain English, using mainstream urban culture as reference points. We take complex concepts, such as self-actualization and socialist economics, and make them easy and accessible.

Our Vision
Our company motto is “Reinventing the World.” Our vision at Supreme Design Publishing is to empower the powerless, give voice to the voiceless, and engender widespread social change through the education of common people.

Our Mission
Since our inception, our mission at Supreme Design Publishing has been tri-fold:
1) To create a viable means for economic development among people of color that doesn't involve exploitation or profiteering.
2) To increase awareness of the Five Percent, particularly the relevance of their pedagogy in developing effective solutions to modern-day problems.
3) To improve the lives of the millions of people who are not being sufficiently aided by nonprofit organizations, government agencies, schools, and other failed measures.

Our History
For two years after its inception in 2006, Supreme Design Publishing, and its founder, Supreme Understanding, yours truly, struggled to generate profits. With my credit wrecked by the recent real estate crash in Atlanta, I found it impossible to secure a small business loan. Eventually, using start-up funds borrowed from friends and a credit card advance, I was able to finance the printing of 3,000 copies of his first book. How to Hustle and Win in the Summer of 2008. In less than six months, all 3,000 copies had sold, and Supreme Design Publishing’s first release had become an instant bestseller in urban communities across the country. Needless to say, this was a rare accomplishment for a book of its kind. By the next year, the book was in its 3rd printing.
As a result of this flagship book, thousands of lives have been positively impacted, many of whom were previously "non-readers." The spread of How to Hustle and Win, like all of the books that would follow, was mainly the work of the hundreds of dedicated young supporters throughout the country who saw our vision. They sold and promoted our books, and in turn we provided them at discounts so significant that our vendors and retailers made more money off our books than us. And that was part of the plan. It's not about the money. It's about the message. When we released Knowledge of Self, we committed to a retail price of an unbeatable $9.95. That's unheard of for a 256 page book! What's also unheard of is that we employed only people of color in the writing, design, production, and shipping processes that produced the book. This is a feat few companies can boast. But as our motto suggests, we are serious about the business of reinventing the world. And this idea permeates even into the very nature of our business model. Unlike other publishing companies that pay their authors a pitiful 10% royalty on earnings, we employ a profit-sharing model based on socialist economics. Our corporate ladder is not a ladder, but a web of shared responsibility. Even our profit margins are dictated by weighing the needs of the people against our need for revenue. The people always win. This is why we set our retail prices lower than any other books of comparable length, depth, and quality. This is also why, even at our low prices, our books are still available at steep discounts to anyone interested in sharing in our revenue stream. In the end, Supreme Design Publishing exists for the benefit of the people…and as long as the people continue to support our vision, we will continue to produce great literature. It is our vision that this great literature, in turn, will produce the change we want to see in the world.