From my porch I am offering up an apology to my younger brothers and sisters. An apology that is long overdue and as an alumnus, a resident, a neighbor, a beneficiary and a caring citizen I am offering you my deepest apology.
I apologize for leaving you a community where hope seems to be sucked away as if a straw was inserted into the very core and a deep breath was taken out of the cup. I feel your pain when you look at your neighborhood and the number one growth industry is churches and car washes. How can you aspire to be great when your reality is more in line with the movie Scarface? I know I should have stayed so that you too could have seen what success looked like, but I was convinced that the ice was colder in Baymeadows and Mandarin. Also, it was closer to work.
I apologize for giving you a restless child called hip hop and insisting you raise it all alone as if you knew what to do. After all you were raised by a single parent and I should have taken the lessons learned from that and been more involved. However, my quest for the American Dream of bigger and more of what was bigger made me look the other way when I saw you going the wrong way. Now my righteous indignation has me wondering why you just won’t pull your pants up and why every woman has to be a bi***. It’s my fault. What did I think was going to happen when I left you with no direction because I wanted to “get paid?”
I apologize for leaving you a city in particular that continues to overlook your needs so much so that drugs and violence have become a part of your everyday lives. I know that if those who have the power to make a difference continue to overlook your needs it won’t be long before your rage shows up at a Mandarin and Bartam High football game. All I ask is that you just bear with me. Although, the afternoon games are just a short term solution to maintain the tradition until we can get it right.
Finally, I assure you it is one Jacksonville and your feelings of being left behind I don’t take for granted. You are being thought of and I assure you that progressive leadership for our community has been born and is on the way. Some of us are working on your behalf to assure you a future where no longer will name sake be enough, but merit, intelligence and continuous work for our community get you a title of School Board Member, City Council Member, State House Rep, State Senator or even Congress Member.
I apologize for leaving you a community where hope seems to be sucked away as if a straw was inserted into the very core and a deep breath was taken out of the cup. I feel your pain when you look at your neighborhood and the number one growth industry is churches and car washes. How can you aspire to be great when your reality is more in line with the movie Scarface? I know I should have stayed so that you too could have seen what success looked like, but I was convinced that the ice was colder in Baymeadows and Mandarin. Also, it was closer to work.
I apologize for giving you a restless child called hip hop and insisting you raise it all alone as if you knew what to do. After all you were raised by a single parent and I should have taken the lessons learned from that and been more involved. However, my quest for the American Dream of bigger and more of what was bigger made me look the other way when I saw you going the wrong way. Now my righteous indignation has me wondering why you just won’t pull your pants up and why every woman has to be a bi***. It’s my fault. What did I think was going to happen when I left you with no direction because I wanted to “get paid?”
I apologize for leaving you a city in particular that continues to overlook your needs so much so that drugs and violence have become a part of your everyday lives. I know that if those who have the power to make a difference continue to overlook your needs it won’t be long before your rage shows up at a Mandarin and Bartam High football game. All I ask is that you just bear with me. Although, the afternoon games are just a short term solution to maintain the tradition until we can get it right.
Finally, I assure you it is one Jacksonville and your feelings of being left behind I don’t take for granted. You are being thought of and I assure you that progressive leadership for our community has been born and is on the way. Some of us are working on your behalf to assure you a future where no longer will name sake be enough, but merit, intelligence and continuous work for our community get you a title of School Board Member, City Council Member, State House Rep, State Senator or even Congress Member.
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