Keeping Hope Alive

I read an article in USA Today written by Joyce King, a freelance writer, on the topic of keeping hope alive in this tough job search market.
In tough job search...
Funny enough, I was in this tough market 2 years ago; myself, my friends, quite a few people in my city, so I understand this market.
I also understand her point, that some people simply give up after receiving rejection after rejection. Personally, I am not a quitter, and I have 2 kids to raise, so it is unlikely under any circumstances that I would give up. What are the options at that point? Become homeless? Beg? Live on welfare? I do not see any option which seems reasonable or acceptable FOR ME.
Then I notice, there are jobs available on the market, still. Not desirable jobs to me, but jobs.
I recently read another article on jobs Americans won't take. I think there is an interesting correlation between the two articles. One, there are jobs out there. Yes, the market is competitive, even for the shitty jobs that no one wants, but as an alternative to being hungry, who has the audacity to turn down anything?
The problem with this entitled country and it's unemployed population is their perception of their self.
Yes, when I lost my job, I initially only looked for jobs with salaries in the same compensation range which I was accustomed to. I had the savings and the credit to be choosey at that time.
A year later, I had to lower my standards a bit.
Finally, 18 months, 2 maxed out credit cards, and an empty savings account later, I just had to apply for anything and everything that came along. Whether I was qualified or not.
Whether it paid dollars or stones, I needed a job.
I had to reevaluate my system of applying process.
I had to rethink how to get back on the train (the money train that is).
I had to decide how to start over and reinvent myself, for the benefit of my family.
So, when the opportunity to get my foot in the door at my current company showed up. I took it. I did not care that the beginning salary was one fourth of what I was used to. I did not care that I would work doubles to simply pay rent and eat. I did not care that I had to wear a uniform and be treated like crap by masses of people who have no manners and think customer service agents are peons on the chain of life. The same people I stood with, two years previously, with my disdain for customer service work. My arrogance had finally caught up with me.
This was the best thing that could have happened to me. Not only to be forced to swallow my pride and step off my high horse, but to have to work from the bottom up... all over again.
Honestly, I put a smile on every day because I realized this was the opportunity I had waited for my entire life. It wasn't about the money. It was about re-learning to be humble. It was about treasuring every penny. It was about learning to budget little, to no, money. It was about having pride, regardless of title. It was about learning to grow all over again.
I reminded myself every week for 18 months that while my grandmother worked her way through nursing school, she scrubbed toilets; worked as a maid - something I would never do,  to attain her goals. She did whatever it took. And this kept me focused.
I could see a great future with this company. It didn't matter where I started. I knew there was growth and opportunity ahead of me, and I just needed to batton down the hatches and dig my heels in and take it.
Here I am two years later, making twice as much money, loving the transitions I have made in the company, and still seeing a future brighter than any. The money has come, and it will only get better, but what I've gained that is even greater, is  the experience of knowing that I will never give up. I will never lose hope, and I have what it takes, when the going gets tough.
When Americans figure out that no one is giving them anything in life that sometimes they have to work for it, from the bottom up, they will find a far clearer picture of a positively rewarding future.

Racism, USA Today, and the disappointing cycle of America

Today (Tuesday, November 16, 2010), I came across an article in USA Today which really pissed me off. At first glance I was irritated, but then I read the article again to try and understand why I was so agitated.

I have tried to STOP myself when I get pissed off and acknowledge what my knee jerk reaction is caused by, and effectively think it out.

The title of the article, in fact, is so offensive, I almost didn’t read the article itself, but realized in effect, I was ignoring the war, not another battle. “If young Black men don’t learn now, we’ll all pay later”, is the title of the less than informative article.

If the title weren’t offensive enough, the article goes on to depict a fast food experience the author had with a less than competent cashier, who happened to be Black.

Are fast food cashiers now the select echelon of society’s educated masses, and this poor Black chap happened upon this job by his equal opportunity status, quite unlike the rest of the Blacks in this country - lawyers, doctors, professors alike who happened upon their career paths as well by the gift affirmative action? Are Black men the sole worker bees amassing the up and coming entry level positions across the country regaining the speed and strength of our economically challenged country? Are other cashiers across the country, all races and ethnic backgrounds, who can’t count or read, excused from this article because the issue is, in fact, that Black uneducated men (as opposed to the uneducated masses of Americans who are being spit out of schools daily) are the problem?

As I re-read the article, I realized what was pissing me off was the “so subtle”, but still neck-hair raising, immediate stomach churning statement of racial hatred and stereotype, every minority has felt at least once in his/ her life.

This country stereotypes and perpetuates (through the media) fear of Black men. This article not only fed the monster, but based it’s concept on undisclosed facts and a single experience of the author in a subpar environment. The article, distributed nationwide in a publication I had respect for, until this morning, identified a group of Americans by skin color, and went on to discuss the potential downfall of an entire country by this race in a specified amount of time.

WHAT THE FUCK!

The percentage of Black men in this country isn’t growing at the rate of minorities. And every man with brown skin is not a Black American. Get it right America.

Here we are 2 years into the first glimpse of racial equality, which in effect was another gifted token by the culture of equality and supremacy (and celebrity), showcasing a Black, excuse me, bi-racial President of the US and USA Today is beginning the media infiltration and domination of the next political arena with its racist, taunting depiction of Blacks as a threat - Black man’s ignorance as the future of America. Next, we’ll see the media rise in Black on Black crime, then the rise in Domestic Gang warfare, which stereotypically depicts Black youth.

Sound familiar? We, as a country, are prolific in raising awareness when it suits a political agenda, and guess who wants in office next term? Or, should I say, who we want out of office?

I have traveled extensively. I know why other countries hate the concept of America and the petty, simple, racist, greedy, ignorant Americans who live here. I get it. I am still proud to be able to live by Amendments which created the Freedoms of this country. I am proud to be Black. I am proud to be a woman. I am a cross selection of everything that exists (good and bad) within the history of the U.S. And I will fight for it.

One of the most disturbing issues I had with this article is the fact that it was in the USA Today news section. This paper is in every airport, hotel and business traveler accessible arena across the country. The estimated daily reader count is 1.8 million readers[1].

This article is not only a virus spread faster than Fox News, or Entertainment Tonight, it is the death of education being transmitted like a trash rag to our supposedly educated, passport holding, upper class working America – the people that actually are out there in the world making a difference. Maybe I am not giving enough credit to the educated, who have the opportunity to read and discuss, to form their own opinion, but the fact is, a man with an opportunity to make a statement, and a difference, chose to instead propagate a stereotype. And it is sickening.

Black Americans are fully aware of the split in culture between, as Chris Rock so un-politically correctly stated, Black People and Niggers. Black people are educated and raise kids in four year colleges, with the value of education and strong work ethic, and financial security. Black people resemble the Huxtables, with the now reasonable goal of becoming President of the United States. Then there are Niggers, who write gangsta rap songs(and articles) about our culture, deal drugs, love their bitches and ho's, showcasing how ignorant the young, poor afflicted are, instead of raising up the culture with information and positivity…based on facts, not stereotypes; In fact, stealing from our own history and culture to keep a Black man a negative figurine in the eye of the majority and his neighbor. Whether a drug dealer or a “stereotype pusher”, niggers work the system, to help racists keep Blacks in their place.

Yeah I said it.

The views of this article are solely my opinion – perhaps Mr. Wickham would think about making a similar disclosure next time he writes an article based on one experience he had almost a decade ago.

Hey! DeWayne – the education issue we have in this country is hardly limited to black men. It’s an epidemic, and I deal with uneducated masses daily, with an average percentage of black men being less than 1% of my 3000 person per day customer base.

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[1] The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper has 1.8 million copies as of March 2010^[1] compared to the Wall Street Journal's 2.1 million though this figure includes the WSJ's 400,000 paid-for, online subscribers. USA Today remains the widest circulated print newspaper in the United States. USA Today is distributed in all fifty states, Canada, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the United Kingdom. Courtesy Wikipedia :)