Priorities: Oh, Is THIS What Yall Are Talking About?

[Pioneer1]

 

 

 

I happened to be watching this video this morning and when my man said THAT part (somewhere around the 11 minute mark) about hiring somebody to walk the dog instead of doing it themselves because they could make way more money doing something else, I immediately thought of the discussion we had the other day when some of you informed me that most wealthy Black people would rather HIRE somebody to change the batteries of their smoke detector or do other simple household things.

It was hard for me to believe that because as I said before, I don't know a whole lot of wealthy Black people personally.
I know SOME...but most of the Black people I know are either professional, working class, or poor.
Most of the professional and working class Black people I know would rather save money by doing things themselves rather than hiring other people, but THIS brother articulated what some you said about it being better to hire somebody else to do it rather than take up your "valuable" time doing it...as that time could be spent by you doing something more profitable. 
I admit that it does seem to make sense to a certain extent.
But I'm still going to change MY OWN batteries and screw in MY OWN fucking lightbulbs rather than pay somebody else...as long as I can, lol.

[ProfD]

That brotha spits real game. Hope young cats are listening to him.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

I've been listening to my man for a few months now.
I agree, dropping some REAL game.
....and in a way that is easily understandable and digestible.
 

Had you heard him before now?

 

 

Sometimes I gotta cut him off and listen to something else because it makes me angry that I didn't have anyone giving it to me this direct when I was in my teens and 20s...lol.

 

Even the part he talks about and you and Mel mentioned in another thread about paying somebody to do something menial while you prioritize your time to do something more profitable.

Nobody taught me that shit in my teens and 20s.
I didn't go to college so I'm not sure if it's taught in college either.
So how would you know unless someone PASSES it along to you?

[ProfD]

3 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Had you heard him before now?

Nope. But, I feel like he's been trained by OGs.

 

Checked out a few of his videos. He's definitely dropping jewels for dudes as it relates to mental and physical fitness.

 

A while back we chopped it up about dudes not being able to get women. They need to listen up too.

 

3 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Nobody taught me that shit in my teens and 20s.

Interesting. I would have thought your state had a few wise OGs still around back in the day.

3 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

I didn't go to college so I'm not sure if it's taught in college either.

 

So how would you know unless someone PASSES it along to you?

The game of life isn't taught in schools. It comes from talking to the *right* people who have experienced living it.

 

The *good* thing about social media and internet is folks being able to get useful information for free.

[umbrarchist]

I bought a 4-unit apartment building back in the 80s. One day a two-way light switch in the basement failed.

 

A new switch from Ace Hardware was less than $5. If I had paid an electrician to do that it would have been $50 to $75.

 

If I could not have done minor repairs the building would not have been worth it. I should have taken an accounting course in high school but I don't even know if my high school has one.

.

[Troy]

On 4/7/2025 at 9:34 PM, ProfD said:

The *good* thing about social media and internet is folks being able to get useful information for free.

my brother, there is a price for everything. One thing I did learn an engineering school is that “there is no free lunch.” ignorance of the cost does not mean that there isn’t one.

 

There are always trade-offs.

 

On 4/7/2025 at 10:18 PM, umbrarchist said:

A new switch from Ace Hardware was less than $5. If I had paid an electrician to do that it would have been $50 to $75.

as with the now proverbial change of the fire detector battery versus hiring someone to do it also reflects trade-offs.

 

Changing a faulty light switch if you know how to do it takes all of 10 minutes.. now if taking the time to change a light switch yourself causes you to lose more than $75 then yeah it makes sense to hire someone. Shoot, if you’re making that kind of loot, you can have someone on staff to do that kinda stuff on demand.

 

in high school I had a class where they taught you life skills like how to buy a used car how to write a check things like that. 

 

And junior high school we had classes with a thought boy skills like working with tools — shop classes anchor figure out how to change a light switch. The girls learned home economics, sewing cooking, etc. sometimes boys were up in for those classes.

 

there were no classes that I was aware of that to boys how to talk to girls. Generally, there are rights of passage programs that teach young men and women how to engage with each other, manners how to behave in public and like. I think all kids should take these kind of programs.

 

Colleges shouldn’t have to teach this kind of stuff. People should know it by the time they’re old enough to go to college.

 

I’ll check out homeboy’s video although at my age, I doubt this much you can teach me, but I’ll try to listen with an open mind

 

 

 

 

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, Troy said:

my brother, there is a price for everything. One thing I did learn an engineering school is that “there is no free lunch.” ignorance of the cost does not mean that there isn’t one.

 

There are always trade-offs.

Definitely.  We're paying for the internet and everything else we take for granted in one way or another. 

 

However, just like the public library, folks can get information relatively for free through the internet and social media. 

 

There may be fees associated with getting to the library but the information is free.

 

1 hour ago, Troy said:

I’ll check out homeboy’s video although at my age, I doubt this much you can teach me, but I’ll try to listen with an open mind

 

Men over a certain age and with life experiences may not gather too much from his videos. 

 

However, it's still great to see a relatively young man spreading info to his peers and other men who may not be up on the game. 

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

 

Nope. But, I feel like he's been trained by OGs.

 

Big time.
But not only is he spittin' game but his DELIVERY is tight.
He has a no nonsense in your face style that you have no choice but to respect.

 

 

 

A while back we chopped it up about dudes not being able to get women. They need to listen up too.

 

That MAY help, but some of those dudes....((shruggs shoulders))

 

 

 

 

Interesting. I would have thought your state had a few wise OGs still around back in the day.

 

They STILL got them.
I grew up seeing ACTUAL pimps...not just young men CALLING themselves pimps, lol.

I remember going to the barbershops and seeing pimps getting manicures and getting their shoes shined...lol.

But as far as just intelligent older men....
I met quite a few but most of them would rather do things THEMSELVES instead of paying somebody else big money to do things.

 

 

 

 

The game of life isn't taught in schools. It comes from talking to the *right* people who have experienced living it.

 

So on point....not sure WHAT to say about that one, lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

umbrarchist

 

 

A new switch from Ace Hardware was less than $5. If I had paid an electrician to do that it would have been $50 to $75.

 

Now see....most of the people I grew up around who owned property would do exactly what YOU just said.
They weren't trying to pay people to do something THEY could easily do themselves.

That's why I was surprised to hear ProfD and Mel talk about this "paying people" to do it instead when it comes to simple stuff like changing batteries.

The objective is to SAVE and MAKE money, not spend it frivolously.
However if what you have to so is SO time consuming that it interferes with how you REALLY make your money....then it would be sensible to hire someone to take care of that for you.






 

Troy

my brother, there is a price for everything. One thing I did learn an engineering school is that “there is no free lunch.” ignorance of the cost does not mean that there isn’t one.

There are always trade-offs.

The price/trade-off  for the knowledge you gain on the internet is the GARBAGE and USELESS INFORMATION you also get with it that you often have to figure out how to separate.

Don't even get me started on home-economics and work-shop classes and how they pretty much got rid of them by the time I got to highschool in the 80s.
....in Michigan atleast.
I don't know about New York and other states.
 

[ProfD]

3 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

I met quite a few but most of them would rather do things THEMSELVES instead of paying somebody else big money to do things.

 

Now see....most of the people I grew up around who owned property would do exactly what YOU just said.
They weren't trying to pay people to do something THEY could easily do themselves.

Some landlords handle property maintenance themselves. Others hire it out. Several factors.

 

3 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

That's why I was surprised to hear ProfD and Mel talk about this "paying people" to do it instead when it comes to simple stuff like changing batteries.

The objective is to SAVE and MAKE money, not spend it frivolously.

Levels of income and expenses vary. 

 

Some folks can afford to pay others and spend frivolously. 

 

Nowadays, very few people change their own oil and oil filter in vehicles. It's easy to do. Auto parts stores sell everything required to do it.

 

Yet, it's more convenient for most people  pulling into a  Jiffy Lube type establishment or a gas station and letting the grease monkeys handle that oil change.

[Troy]

On 4/10/2025 at 7:56 PM, Pioneer1 said:

I don't know about New York and other states.

I think they get rid of it everywhere…

 

They used to have music too when I was in junior high school I played a different instrument every year. Got to take it home too.

 

I was watching this PBS special on funk music. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible one of the reasons cited so many bands being around is that kids got to learn how to play instrument in school when music was taken out of schools. Kids started sampling music playing records, which led to the rise of hip-hop.

 

It’s a shame, though listening to a live band is so much better than listening to some cat spinning records, but a DJ and an MC is better than nothing…. Making a way out of no way.  
 

On 4/10/2025 at 11:14 PM, ProfD said:

Nowadays, very few people change their own oil and oil filter in vehicles. It's easy to do. Auto parts stores sell everything required to do it.

well, that’s true but… I have all the stuff to change my own oil. I did it once and said never again. It is so much easier to pay someone else to do it. . They can dispose of the oil properly. You don’t have to get all dirty. Plus they do it as scale so you’re not really saving that much money doing it yourself.
 

Do you change your own oil?

[ProfD]

6 hours ago, Troy said:

Do you change your own oil?

I haven't changed oil in my vehicles in decades. It is more cost effective to me letting the shop handle it. 

 

That's the point I was making with regard to things we can do ourselves but cheaper to outsource. 

 

Changing smoke detector batteries is an easier task. I change mine. But, I can see folks paying someone else to do it in the circumstance I laid out  up thread.

[Pioneer1]

After reading over some of the comments in this thread, I was thinking that some of the back-n-forth between us over how much time Black property owners are willing to invest in doing their own household work may come from our different REGIONAL perspectives.

Let me explain....

 

Most of you being from the Eastcoast (New York and D.C.) most of the Black property owners YALL knew were probably highly educated professionals with jobs in Universities, corporations, or in the government.

 

I'm from the Midwest (Detroit); and most of the Black property owners I knew were actually working class people who scraped up enough money to buy old houses and raggedy buildings to fix up and rent out for cheap rent or Section 8.

My parents actually bought property a few times but it became too costly trying to keep it up and deal with the city and deal with crazy drug addicted tenants.

 

But here...most of the Black property owners I knew...and I mean the VAST majority...would fix things on their own house as well as the buildings they owned THEMSELVES FIRST before hiring others.
Paying out of pocket usually was a last resort.

 

 

 

ProfD

 

Some folks can afford to pay others and spend frivolously. 

 

This is true.
But it makes me wonder how long will they KEEP it with that mentality...lol.

 

 

 

Troy

 

 

They used to have music too when I was in junior high school I played a different instrument every year. Got to take it home too.

Yeah, I remember you telling a story about some cat snatching your instrument and running off with it and when you caught him he grinned and claimed he was just "playing"...LOL.

But man......you bring back memories.
I played the trumpet in elementary school...and like you I got to take it home and practice.
I was getting GOOD at that shit too!

But by middle school they had canceled the programs ALL OVER the city.

Same with swimming.
They used to teach all the students how to swim but by the late 80s all of the highschools had huge Olympic sized swimming pools filled up with garbage and graffiti because they were no longer in use.

 

I was watching this PBS special on funk music. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible one of the reasons cited so many bands being around is that kids got to learn how to play instrument in school when music was taken out of schools. Kids started sampling music playing records, which led to the rise of hip-hop.

 

That's WHY they took music out of schools...as well as work-shop and home economics.
Too many Black children were learning how to make money and learning how to make music and getting rich.
Most Motown artists learned how to play the actual instruments in school but used their own creativity to get famous and rich off of it.

White folks saw it and said, "We'll fix that".

Gut the programs!

Speaking of household work.
It used to be back in the 70s and earl 80s, if a woman needed her stove fixed or door repaired she could go to an alley and find any wino and pay HIM (or buy him a bottle...lol) to fix it for her.
If you asked him where he learned to do that, he'll tell you he learned it IN SCHOOL.

They used to teach BARBERING and DOING HAIR in schools too.

Took that out.

Depressing.....
 

They knew exactly what they were doing.


 

It’s a shame, though listening to a live band is so much better than listening to some cat spinning records
 

Maybe the good @ProfD can explain the psychology behind it but there's something about the VIBRATION from the actual instruments when you hear them live.
It hit differently than when it's electronic.
 

The horns, the drums, the piano....that sound hits you and moves your body when you're listening to them LIVE.

You have no choice BUT to react to them...lol.

 

[ProfD]

25 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

It’s a shame, though listening to a live band is so much better than listening to some cat spinning records
 

Maybe the good @ProfD can explain the psychology behind it but there's something about the VIBRATION from the actual instruments when you hear them live.

You're absolutely correct.

 

When musicians play instruments there are dynamics that make the music sound more organic.

 

When we listen to any type of recorded music it can sound great but it's static. It always sounds the same

 

However, listen to the same music performed live (organic) and it hits differently. The vibration provides a listening experience.

[Pioneer1]

It's the same thing with hearing a beautiful human voice LIVE.

You can listen to somebody on vinyl for years, but something about listening to those sound waves emanating from their throats live and in person.
Man.....

Jodeci...LIVE and in person...lol.

Faith Evans...LIVE and in person...lol.

What's really sad to see among a lot of younger people today is listening to so much AUTOTUNES.

They aren't used to hearing an actual human voice and the beauty of the vocal range.
That shit sounds so robotic.

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

What's really sad to see among a lot of younger people today is listening to so much AUTOTUNES.

They aren't used to hearing an actual human voice and the beauty of the vocal range.
That shit sounds so robotic.

Yep. I could write a dissertation on the rise and fall and sterilization and stagnation of music.  AI will make it even worst.

 

However, as long as humans can play instruments and sing live, real music will always exist. Just gotta know where to find out and go listen to it.

[Pioneer1]

I have a conspiracy theory about it.

I think that when the racists saw how much the world LOVED Black America and our music and our voices and when Black men would go around the world and the women would almost worship them for how well they could sing and dance....the racists got jealous.

It doesn't fit the "narrative" that the people are apes and subhumans....but have so  much style, grace, such beautiful voices and so much rhythm and control and can move and sway a crowd so well.
So they set out to do several things....

1. Make fun of R&B and promote GANGSTA Rap, basically attempting to codify criminal behavior in AfroAmerican youth and send THAT image around the world
2. Silence that golden voice that people around the world feel in love with when they heard our people sing.

Infact.....

Before Autotunes...there was no competition...Black Americans had the best voices hands down.
Nobody could compete.

Thanks to Autotunes...everybody pretty much sounds the same.

[ProfD]

34 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

I have a conspiracy theory about it.

I think that when the racists saw how much the world LOVED Black America and our music and our voices and when Black men would go around the world and the women would almost worship them for how well they could sing and dance....the racists got jealous.

So they set out to do several things....

1. Make fun of R&B and promote GANGSTA Rap, basically attempting to codify criminal behavior in AfroAmerican youth and send THAT image around the world
2. Silence that golden voice that people around the world feel in love with when they heard our people sing.

White folks have always made a ton of money from Black music regardless of how it is produced and/or labelled.

 

The racists merely co-opted and exploited Black music to establish Rock and Blue-eyed Soul and Country music.

 

That way, they can patronize and enrich their own people.

 

Look no further than folks like Michael McDonald, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sam Smith, Adele and Justin Timberlake to name a few.

[Pioneer1]

That's why I don't let White dudes hang around my space and in my circles unless there's a SPECIFIC PURPOSE for them doing it.

Most of the time they only come around to steal as much knowledge as they can so they can use it to THEIR advantage by either making music or trying to get Black women.

I peeped that game early.
They'll hang around Black boys/men so they can learn what Black girls/women like and how to talk to them to attract them.

[aka Contrarian]

When the neighborhood crack heads came around offering to do yard work to make money, my husband was quick to hire them. My sons had no problem deferring to the addicts and losing a chance to earn money.  This is not privilege, it's called laziness. Did I complain? No. It wasn't my money being spent. And I'm lazy myself. 

I read how you guys wete rhapsodizing about black music but I've never gotten the impression that you are fans of Jazz or big band swing music or the Blues, all originated  by black folks. (And incidentally Mariah Carey is half black. just like Alicia Keys - and Halle Berry. )

Country music also has black roots but y'all yappin' about Rap and  new jack artists, negating tɓhe recordings that have preserved the artistry of the masters who sound even better with the passage of time. Then the

Imagining that white guys aren't suave, and want to be black so they can  impress black girls. 

Is you Krazy? Can you say KAMALA?? No Americans seriously envy black folk.  As Chris Rock once said, "no white person wants to trade places with me, and I'm a millionaire!"

                 zzzzzzz

 

[Pioneer1]

Cynique

I read how you guys wete rhapsodizing about black music but I've never gotten the impression that you are fans of Jazz or big band swing music or the Blues, 
 

I love Coletrane and the Marsalis brothers.
Other than them, I'm not the biggest fan of Jazz.

(And incidentally Mariah Carey is half black. just like Alicia Keys - and Halle Berry. )

I wouldn't put Mariah Carey in the same category as Alicia or Halle.
My understanding is that Mariah is some weird ass concoction of Irish, AfroAmerican, Brazilian, Venezuelan, heritage.......with just trace amounts of actual Black ancestry.
She got the VOICE from us...lol...that's about it.


 

Imagining that white guys aren't suave, and want to be black so they can  impress black girls. 

Is you Krazy?
 

I'm not denying that SOME White men can be smooth and sexy.
However the fact is they've learned a lot simply being around and  observing how AfroAmerican men in general operate.

There's a reason why most dildos are BLACK in color...lol.


 

Can you say KAMALA??
 

How come they don't have children together?
It's probably a sexless marriage.

Probably got with my man....originally...as a power move.

No Americans seriously envy black folk.
 

Come on now, you know better than that....lol.
Don't say "no Americans".
You know a LOT of them wish they could be us if they could and that's where a lot of the hatred comes from.

 As Chris Rock once said, "no white person wants to trade places with me, and I'm a millionaire!"

I usually agree with Chris Rock's social observations, but not on this point.
A lot of White folks want to be us even if we aren't wealthy.
They just want to be US.
Not all...I won't even say most...but many.

[Troy]

On 4/12/2025 at 8:42 AM, Pioneer1 said:

Yeah, I remember you telling a story about some cat snatching your instrument and running off with it and when you caught him he grinned and claimed he was just "playing"...LOL.

 

Actually, the reason he stopped and returned the trumpet was, as I later learned from my mother was another mother saw him stealing the instrument.  That woman told my mother who gave me grief for trying to get it back. The thief was in a gang I think it was the Black Spades.  If it happened a few years later being seen by another parent would not have stopped him.  Shoot, he might have robbed her too.

 

On 4/12/2025 at 8:42 AM, Pioneer1 said:

Most of you being from the Eastcoast (New York and D.C.) most of the Black property owners YALL knew were probably highly educated professionals with jobs in Universities, corporations, or in the government.

 

Most New Yorkers (NYC) are not property owners, so we call the landlord when something needs repairing.  I think that is the reason we are less handy than those who live in areas where property ownership is easier. 

 

On 4/12/2025 at 8:42 AM, Pioneer1 said:

I played the trumpet in elementary school.

 

We had NOTHING in elementary school.  Shop, Home Ec, Music, Sports teams, math team, band, for me was a three-year period in 6th , 7th and 8th grade in the early 70s. Yes, they got rid of all of that by the 80's.

 

On 4/12/2025 at 8:42 AM, Pioneer1 said:

Same with swimming.

 

My high school had a swimming pool and I think a swimming class was required. I never took gym in HS.  @Mel Hopkins was a swimming class a requirement at Tech?  Fun Fact: in the 70s when my HS was all boys the kids took swimming class buck naked! I was shocked when I heard this from an older Alumni.
 

On 4/12/2025 at 8:42 AM, Pioneer1 said:

They used to teach BARBERING and DOING HAIR in schools too.

 

NYC used to have entire HS dedicated to industries Aviation, printing, secretarial, automotive, art, music, engineering, transit, science, fashion, etc.  Now everything seems to be text prep for college and STEM.

 

On 4/12/2025 at 9:14 AM, ProfD said:

However, listen to the same music performed live (organic) and it hits differently. The vibration provides a listening experience.

 

Its why listening to Go-Go, Funk, or Gospel live is so much better than listening to it on a record.

 

On 4/12/2025 at 1:03 PM, ProfD said:

Look no further than folks like Michael McDonald, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sam Smith, Adele and Justin Timberlake to name a few.

 

On the same Fuck documentary I watched earlier this week produced by PBS they have the UNMITIGATED GALL to include Elton John and David Byrne as principals of the genre! Talk about changing the narrative.  

 

10 hours ago, aka Contrarian said:

I read how you guys wete rhapsodizing about black music but I've never gotten the impression that you are fans of Jazz or big band swing music or the Blues,

 

I'm definitely a fan of Jazz and have visited clubs all over the country NYC, Memphis, New Orleans, Kansas City, the New Port Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival (notable for me, because it was the first time I heard "You Put a Spell on Me" and I was a full- grown man in European country -- shameful thar was even possible!).

 

I like Blues too and have seen Bobby Blue Bland, BB King and other (admitted past their prime). 

 

I can also appreciate big band music, thought I have never had the opportunity to see a big ban perform live.  The closet I come was seeing Ray Charles preform at the Blue Note in NYC with more 25 people on stage include 21 musicians, 3 Raylettes, and Charles himself.  I was close enough to Ray to touch him -- my all-time favorite live music experience.  There was no room for dancing.

 

I can appreciate some country music, but it is so steeped in south racism it is hard for me to enthusiastically embrace it. For example, "Sweet Home Alabama" is a great song, but Lynard Skynard had the rebel battle flag proudly displayed.

 

10 hours ago, aka Contrarian said:

As Chris Rock once said, "no white person wants to trade places with me, and I'm a millionaire!"

 

Obviously, that was a joke and a funny one.  But don't think for a second you'd have hard time finding white folks who would trade places with Rock.  There are countless white folks "passing" as Black and they are even rich.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ProfD]

5 minutes ago, Troy said:

Its why listening to Go-Go, Funk, or Gospel live is so much better than listening to it on a record.

 

Absolutely.  Being steeped in Go-Go music is one of the reasons I'm DC for life. 

 

10 hours ago, aka Contrarian said:

I read how you guys wete rhapsodizing about black music but I've never gotten the impression that you are fans of Jazz or big band swing music or the Blues, all originated  by black folks.

As a musician and music lover in general, I have a deep appreciation for all types of music.

 

From a historical perspective, I know that it was Black folks who brought flavor to every genre of music either directly or indirectly.

[Mel Hopkins]

3 hours ago, Troy said:

was a swimming class a requirement at Tech?  Fun Fact: in the 70s when my HS was all boys the kids took swimming class buck naked! I was shocked when I heard this from an older Alumni.

Yep!  If you weren't a student-athlete, you had to take gym.  I was exempt once I started training for competitive cheering and as a Booster.  But before then I absolutely had to take swimming with Mr. Brum (I think that was his name).    

[Mel Hopkins]

On 4/7/2025 at 5:35 AM, Pioneer1 said:

THIS brother articulated what some you said about it being better to hire somebody else to do it rather than take up your "valuable" time doing it...as that time could be spent by you doing something more profitable. 

This is such an excellent conversation! This is why it is essential to ensure our children have mentors who can show them what we don't know or what we don't know we don't know.

Thank you  @ProfD  for blessing us with the sophisticated term- "Outsourcing!"

 None of us know as much as all of us!  

[Pioneer1]

Troy

 

 

Most New Yorkers (NYC) are not property owners, so we call the landlord when something needs repairing.  I think that is the reason we are less handy than those who live in areas where property ownership is easier. 

 

I know, I'm talking specifically about the Black property owners who DO exist there.

 

 

Fun Fact: in the 70s when my HS was all boys the kids took swimming class buck naked! I was shocked when I heard this from an older Alumni.
 
I've heard it from a few OG's that it was the same here in Michigan in a lot of schools not only in Detroit but around the state.

But here, for some reason it was just the BOYS who had to swim like that.
The girls could still wear bathing suits.

Somebody said that this practice came from Germany before the Nazi's took over and the U.S. was seeking to imitate it.

 

 

 

ProfD

From a historical perspective, I know that it was Black folks who brought flavor to every genre of music either directly or indirectly.

I've had so many first hand experiences with this.
 

As I told Troy, I played the trumpet in elementary school but by the time we got to middle school they had ended music programs in most public schools in the city.

But for 2 years I went to school in the SUBURBS!
Most public schools in the suburbs STILL offered band classes and even provided instruments for their students.

So when I go to school in the boonies...my trumpet went with me, lol.

I remember we were all in music class with our individual instruments and the teacher decided to allow us to go unscripted.
Guess who LEAD the class and outside everybody?

The ONLY Black boy in music class....me.
Infact, I was one of only 7 or 8 Black kids in the entire junior high school of about 800 or 700!

I didn't need a script on how to change it up...something in me just KNEW how to press the valves and blow the notes the trumpet to spice it up and jazz it up; and the teacher looked in amazement at me and when I finished he looked at the other students and asked them could they do what I just did.

They tried...but they couldn't...lol.
 

Natural talent, rhythm, creativity.....it's in us.

If that movie Mo' Better Blue had come up when I was still in middle school...not tellin what I may have done with myself, lol.

 

 

Mel

This is such an excellent conversation! This is why it is essential to ensure our children have mentors who can show them what we don't know or what we don't know we don't know.
 

We can take a lesson from the Jews and Koreans or some Indians in African nations.
We can send our children to regular public schools for basic STEM education but when it comes to refinement and educating them on AfroAmerican history and values...when they get OUT of public school we should bus them straight over to our own cultural indoctrination schools.
....where one of the FIRST thing they'd learn is the "Negro National Athem".

It's a shame the first time a lot of Black youth EVER heard it or even heard OF it was through Kendrick Lamar's Superbowl performance.