Make Your Place

"I believe it is time for the black race to show what we are capable of doing. The testing will surely go on for the next generation and the next, but each time we meet the test we'll climb another rung of the ladder until finally we arrive at parity, having earned our place, rather than pleading or demanding that it be given to us."

-Ditchdigger's Daughters

This quote raises many questions for me, the main question being: What Place Are We In The Race For? Often I hear people say where they want to go, where the deserve to be, but I honestly don't know if people understand what race they are in. Many people, even those who are defiant of society, give into the notion of the American Dream. Working hard to find their "place" and finally "make it." Some people don't think they should work hard at all, some people feel entitled to a piece of the American Pie.

Many feel entitled to a place in society, but in what "welcome to the world manual" did we read that offered us a place. We argue that we should get reparations and respect based on the plight that our ancestors had to go through, but we don't respect our ancestors on a daily basis. We want to piggy back on the hard labor of someone else, just because that someone shares the same blood line.

As they say actions speak louder than words, so what are you doing to earn your place. What are you doing to ensure that you are in the place you should be, not in an appointed position by your opposition. There is a place deliberately designed for you in society, everyone in America doesn't get to go to sleep to have that American Dream. Some of us lie awake for years trying to get a moment of rest so we can dream too.

The reality of the situation is everyone doesn't have a place in the American Dream, but if we can restructure the rungs of the ladder and how we measure ourselves, we can all make a place. If you truly think about the above statement, even once you pass "parity" and "make it" to "your place" you are still at the place that someone designed you to be at. Your place is not positioned with you in mind.

So, how do we earn our place, we have to MAKE OUR PLACE!!! It is time for us to restructure our structuring and define new places in our own society. We can combat parity, by learning and understanding. Knowledge will teach us our obstacles, strength in our knowledge will help us overcome them.

There is no design for you, no blueprint to being in America, but if you look at your assignment and set-up, you may think otherwise. There are no glass ceilings, your eyes are just to dense to see what's beyond that. Adjust your vision. See beyond all the negative elements that have been prescribed to you and make your place!!! Where ever you want to be, go there. The first step is on you, you design your ladder and you determine how high you want to climb.

Cliche as it may seem... "Nobody's built like you, you design yourself" ... Make Your Place!!!