Jarrett Mathis is a man on a mission. The Brooklyn native and Dartmouth alum created an interactive workshop to empower black youth, reduce violence in the inner-city and uplift our community. He then turned it into a 75-minute documentary, which you can view online at empoweringourselvesnow.com.
Check out a recent CNN feature on the great work Mathis is doing and a trailer for EmpoweringOurselvesNow.com below.
YES!!! A GREAT POST!!!
PREACH BROTHER PREACH!!!
2 MANY BLACK YOUNG MEN W/ THEUR BAGGY JEANS AND WANNABE RAPPERS/BALLERS AND WHAT NOT LIKE 2 CALL THEMSELVES THE N****WORD! AND I CAN’T UNDERSTAND?? I GUESS RAPPERS MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THE “NORM” FOR SAYING HELLO! 2 ONE ANOTHER BUT THEY ARE THE REAL DUMMIES!!!
I LIKE WHAT THIS GUY IS DOING SPREAD POSITIVITY BLACK FOLKS NEED 2 STOP LISTENING 2 JAY-Z, JEEZY, DIPSET, KANYE, WAKA FLOCKA, ETC. THYE ARE ALL DUMB! THEY DUMB DOWN THE BLACK CULTURE!!!!!
AND MAKE IT IT LOOK LIKE A BID JOKE!!!
It’s about time. B/c as a african american, that “N” word is becoming a little to friendly in our community and with other races of pple using it too, and thinkin it’s okay to say to their race of ppl as well as to a blk person. and many blk pple are now sarting to say they don’t care if someone else says it to them. it was becoming a little to friendly and comfortable. And way to many blks died b/c of that simple yet demeaning word
I’m glad he is bringing light to this negative word. Maybe ignorant blacks will stop using the word that white folks love to see us use on one another.
Thank you Mr. Mathis . WE need to also educate our young teenagers as well as some adults. What we say is being heard around our youth and elder. And it’s a shame and hurtful. So, I thank you and you too concrete loop.
One more thing speak about the word picnic and the origin of where that word came from. Speak on the foul curse words we use without knowing the meaning root of them (like MF). We get so lost in the videos, music, games, movies, sports that we forget ourselves.
And this is why concrete loop was able to meet with the President of the United States.
I expect this video to get a million comments, since we always want to comment on beyonce, rihana, etc photos and videos. We always act like we want real ”stuff” on here. Well people, there u have the real ”info”,watch and comment like u do with ”other” stuff.
No disrespect to the man on this one, but I will continue to say niggas and refer to my friends and others as niggas. Because when you’re dealing with people like Trent Lott running around in our government, our own police brutally beating & killing us like Oscar Grant, our own president getting death threats due to his race, nooses and ropes tied to trees at MIDDLE schools to taunt kids, every other crime in this country REGARDLESS IF IT EVEN HAPPENED being blamed on a 6’2 black man (even if the person who made the claim is the one that did it), and people like Waka Flocka perpetuating the media’s interpretation of us young men living in urban environments, a WORD is the LEAST of our problems.
I’ll continue to say niggas until we stop getting treated like niggers.
finallyy!!someones stepping out to speak about the N word. its just a shame to use words like that especially african americans.
I know this will sound ignorant; but to me, the fact that we’ve turned such a disgusting word with such an incredibly negative history into a positive and a term of endearment is a good thing..
The fact that people make things like this and try to keep bringing it back to the negatives of the original word make it bad.
Calling someone a nigga doesn’t actually take away anyone’s pride in today’s culture which is a good thing. If you leave it in that mentality, the word can be good; but if you continuously connect it with the negatives of the past, obviously people will see it in a negative light.
It is possible to completely change meanings of words and override the original, other cultures recognize that (ex. gay – happy turned to homosexual orientation.) etc.
I think other races using it needs to be addressed; it’s something good that black people have done; turning a negative into an exclusive (yes, exclusive of other races) positive.. black people did that alone.
Listen to Tribe Called Quest- Sucka Nigga.
I’m not stupid though; I get the point of this and agree with empowerment and showing this sort of thing to small kids. Just addressing one smaller point in a bigger issue in a long winded manner; story of my lifeeee.
Ahhh; Exactly @ 5.
Posts like this = why I love Concrete Loop..
I’m commenting a lot but Craig’s (7.) comment summed it all up..
I shouldn’t have even commented, that comment was so on point.
Exxaaccctlllyy @ every single thing he typed.
This is very interesting, and I think that the brother’s heart is in the right place, and he seems to be putting forth a good effort but the problem is that he does not even seem to know what the word “ni**er” means. All it means is “black”. It comes from the Latin word “Niger”, which means the same thing (Acts 13:1). The word was a title given to black people as a surname and it did not have a negative connotation attached to it until the mid-1800′s. “Education” in the white man’s schools will only teach you how to think like him, and I think that this brother, like most blacks, is suffering from a feeling of inadequacy when around whites. Just the fact that workshops like the one he has designed are still necessary is proof that the so-called “Civil Rights Movement” was a complete failure. “Black” people are in the worst estate that they have ever been. The showing of the lynchings was excellent though. It is an excellent visual cue to instill the indignation in blacks that our people are missing due to the belief in the lie that black people are in a better position, or that there is less racism, than there was 100 years ago.
We are getting a little to comfortable with the usage of the n word. I’ve witnessed adult blacks using the word in public places to refer to one another around people of different races.
I’m glad for this, however, a word only has power when you give it history. If somebody started calling black people “spiggies” I doubt any of us would be offended because it is a meaningless and weightless word. However, after 200 years of calling black people “spiggies” and then killing them, beating them, etc while calling them “spiggies”, then the word becomes a psychologically damaging slur.
I read a quote from somebody (presumably white) saying “blacks must be really dumb to come up with the name cracker for white people. It sounds stupid”. Yea, well so does n****r, but it is loaded with painful history and power. You can’t really undo history that easily :/
But I am glad that somebody is taking the initiative to tackle this problem. I’m also glad that people are listening to him. Part of the problem is that too many black people are not angry enough. Anger is a motivator if you can harness it and it can give you the drive to rise above your situation. Too often anger in the black community has been destructive since it is compounded with ignorance (one small example: why do we riot in our own neighborhoods–after some infraction against a black person by a white person, often a white police officer–and f**k up our own surroundings?). But anger compounded with KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY AND AWARENESS is a powerful thing. Don’t be apathetic and complacent, it’ll get you nowhere.
Anyone arguing that N*gga is a postive word now MUST be ok with EVERYONE using the word. Nobody can own a word. If you run around call everone “n*gga this , N*gga that” don’t throw a hissy fit when you hear other races use it in reference to your dumb ass.
The n-word will always carry a negative and degrading connotation in relation with the rest of the world, and as long as blacks aren’t willing to allow people of other races to use the word without being offended, the word can never have just one positive meaning or be redefined as a lot of you claim you’re doing in your cliques.
We need to take more responsibility for the detriment we’re causing ourselves. What does any other race of people have to do with our choices to kill, beat and steal from each other? We do it right in our own neighborhoods and blame a so-called white-washed America for destroying our communities. The real enemy is staring back when we look in the mirror, and until we admit that, we’re going nowhere fast.
This is a great post! i wish i could do something like this for inner city youth and even the adult black men. they seem oblivious to the fact that they are the ones claiming that the gov’t doesnt want to help them yet they dont see that they are the ones killing off each other. where is the black community love??
Cosign w/ Craig & Judah
…sidenote…some of them kids are little too young to be learning and seeing images of lynchings?
Thank you for posting this. This reminds me of when I took upon myself to learn about black history in America as a teen. For years I would not use the N-word for the very same reasons Jarrett mentions. I relaxed a little because of outside influences. But this brought it all back to me. There way more in the meaning of this word than what people are saying. I don’t agree with people that say there is no power in the word. Using it more is not going to reduce the power in this word. I still consider the word disrespectful. I don’t call my friends n-word for the same reason I don’t walk around calling my friends bitches. It ain’t a compliment to be called neither word.
There are many other words to use for terms of endearment. Expand your vocabulary and try using them.
@ 16 Eric Your point sums it up.
My kind of brother. A lot of people within the black community NEED education, especially around this area. They use the N word like it’s suppose to be a good thing…look back into your history and see what your ancestors died for and see if the term was used by white folk was for endearment smh.
People look like nothing but an IDIOT when they use that word. Do you see prominent blacks using the word?
These kids are NOT too young to learn about this stuff. I have a son in the 6th grade and this is the perfect time to teach them the realness. In the classrooms, nothing is more violent, dehumanizing, culturally destructive, and manipulative than lying to our kids about their history, completely ignoring their history and down playing the contributions of their ancestors.
Nothing can lower a black child’s self worth like the public school system today. I spend every moment deprogramming my son’s brain from what he has learned from SCHOOL in order to make sure his “mentals” are developing properly and also to make sure the passive- aggressive poison that has been spewed is QUICKLY REMOVED & REPLACED.
@CIRCA1984
Why would they be too young to see lynchings if they’re not too young to see wanton sex and violence on television and in the movie theatre? The white Jews do not hesitate to teach their children about the “Holocaust”, and that event was fabricated. Black people have a major major issue, and a series of major issues that proceed forth from that major issue. This issue over the “N Word” is a smokescreen and a topic for pseudo-proud black people to hide behind to cover for their feelings of inadequacy, ignorance, and lust to be like white people. This is about the 4th different movement that I’ve seen in the last 2-3 years against the so-called “N Word”. Allegedly, the NAACP had “buried” the “N Word” a couple of years ago. Black people mock themselves more than the other races could ever mock them due to our people’s obsession with simplicity.
It’s a word-I don’t trip on it whether it ends with -er or -a! We need to stop focusing on race so much (unless it is learning about our own history) and focus more on setting personal goals and agendas for our community. This word is part of the diaspora, for better or worse. I think a better use of time would be educating young black men of their place in history, the fact that they should be proud of themselves and their race for enduring and creating so many inventions and pieces of Western culture that others claim today. Creating self-awareness and esteem, especially in young Black men-is of the upmost importance. If a person knows in their soul that they are worthy b/c they’re a child of God, they don’t need to reshape words that are hurled at them by ignorant people.
Correction: utmost importance.
Great Feature! Went to school with Jarrett – he’s always been an upstanding guy and it’s not surprising that he’s already doing great things with his life. I support this 100%
“First they made us hate ourselves, then they made us love their wealth”. I hate to quote that guy, but I watched both of those videos, and had to restrain myself from crying at my desk.
This is a deep issue for me on many levels. I visit these blogs to hear music or urban-based news, but I’m bombarded by images of scantily-clad women, women being depicted as “hoes”, and the like – now I know it’s not always like that, but maybe I don’t want my “cakes” and have to eat them too (does that make sense?). While I don’t outright disagree with the comments posted, many had arguable points, I do feel strongly that no good can come out of that word – and I if we continue to believe it does, it goes to show how white-washed we have become. Think about that for a moment-acting “white” is bad for black folks – but white folks aren’t’ teased for it.
Since direct violence was “outlawed”, they took to things more indirect (Jim Crow, anybody) and they showcased it for the world, but we can’t even get a decent history book in every classroom that extols the virtues of our people and our many, many contributions to this country.
What this young man is doing is awe-inspiring, and I am very impressed with the fact that he’s attracting children of a younger age. I wish more young black men and boys could hear these words, and elicit feedback, and thank you CL for bringing a bit of balance to your blog.
Daisy
dis wtf ppl don’t understand, whites did not come over and capture a shit load of blacks, and take em back, they PAID FOR US, we fuckin sold by the kings and queens of africa, so just as much as u hate the white man for treatin us wrong, u shuld hate the african king and queens that fuckin had us enslaved before the whites even fuckin arrived
I’m posting this video on my blog. It’s sad more projects like this don’t get much praise.
I’m glad he’s going that because there are people whom I admire, like Russell Simmons, who swear that by using the word, “we” retake the power of it. That
s a crock of ish. The only way to take power is to eradicate it.
BRKLYNRUDEBOI that is true.
BRKLYNRUDEBOI that is true. We were not all stolen off the shore. Our ancestors were sold…or at least some were. We sadly will never know how we got here.
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