Last week, Bill Cosby made some pretty jarring remarks about the state of the African-American male, advising Spelman’s graduating class to “pick up the pace and lead because the men are not there.”
As regular readers of The Lo Zone know, I’m pretty positive and supportive when it comes to black men. I’m not blind to the state of our affairs on the cultural front, but I also don’t operate from a position of hopelessness with a “half-empty” mentality. I grew up surrounded by strong, present black males. My uncles, my brother, friends, teachers. And I had a father who adored me, even though he was quite strict and we often bumped heads over the silliest of things.
I was his “Skuffcat“—a nickname he gave me from birth and called me until his dying day, some seven years ago. I will always be my Daddy’s Skuffcat. I will always fight like a soldier for my black men.
…sent me the following video that speaks in positive powerful tones about strong black men who are present in their children’s lives, even though, ironically, they are incarcerated. Monique, who found a loving, educated, strong black man of her own when she moved to Atlanta, wanted to help beat the drums for the positive. We march on for our brothers. No matter how bleak things may seem, now is not the time to declare that black women abandon ship. All is far from lost in the battle to uplift, uphold and encourage the righteous legacy of the black man.
[Monique, girl, I couldn’t mention you without putting up your South Park likeness. Gotta give the readers a visual, you know. Thanks for sending me this video. It also gave me a good excuse to put my dad’s pic up again. Hey guys…if for some reason the video doesn’t come on within about eight seconds of you clicking the “play” button, just refresh your screen and try it again.]
Previously: The Lo Zone: Bill Cosby Is Full Of Hope For Black Men.
Previously: The Lo Zone: Seems Like Even Older Times.
The Lo Zone 
>WOW!!!!! that was powerful!!!! KNOCK, KNOCK!!!! are you there? KNOCK, KNOCK!!!! are you listening?
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>That was fantastic!! OMG…I'm sitting at my desk with tears in my eyes. I loved it. I will listen to it again today…i'm sure. Thanks for sharing that with us Lo. I will be sending it on to others. Thank God not everyone has given up on our black men. P.S.I'm listening Lance…I hope others are as well.
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>just to put it out there…sanaa lathan and gina prince-bythewood are developing a script about a wife maintaining life as she deals with her husband in prison. i have a very strong feeling that with the right financial backing and creative freedom for these sistahs, it's going to be one powerful movie. hopefully award winning for the both of them.
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>Well I will give them my eight bucks! I am all about supporting my people. And plus I think Sanaa is awesome.
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>I hear that, Dawnya. I got much respect for both Sanaa and Gina. It'll be good to see them work together again for what, the third time? Gina directed Sanaa in both "Love and Basketball" and "Disappearing Acts" I think, so a three-fer would be the shizz. They'll be like the female version of Spike and Denzel.
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>You should post the news story that recent numbers of those incarcerated grew last year to 1 out of every 132 citizens! In the one year of 2005, 1000 incarcerations occurred per week, becoming an alarming record. I can't recall the exact numbers but it was 60 some odd percent of those behind bars were actually yet to be convicted! And, naturally, most of those newly convicted and being held for long periods before trial were on petty drug charges. When is this country going to get its shit together? The article made me want to weep for the Nazi-istic type of place this country is quickly becoming.p.s. Anyone notice that more and more doctors are prescribing THC, the active ingredient of marijuana? Now the war on drugs is making sense. It's a turf war – and the pharma companies are winning.
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>Excellent comments, Matt!!!
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