Moonlight (WR)

Moonlight

There’s an age-old saying “In the moonlight, black boys look blue”. In essence, this means that despite society’s low expectations for black men, and despite the fact that many black men are viewed as aggressive, hyper-masculine figures, there’s still tenderness and tranquility in every black man. Blue means peace, something that isn’t portrayed in media, we see the typical strict black dad, we see the angry, abusive, toxic masculine dad. Often times black boys are the most intimidating in the room by default, this is the world standard for us. Often times when we walk into a store we are immediately suspects. Often times black boys grow up, but the environment they grow up in is telling them that they aren’t man enough, they’re too feminine, they aren’t black enough, they aren’t hard enough and these kids fall into the trap of trying to portray a character. An attempt at making them passable, an attempt at surviving, because as a black man that’s the only option you’re given.  I have a different approach to masculinity and that is I believe that blue shouldn’t just be showcased at night, black boys should look blue at all times. Blueness isn’t a temporary condition, it is indicative of the struggle that they grow up with, the ability to stay strong, when times are hard, when the father isn’t present and the mother is struggling, the boy shows compassion and tenderness.  have a revision to this adage “Outside black boys look black but in reality they’re blue”.

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