Male Importance

Last night even though I said I would not do it I watched TI's Road to Redemption. In the program he explained what got him in the situation he was in and what frame of mind he was in that led him to his situation. The second half of the program though showed him getting involved in a young man's life who has headed in the wrong direction. This young man was heavy into drug dealing, but also was in a lot of pain from his father not being there and his mother being strung out on drugs. In the program, TI took this young man from his house and took him to jail and to a morgue to see what his choices would be if he followed down the path that he was going. The interesting part of this was how this young man took direction from the men that were on the show. The young man in the beginning of the show stated that everything he learned about how to be a man he learned on the streets from the men in his neighborhood. This led to a conversation with my wife who is a teacher about the importance of a man in a child's life. We have so many men our community who have never had a positive role model in their lives. They have never had a man show them what to do and what not to do. They have never had a man show them how to treat and talk to women. It made me believe that once again we need more men in our community to be role models and show these young men what real manhood is all about. I must say that I was blessed with having a strong father in my household who always taught me what manhood was. He is still teaching me even as I am a father myself. Young men and young women a male role model in their life. It is very important.

Watching that program last night also made me realize how important it was when I was young to cut certain friends out of my circle. I have always been the type of person that has friends from both sides of the tracks. I have friends that are accountants, lawyers, investment bankers, business consultants, etc and I have friends who are in jail, soon to be in jail, have spent time in jail, dealers, etc.... I learned many years ago though that you have to be careful who you surround yourself with. I had to learn that it is more important for my advancement in this world to surround myself with my more positive friends. It does not mean that I can't speak to the ones that aren't doing good, but I can't allow myself to be around them for extended periods of time.