Hip Hop and Hype
By M. Bennett Hooper

Calvin R. Darden Jr. is a Black 30 year old former stockbroker and a sad illustration of a young man with misguided values. He undoubtedly grew up accustomed to privilege; his father is a top executive at UPS. But like the proverbial monkeys, which are caught by shiny objects, he blew it big time.

Robbing hood no doubt surprised many of his clients, as well as his former employers. He was on the Black celebrity "A" list across the country, a flawed picture of cerebral success as he rubbed elbows and traded smiles between constantly ringing cell phones.

Calvin lived in a world of fast cars, celebrities, the lavish life, and high stakes finance. Nonetheless, he was an uncommon thief accused and indicted by the Manhattan District attorney s office of stealing $ 4.1 million dollars from some of his previous employers, I.e. Smith Barney, Wachovia, and AIC Ltd., a large Canadian mutual fund company.

He was an equal opportunist whose $ 950,000 investment by hip hop star Nelly remains unaccounted for since 2003, as well as, $ 300,000 Latrell Sprewell entrusted him to invest last fall. This was six months after he was fired by another investment firm. Neither of the sums according to spokesmen for the two celebrities have been returned. According to an article written by Landom Thomas Jr. in the New York Times, Calvin Darden Jr. faces a possible 50 years in New York state prison.

The lesson here for young Black persons of new privilege is one of priorities and basic discernment. The age-old adage of not being able to tell a book by it's cover should be a lesson for all. Will a brother rob you? Has Black on Black crime reached a new level?

These questions are too elementary to be considered academic. In an era when we need to be able to identify our enemies, many are still being caught by shiny objects from grilled mouths, and spinning car rims to plasticized platinum plated lifestyles, which are still fraudulent.

A con man or woman is still a con and upcoming athletic and entertainment celebrities and other buppies should attend Business 101 class. In this class, one is taught the axiom, that big business ain't nothing but street game. Far too many think that all that glitters is golden whether the object is animate in the form of a person or inanimate in the reflection of their owner's possessions.

For every million dollar Black thief, and there are only a few who have been caught, there are thousands of others entrapping Black people daily for smaller amounts. There are too few Black institutions really working towards the liberation of a decaying Black mindset as they aid in the perpetuation of racist stereotypes. These stereotypes leap from the schoolrooms, boardrooms, pulpits, and family rooms of Black America.

If the canon of Christian belief, the bible teaches anything at all the most important lesson to be learned in this writers' opinion is, "physician heal thyself." The pie in the sky in the great by and by is hobbling our people. Take down the crown and wear it on the ground.

Peace and blessings must be worked for like all things of true value. True Black liberation will occur one person at a time and begin within. When and only when we actively and honestly seek self-strength can we help each other.

Does not the Bible admonish us about the beam in our own eyes while we lament the mote in another's? It is time we truly observed those alleged leaders who are caught up in sound bites, photo ops, and marching exercises and identify their agendas. The marching exercises must be for exercising our larger than life egos and bodies. Saying boo to White people is counterproductive as they now recognize noise when they hear it.

Doomsday is just around the corner as long as we refuse to say put up or shut up. If you are not actively engaged in strengthening our children and their opportunities, we are already a dead people. We are killing ourselves by killing the future of our children. "Physician heal thyself."

© 2005 By Afromerica

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