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Being Black and being a man in this day an age is almost like taking a roller coaster ride through life, Whoa! I hear you say, Before you get on your high horse, just let me say that I have spoken to loads of my friends about this, Black and White and they all agreed with what I had to saySo Can I continue? Cool! Right where was I

Yes, being a young black man and living in the UK or in my case London each day it can be as suggested a roller coaster ride. Here are just a few of the examples of the Highs and Lows of being a Black man, well for me anyway!

Firstly I must say, the one thing that gets me is the staring, it’s the obvious low!

White women, white men, Chinese men and women etc, they all stare, it’s funny but Indian Men and Women don’t stare as much, maybe they feel safe or are just use to the same treatment! Who knows? I mean I can walk on any street, night and day and its always the same, take just the other day, it was 5pm on a Thursday, it was a lovely day, there I was walking up a very prominent road near Holland park, close to where I actually live, I always walk on the right hand side of any road or street, I don’t know why its just my way! So as I was walking, playing tunes from my ipod and taking in the sights of the lovely beautiful Houses on this road. Ahead of me I could see a very attractive woman and yes she was white, as I got closer to this woman I noticed that she was looking directly at me, I thought to myself great she’s stunning and she’s looking at me, cool! But as we got closer she paused and crossed over to the other side of the road and as she did, she kept looking back at meHmm! I thought to myself, not good! Now again, don’t fly of the handle but to me it looked as though she was scared of me or found me threatening. Which is understandable in this day an age with the way society is but what got me was that this road was pretty long and if she wanted to cross over why didn’t she do it much earlier? But it got worse for me that particular day because within a minute or twoit happen again and this time the lady was much older. I was starting to think that I must look like a right villain even with the fact that I was dress very decent plus I was carrying my guitar (case) on my shoulders.

This could be just the area of Holland Park I hear you say but I will tell you that this happens every other day to me and also to most Black Men around the UK. We won’t talk about the police and the stop and search factor but I will say that, that’s just gone completely over the top, too much stories to tell so I’ll stop there because that’s just the one of the lows, now let me give you a high, I think you deserve to hear the positives as well as the negatives but after hearing it, would you say it was a positive thing or a negative thing?

Well! Here it isone of the best things about being a Black Man is how Women perceive us, Black men attract women in a different way than the normal man, or should I say a white man. White men will always get women because it’s their world and that’s fine by me but being Black we have something they will never have and understand. We have the difference! Women who like this difference may tell you, that they like it because they just prefer black men, I think that there’s a deeper meaning to the madness. I think it comes down to one thing and that is fear. Again I can almost hear you all say, what the hell is this guy talking about? Well take it from me; we know that if we want something and we know we can’t have it, we tend to go out of our way to get it and that’s how all of this started, it has just progressed quietly within different generations, cultures and life in general. Are you still with me?

Good to know

I have travelled around the world and every time I leave the UK I am always racially abused in some way, from airport security around the world to European cities where there are zero Black men and so as soon as you get of the plane you become like a alien and everyone stares at you and sees the difference that I have been talking about. But going back to the women for a second or two, they do tend to see something else than their male counterparts. Most times it’s good for me, sometimes it’s not but being just a man you can’t always get the girl! Different women from around the world prefer a certain type of man, be it regarding their religious beliefs, or sexually traits or even their fear of the difference, What I have seen and have made a note of is that Asian women i.e. Indian or Chinese won’t be seen dead with a Black man, Eastern women are a little different, the new generation of young women do find Black men more appealing but that depends on the nationality of the Black man. American women are certainly mixing it at the moment much more than ever but that’s down to the way Black men are portrayed in the USA. English Women are showing signs but for me mostly in cosmopolitan London. Irish and Scottish White women will not go down that road. The welsh women are much more open to the idea but in general there is still segregation amongst the mixing of Black Men and White Women around the world, again for me it’s very much understandable.

In my case I get loads of attention from White women in fact much more than I would get from Black Women, so what does that tell you! So as I said, is it a good thing or bad thing? If you don’t believe me just check out any dating site, that’s where all the evidence is. Just look at what the women want and you will see…90% of the women want white males and only 10% don’t care what the man looks like. Why, Well! Again that’s just the way the world is, preference is very important to most people.

So the ride continues…we have had our ups and downs, what more can I add, well the worse part of the ride for me is simple and it’s the way society sees Black men as a whole! This is a touchy subject that haunts me to the core of my soul but what people really don’t understand is that being Black we see things very simple, we don’t go around thinking we are better than anyone that’s the first thing, we don’t see racism through our eyes when we look at another culture, we don’t question why you are that colour and why we are this colour but with the way we have been duped by the world with simple things like Good is shown by the colour White and Bad is shown as Black, its simple things like this that continues beliefs in white society that colour Black should be feared.

Also the lack of White people around the World, not knowing just where they come from and their own history, Being a Black Man or Black Woman we naturally want to know our origins and we pursue this everyday and most of the new generation of Blacks around the world know so much more about where they come from, much more than a White Person. The History of Black people is rarely told so we are left to our own devices to find the questions and answers so that we can be the proud people and race that we are today. Remember this is just my view point of the situation about being a Black. Yours may be different but that is what makes us the people we are. So today and the next day and the months and years ahead I will continue my Roller Coaster Ride as a Black man and hopefully I will see some changes in my time, Hopefully!

©By Mark J Stevens
Mjsmusic

Singer/Songwriter Mark. J. Stevens is slowly making a name for himself as one of the best new music talents coming out of the UK! Mark is currently putting the final touches to his debut recording Album. But in his spare time he writes articles and is also currently writing a play. Mark says, ‘Writing is a great way to release your emotions, sitting down at my PC and writing is one of my favourite things I like to do’. Watch out for this New Music Artist, we think he has a great future as a writer.

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