It came to me upon a Jamaican midnight clear.

It occurred to me after reading a student’s statement of his worldview, that the “Lucious” and “Andre” characters on Empire are the embodiment of the struggles of the diaspora community African male wherever he exists post-slavery. They are subliminally socialized by messages of inadequacy, and lack, prevalent in every facet of society, that is often as a desert to the phenotypic African youth, drying up in opportunity, patience, compassion, acceptance, equity, etc., just when it is his turn to access those indicia of human rights and citizenship.. They are thus largely railroaded and robbed of the successes and hope of their families’ dreams for them at their birth. Indeed, no parent, no matter their race, religion, social class, education level and/or economic standing, wishes their babe at birth, anything less than the fulfillment of the great potential dormant in their infancy.

In the United States, we see vigilant efforts at constant depictions in print and other media, through the character roles, type casting, the reporting of stories of black crime and the failing to report white crime, the public justification for the shortcomings, failings and inadequacies the white suspect, while, with words and images that inform the national psyche, demonizing, persecuting and condemning the black suspect as the criminal and brutish animal, creating an inherent fear of the African American male’s very existence. He does not need to commit an act in order to earn that fear. Our consciousness has been subliminally conditioned by these associations, to fear the very physical/phenotypic characteristics that identify him as “black” in America. MLK, Jr. is turning in his grave because, the “content” of Black male character is a script written by these subliminal messages, that becomes his self-fulfilling prophesy. .

The global feeling of inadequacy is then cemented by the segregated and segregating systems of public education and the preconceived notions of our sordid racial past that continues to influence the major systems in society, like the legislative, banking, housing, employment, healthcare, criminal justice and judicial systems, that further rob these young Black men of any remaining ideas of their place in the global landscape of freedom and equality; and any possibility of accessing the promises and dreams of their citizenry; as if they are not a “Johnny come lately” to the “game” and aren’t consistently “playing” from behind.

These young men then grow up to become adults, like the “Lucious” and “Andre” characters who, torn in the loyalties they feel to loved ones; make choices and decisions fueled by the feelings of inadequacy and lack, so deeply ingrained into their consciousness.  

They thus seek external representations of their “arrival” at that ever-illusive oasis of adequacy, acceptance, validation and measuring-up, like an “Anika” character who passes the litmus test of the “brown paper bag,” and is from what Lucious’ perceives a “stable and traditional family who passes,” or for Andre, the “light/White Barbie” character who is a sure “winning ticket,” because she “is” the undeniable epitome of global acceptance.

We have to work hard at being role models and mentors, because the harsh reality of these truths are things that most people, Black and White of all ethnicities and nationalities who exist in this melting pot of a global society, shy away from discussing and addressing. The truth is, if you have an “illness”, like this pervasive problem is to our society, and you keep it a secret, don’t speak to “people” about what has helped them, don’t seek treatment measures/remedies and research alternatives, your demise is rapidly approaching, and it will be by your own negligence.