Kudos to My Sistas

I usually write about topics from religion, race, politics, spirituality, and other opinion-based subjects, but this one is out of pure adoration. I am so very proud of how a particular segment of our population has taken the torch and ran with it. Women, in general, have stepped up in roles of leadership and are doing a fantastic job of it in spite of the obstacles they face in this “man’s world,” as James Brown called it. If you were being politically correct you would classify this phenomenal as a male-dominated society.

As I was glancing through my early Sunday morning talk show, AM JOY, I heard a statistic that there are currently 122 Black Women currently running for Congress in 2020. WOW! YOU GO my Sistas!

There is no dispute that males have dominated our society since the beginning of time. During the years women accepted the support role or inferior position standing by their man. But something happened along the way when males stopped being efficient or they used too much ego in their positions. Their attitudes became more obnoxious or even condescending of many females. When males no longer respect females or honor them in high esteem it is time for a change. Even though females on average may be considered weaker physically, their strengths are unmatched in the things they do best. God gave women many qualities that are not as prevalent in males. One such trait is that of assuming responsibility. Where males could “hit it and quit it,” females had to remain in responsible positions. That attitude is more pronounced when it comes to raising children. Where men walk away, females didn’t have that as an option for the most part.

Several years back I wrote a book about the diminishing roles of males. There seems to be an alarming trend where many males are dodging their usual role of being the provider and protector of the family structure. With divorce ever-increasing, females had to find ways to survive and even thrive without their male counterparts. This caused many females to bring out qualities in them that they never would have utilized had the male stayed. They had to keep a roof over the family, feed the children, and perform both roles alone. This was out of necessity but it caused them to shine in ways they never knew possible. That along with improvements in women’s rights and equal opportunities allowed females to come out and compete in this male-dominated society.

With the new Gen-Next generation young girls are no longer waiting on a man to take care of them. Instead, they are growing up becoming the best version of a self-reliant individual, which makes them very competitive in today’s job markets. Back in the olden days’ brute strength and muscles were an asset because of the normal factory and manual labor-type jobs. This is no longer the case in the primary job arena. Females can operate heavy equipment using brainpower over muscles. Women can pilot fighter jets or fly space ships. In addition, they are still the ones that deliver our babies. They learned to make strategic planning around childbirth if or when they had the right partner who would become Mr. Mom if necessary, allowing the partner with the best credentials to be the financial head of the household. Well-educated and superior-prepared females qualify for the higher paying salaries in today’s job market. If the female partner is better qualified then the male can stay at home with the children when the extended family is not available.

In the current job market, males can no longer assume that they will be the breadwinners or the provider and protectors. They must learn to compete, head-on with their female counterparts for the same jobs that require education, skill, and more brainpower than muscle power. On average females are acquiring higher degrees than males. When I wrote my book about “Real Men,” back ten years ago, women were attending colleges or higher education facilities about seven times more than their male counterparts. The statistics may be different today but there are still more females on your average college campuses than males. Now that females no longer need to hide their skills or stand behind males they no longer need to play the role of a subservient partner. They can be extremely independent and take their pick of the best available males. The odd thing is there are more outstanding females than there are outstanding males so the picking is thinner for females. Oddly, good men are harder to find for females on top of their game.

When you look at all the obstacles that the average female has to overcome in this male-dominated landscape, black women (sistas) have the most hurdles to overcome. They are black and female, which are two hurdles in this society: 1.) Women being under male domination and, 2.) Blacks are still under white oppression. That means if females were competing in a race they would have to start several hurdles behind the start line. Not only are they doing better than the average male counterpart, but they are also carrying the torch for people of color. Because of their pursuit of higher educational degrees they are more competitive in the job markets and because of their persistence and perseverance they are more than capable of overcoming obstacles. They come to the table expecting to have to be twice as smart or twice as good just to be competitive. In this case, iron is sharpening iron and females are getting quite good at sharpening each other.

I am personally very proud of African American females and how they have come out of the shadows and assumed roles of responsibility and leadership. If you want a job done well find a woman and even better, find a black woman that has been held back for most of their lives. As a father of daughters and granddaughters, I am so happy to see this change. Though equal opportunities are not here for everyone alike, the ones that push themselves are getting to the top positions. This is all because of their hard work and tenacity. This is not intended to take anything away from other females that have to break through similar hurdles, but for the most part females of color have to go through additional hurdles. Where the average white woman only has to overcome one hurdle, women of color have distinctly two hurdles and they are doing it in flying colors. I offer my Kudos and congratulations to all females, but a special wink and nod to my sistas.

All right, fellas, what are we going to do about this competitive battle we are facing? Are we going to roll over and let the females run society for a while or are we going to step back up to the plate and work to earn our designated roles of being the primary protectors and providers of the family structure? Or, why not have two great leaders of the family, both sharing the role of taking care of our families as best we can, using all our available resources. Two heads are better than one, especially when they join forces in order to achieve a common goal. Contrary to popular belief I don’t feel God ever intended for males to abuse females just because they were created larger in statue. Male and female were created to fit like a hand in glove, to be partners perpetuating the species. Take a look at the rest of the animal species and you see how it was intended to work. This entire notion of ego-centered-male-domination is only prevalent in mankind. Perhaps it is time for males to learn the trait of humility for a change. Wouldn’t that be nice? Most of our wars would be eradicated.

So as I gleam with pride, KUDOS TO MY SISTAS!!! You have earned my adoration. If males are honest they would be as proud of you as I am. But still, that is no excuse for them shirking the role God assigned to them. Who knows, God might be a female. At a minimum, God is both male and female. Out of ONE, both were created… go figure!