AmbitionSquared will soon merge into "Beauty and Brains"

Hey there!

Just letting you know that I will be transitioning this content onto my new blog, "Brains and Beauty" in late December on Blogger.com. I have several blogs running simultaneously, and figured it would be better to combine different topics related to politics, beauty, culture, society, and so many other things that strike my fancy into one massive blog. So please be on the lookout! =) 

Dear Reader

Hey AmbitionSquared readers: 

Thanks for dropping by - I will be posting some new commentary sometime late December, so definitely stay tuned!

Michelle Obama and Brown Beauty

This particular post is a reaction to a quick video on ABC about black women and their potential upliftment as a group because of Michelle Obama’s rise to fame in America.

As much as I found this video entertaining, there is a part of me that does not even want to discuss it, partially because it seems to suggest that black women on average have some serious self-esteem issues to deal with based on how the media has constructed their image. However, the part where they show the experiment with the dolls (where the black children choose white dolls over black dolls because they view the white dolls as “better” - in whatever way they perceive “better” to mean), is troubling. Consider the video below, and consider how a young black girl would feel in the same position:




(Feel free to see my comments on this video on another blog entitled "Own Your Beauty".) 

Interestingly enough, despite the media's obsession with particular images and standards, studies that have shown that black women have, on average, strong confidence in their body image (and they are less likely to be prone to issues such as anorexia, bulimia, etc.). Also, generations upon generations of black women have taken intense pride in their natural hair texture and have shown great affection for their own individual skin hues (whether that be dark chocolate, caramel, mocha, tan, or very light). However, I do believe that Michelle’s rise to fame and attention will help some black women feel more comfortable with their beauty when they see their own image thrown back at them in the role of First Lady of the United States. However unfortunate it may be that people are affected by images in the media, it is important to realize that women who have been pushed to the fringes of the accepted beauty standard in America have their own range of features that are very worthy of praise and should be acknowledged as traits that are to be admired and ACCEPTED. Perhaps Michelle and her daughters may be able to assist in such a realization for women of all shades and sizes.

The Media’s Misinterpretation and Effect on Black America

The Media’s Misinterpretation and Effect on Black America

There is a part of me that doesn’t want to let the last blog post go (see below: “Intelligent Black People…an Oxymoron?”) - partially because the relationship between the media and Black America has always fascinated me, and partially because the media’s warped interpretation of Black America (particularly how it chooses to portray it) has boggled my mind for quite some time.

The most recent situation that hit this particular nerve of mine happened several months ago, when I sat down with a group of young African-American girls, who upon being asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, stated that they wanted to be singers. Out of some frustration with that answer, I gently suggested, “how about a doctor or lawyer?” (This isn’t because I have a particular bias towards those two careers – I just figured I would throw something else out there on the table!). One little girl smushed up her nose at me and said, “Eww! Doctor? Gross! I don’t want to deal with blood!” Feeling empathetic to her response, I suggested: “How about a lawyer?” This adorable little girl just looked at me with somewhat of a blank stare, and shrugged. When I asked someone from the community about their responses, the individual basically said, "What else do you expect when these children don't have other major examples in their community or in society that would suggest that they could be something other than a singer or basketball player?" When I responded that women like Condoleeza Rice or Colin Powell could potentially serve as role models (leaving their politics out of it), he politely told me that their potential effect has been slight in urban America. 

I have to admit – I don’t think that the media is completely to blame for how it portrays Black America. Why? Because on some level, Black America doesn’t completely reject it. In fact, I would argue that on some level it absorbs the media’s interest in shaping what it means to be “cool”: which pretty much means, mirror the image and perhaps the career of Michael Jordan, Keyshia Cole, Beyonce, Ashanti, or Lil’ Wayne. Many people complain about the misogynistic lyrics in rap/hip hop lyrics, and wonder what happened to the old school flavors of hip hop and rap “back in the day” (the 1980s and 1990s ☺). Many people also wonder why black youth label sometimes label their friends who want to pursue an education as “trying to be white.” Despite this discomfort sizzling and buzzing about among Black Americans, there seems to be little effort to fight its very image in the media. Perhaps they figure its not worth the effort, they may not win, or perhaps they don’t care enough to bother.

If change is going to happen in the media, perhaps the reality in Black American culture has to take a dramatic paradigmatic shift before positive changes reflect back through the television set and radio. I’ve recently heard a few people emphatically suggest that more Black Americans truly have to embrace the value of education in order to create the paradigm shift. And yes, they then followed that statement up by suggesting that the election of Barack Obama to the Oval Office could have potentially marked the beginning of the shift. I hope so – only time will tell what really happened, and where Black America goes from here, and how its image is shaped through various media channels in society today.

"Intelligent Black People" … an Oxymoron?

“Black” and “Smart” … an Oxymoron?

No. It is not an oxymoron. And anyone who even thinks such a thing should get some serious psychological treatment. Really – I’m not kidding. Perhaps 24 hours worth of television shows like “A Different World,” “The Cosby Show,” and a little bit of Carlton (“Fresh Prince of Bel Air”), Urkel (“Family Matters”), and a sufficient amount of “Obama” hype should help.

People who exhibit signs of needing this sort of treatment may not always be obvious to the naked eye (or ear, for that matter). For example, they may exhibit signs of sheer ignorance by stating to a black person, “Wow! You are so articulate!,” or “Well, you’re different,” or may even subtly allude to the fact that they are surprised that black people go to top-tier colleges and graduate schools. And you may be able to point them out in particular when they compare black people to famous television characters or politicians such as “Theo,” “Carlton,” “Condoleezza Rice,” “Colin Powell,” (and they most likely are now implementing “Obama” into their comparative vocabulary).

As a self-identified nerd from birth, I’ve always found the antiquated idea that “smart black people are the exception to the rule” quite amusing as well as far from any sort of truth, considering how I was surrounded by intelligent black people all the time, ranging from all different careers, educational backgrounds, and nationalities. However, there was no doubt that the media, on average, tended to promote the classic stereotypes about black people over and over again through music videos, television shows, as well as terrible movies that somehow made it to the silver screen. And let’s not forget the recent strange popularity of Flava Flav and “New York” from the show, “I Love New York” (and Flava Flav’s show as well). I therefore dismissed the media as an unfortunate and unaware institution that has not yet chosen to leave “blackface” in the past where it belongs.

I am therefore somewhat relieved that many people will have to challenge their notion about black people and intelligence with upcoming constant exposure to the next President of the United States, who won his position in large part due to his incredible intellect. And let’s be honest – there are plenty of men and women out there like Obama who have not risen to the same level of fame.

Perhaps now, when a card-carrying “Black People Are Smart?” individual decides to “compliment” a black person by claiming that he or she is “so articulate!,” perhaps the receiver of this “compliment” could remind the individual that the next President of the United States, his wife and their kids are intelligent as well – so get a clue. And stop watching Flava Flav.

Ambition and Path Dependency

Path Dependence: “the idea that decisions taken in the past limit the scope of decisions in the present (and future).” –Oxford University Press

To what degree can we broadly claim that our futures are dependent on the decisions we’ve made in the past? To what degree do people limit their potential or their ambition based on a wrong turn here or another detour there? I believe that our lives and our desires for achievement are strongly path-dependent – that is, our next steps along the paths of success are strongly dependent on the steps taken this morning, yesterday, last week, last month, and the list goes on. If you take a pencil and trace your steps over time, you may sketch out a complex, multi-linear trajectory of individual footsteps that resemble a game of “connect the dots.” And after you are done connecting the dots, you may or may not like the resulting picture, but it is important to observe it along with every other picture posted along your metaphorical path. Why? Because the success and purpose of your next steps are pretty much dependent on it. As the saying goes, “those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it.”

What does this have to do with ambition? Well, when you continue to make so many choices in one direction, you may find that you have to work twice as hard to correct those steps and create a new path in life. In addition, no two paths look alike. It may take one man ten years to become a successful entrepreneur, while it may take another man half that amount of time. The decisions you make impact what road you can take towards a given outcome. But regardless of the detour, there is no reason to give up. Difficulty does not warrant stagnancy. When it gets difficult, that is when you should work even harder to accomplish the goal that you have in mind. The ambition in you should rise up, and you should use it as fuel to push through a hurdle or a tough spot that appears to trap you in a pit of sinking sand. Never buy into the saying that “I’m just living life according to the cards that I was dealt.” Instead, remind yourself that you hold ALL the cards – you just have to play them in the right order. And if you make a mistake, then keep on playing, because the game is not over until you say it is over. Society does not dictate your success – in fact, it is silent on that topic. So why not define your success for yourself and define your own path? Everyone hits a hurdle or two along their own roads – it is how they decide to deal with those hurdles that will ultimately determine the proximity of their next steps to their dream goal in life.

A White House, a Black President

A powerful quote in this video: "the White House, in part built by black slaves, welcomes its first black president." One cannot help but notice this uniquely symbolic and historical moment of watching the first black president check out his new lodgings. I really hope that people are inspired by these images today, and the images to come, of Obama in this special position of power. This society is so used to seeing disturbing as well as unnecessarily comical images of black men on television (evening news and BET are the worst, in my opinion), so I am more than thrilled that Obama and his beautiful family will soon be photographed and videotaped in and around the White House, showing a new side of black images on television.

Speaking of which, I could not help but go "awwww, too cute!" when the morning news provided an account of the "Little Obama's":



Obama has already impacted many young black Americans who, post-election, decided to re-invent their definitions of self and reassess their ability to positively change their lives and the lives of those around them. This video is a vivid and potent snapshot of a baby "Little Obama" movement that will hopefully become stronger and impact more youth across the country!

Perhaps Obama's image and success displayed on television everyday will have the sort of impact on the younger generations today that the "Cosby Show" had on my generation. To show that yes, success is possible for all black Americans. And even though some people believed that the "Cosby Show" was a very fictitious account of Black America (as if there were no stable and financially well-off Black Americans already in existence at that time), no one can debate the fact that Obama is not an actor, but a real person, making history, making change. No one can debate the fact that we are indeed watching a very true account of a wonderful, beautiful family that is about to inherit the White House and an ambitious President-Elect that is about to make change in a country that centuries ago would not have dared to provide him the opportunity.