you keep saying that you are talking about groups, right?... so i posed the question... "Can an individual influence a group?"... your answer was yes...

now...

let's say we use myself as an example since you keep referring to my posts as talking about individuals... i, as an individual, have influenced some of my friends to do the right thing and get themselves together... they saw what i was doing with the tools that i had available and decided that they too could accomplish goals... i didn't necessarily have all the tools at my disposal... i had to find out a lot of info and do some research... the reason i did those things was because i was determined to live my life better than what my parents could do for me... i watched the mistakes they made and decided to take things into my own hands... nothing was "given" to me...

now... back to how you keep seperating individuals and groups...
if an individual can influence a group then why is it that when one of our own makes it we don't use that same influence to better ourselves?... instead we try and tear them down and bring them back down to a poverty level.. we make them out to be "lucky" instead of an individual who actually worked hard to get to where they are...

truth be told... it takes individuals to make a group... if we, as individuals, got together to help one another instead of wasting energy on blaming other folks we'd all be a lot better off... but you know how we do each other.... black on black crime... selling drugs in our own communities to the same people we say are victims of society (us)... robbing and killing each other... gangs... fighting over colors? c'mon man... there's no way you can say that anyone made you do these things.... as long as you have the ability to say no and the choice to do ya own thing there is no excuse for failure... ok... i can see if someone actually tried to make a difference and failed.. but to do actually jack shyt and then claim they a victim?... that's just bullshyt...

you can't help anyone who isn't willing to help themselves... as an individual you CAN make a difference... Martin Luther King made a difference... Rosa Parks made a difference... Hell, even Hitler made a difference (a negative one, but a difference nonetheless)

We've proven time and time again that we, as a people , can overcome the most adverse situations... why stop now? if we can make it through the Underground Railroad, Slavery, gaining our right to vote, and segregation then what makes getting a job and an education any harder?

The real problem is our lack of involvement when we see issues that need to be addressed. Nothing bothers us if it doesn't affect us directly... we have the metality that it's not our problem and we got all this great advice for everyone else... but when it's our time to step up we step back instead... we don't have that Black Panther mentality anymore... C'mon.... think about it... back in the day we used to march and protest and get our asses whooped for the things we believed in... we don't do that anymore... The million man March?.. that was weak... yeah, we showed up and listened to a few "individuals" speak... but what did we actually do as a group besides take a day off from work and put our bills in jeopardy? then who do we turn around and blame? everyone but ourselves...

i love my people... but the majority are still sleeping and can't wake up... i'm wide awake and i see the big picture while most of us are still staring at the face of a clock tryna figure out what time it is...

never underestimate the power of an individual.... an individual black man performed the first heart surgery, invented the stoplight, and countless other daily inventions used throughout the world....

if you don't come away with anything elsefrom this at least leave with this ....you can't have "groups" without "individuals"... so ya whole argument about how you were talking about groups is null and void...

like i said... if an individual can influence a group then there is still no excuse for peoples complaints that someone is holding them back from achieving their goals... the problem is... ya hanging around the wrong individuals

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