bygINCpresents, Black Boy, New Immigrant Dining In America

[Donjuanchris]

The first video i had to laugh yo..you put tacs on the kids seat and was sent to the back of the class..You do realise if that was st.Vincent..You would get your tail beat by the teacher and then by the parents when they are called to the school lol

[bygINCpresents]

i wouldn't have made it to the door. my form 4 teacher back home was a good friend of my mother's. mom was a teacher too... would have been dead!

[Donjuanchris]

Lol Yeah seriously..but i wonder what is your take on "licks" its funny that punishment like that is not allowed in schools there

[bygINCpresents]

when do they stop "licks" in svg? secondary school?

[crashitbaby17]

white girls i'm ready for you lol

that's funny!

[bygINCpresents]

i was ready for anybody after a few months. if you have time, watch more of the "17 to life" playlist to see how my tastes/outlook changed in america.

[blackmantellthetruth]

I enjoy your video.

[bygINCpresents]

thanks for taking the time to look at a few of these. would love your opinion if/when you see them all. where is this boy going? where could he have gone? what saves him? do you see this boy in your everyday life?

[sonix9028]

this commentary is visual and real. it is an accurate depiction of most black boys even black girls experience in america.

[bygINCpresents]

i tried. can only be honest with myself. honesty is universal. once tapped, the world runs through you.... if you know young folk who need to hear these tales, pass the vids along. thanks.

[CityzenJane]

This is only related because of the Norman Rockwell imagery... But look out for a scene in American Gangster that is completely Normal Rockwell. It was pretty stunning.

[bygINCpresents]

i saw it. noted t the minute i saw it.the thanksgiving scene. the people are all positioned the same way as the painting.

[CityzenJane]

Yeah nicely done I thought...

[bygINCpresents]

thought so too. the angle and everything. i think ridley scott even froze the frame a bit to look like a photo.

[Jpetit96]

Immigrants in the United States, will always be outcasts, outsiders, why? because this land is not home...It is up to an immigrant to make a home for themselves, to squeeze in between the stars and the stripes and make a space for yourself...be careful not to let America make you, you must find a way to make yourself into what you want...because if they can make you, they also have the power to brake you! (America v. Michael Jackson)

[bygINCpresents]

i agree. america can break you. when you're young in the head and know no better --no matter how old you are. i'm well past that first stage. what i'm trying to do on youtube is chronicle the process from the insecurity you heard here to the philosophical questions posed on something like "me and james baldwin: down on the cross." if you come back, you will witness the development of a black... human psyche.

[Skaramine]

This video is EVERYTHING I love about America. A truly great story! Thank you for sharing it.

[bygINCpresents]

i'm surprised you found this to be positive. don't know if that's totally what i was going for.

[Skaramine]

But the thing is, sure you had a bumpy road, but your wonderful coach finally brought you to the table, to dine with the rest of America. America isn't perfect, it's lumpy, and it's not always equal and even, but then there are beautiful human beings like your coach, and yourself who PUSHED through the bs to be... "one of us" regardless of any superficial appearance differences, know what I mean?

[Nicegirl74]

I saw almost the exact opposite of this in this film. There's a lot here, I had to watch it a couple of times. It's not often you come across stuff that really makes you think.

[Skaramine]

I guess my conceit came from the kindness of a good teacher inviting the narrator to dine at the table with the gesture of the bicycle. I'm not blind enough to see the inordinant weight of societal ignorance that made him feel so outside, but that one gesture proved to me that there is hope for change, you know?

[feeevah]

wow, i think he or she needs to watch that again.

[bygINCpresents]

yeah, i didn't wat t say it but... yeah. but art is in the hands of the onlooker once it leaves your head. i can't fault this person. they're naive, but i an't fault them. thank you for noticing the slant.

[Mellomel]

It's not being naive as much as it is an attempt on her part to find the positive in the picture you've just painted.

[CityzenJane]

We have a tendency I think to sugarcoat and make sweet that which for many a very bitter experience and hard hard lessons. This kind of story is not 'what makes America great' - This is the kind of story that should embarrass us, but doesn't...and why is that? Because white America guards is 'naivetee' rather fiercely. "finding the positive' is a reflexive bad habit that allows ignorance to develop a hard candy coating. imho

[Mellomel]

I think that was the link I needed to put this puzzle together. I can better see where the author was intending in this film with that perspective. Good call Cityzen Jane.

[satobess]

My wife did see it. She agreed with much of the dialogue. She is also an immigrant from South Africa. However, she listened in pieces. I'll have to see if I can get her to listen to it fully.

[bygINCpresents]

where in south africa? my favorite history class was about that nation. loved mark mathabane's "kaffir boy". one of the few books i can read again and again...do you know other immigrants who might find value or at least a shared perspective in seeing this?

[satobess]

She's from Orange Farm which is near Jo'burg. I had the pleasure of meeting Mathabane the night that I met my wife. He is a remarkable man. I know other immigrants. I'll have to tell them about your site.

[bygINCpresents]

did you sit down and talk to mathabane? did he move back there or still living and working here'?

[satobess]

I spoke with him briefly, but not enough to get his information. We mostly talked about Robert Sobukwe.

[satobess]

These videos of yours are very thought provoking. I've never written so much for comment. *giggle* Thank you and thanks for adding me to your friends list.

[bygINCpresents]

keep commenting... what else can i say?... has your wife seen any of the videos? any friends? i'd love to get a woman's take. these ideas have been in my head too long. if you're any indication, there is an agora for such thought and others. it's a warm feeling to know but not enough. bigger. bigger. wider. wider.

[satobess]

The image today? Television usually mirrors what America aspires to be, but tv today simply mirrors what is happening now. I think that people are aspiring for financial independence. They have bought into the hype of the lottery and all of these other schemes to get rich quick. It's about "hitting it" big or being in the right place at the right time. You don't have to work hard or do well in school. Well, that's just my opinion. :)

[bygINCpresents]

when i got here, the tv shows and movies was always about about someone making it in america. i understand that propoganda needed to happen 'cause the cold war was still happeining. now the programs follow each other. it's not about a social ideal. it's business. it's the real america forced on itself. i mean, tv has always been about business but now this blatant.

[satobess]

Also, this was a good video. I like your honesty. Many of us went through that time when we thought blonde hair and blue eyes were the epitome of beauty. Funny, my wife is the complete opposite. I'm talking tight curls, skin the color of dark, rich soil and eyes as dark as coal. Thanks for this.

[bygINCpresents]

my wife was the complete opposite too when we met. i think she had to marry a dark skinned man... wonder about that phase today. with all the beautiful/sexy black images out there, does blond-haired/blue-eyed carry the same weight in our community?

[satobess]

The images you showed in this video are even difficult to imagine for some white people. It's the image of the "perfect" family. It makes me think of the 1950's when the Jones' moved on the block. Everyone has been chasing that lifestyle and image ever since. Well, it's been fashioned to fit today's images, but it's still the same.

[bygINCpresents]

i think that's the part of becoming black in america hope to chronicle. this whole endeavor is having folks see the process from the lie of america to some truth worth living with. i came to see that not just black people were lied to, most americans --especially white-- were lied to. i know those ozzie and harriett are fake. i knew that the more i thought here. be interesting to note what the merican images are today.