• Please join us tonight (10/8/2020) @ 7:30 EST — 6:30 CST as we discuss this topic. Click here to gain entry.

Although it may be difficult to believe, I have moments where black males of all ages challenge my sanity. Trust me when I say that the words of trusted friend William A. Foster IV’s comment that

The black intellectual is the loneliest person on the planet

resonates within my soul. In this era of “wokeness,” my encounters with black men who prefer to pontificate about irrelevant revisionist history topics instead of developing liberation are increasing.

Experience has taught me that some Black males have doused themselves in outlandish conspiracy theories and revisionist history interpretations informed by nothing more than ridiculous half-baked YouTube and Facebook videos. I have learned that such people prefer unproductive conversations that hide their cowardice behind crazy talk and unrealistic goals. I am convinced that if Frederick Douglass were alive, he would address these loud-mouth phrasemongers with the following admonishment.

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.

I am confident that not even Frederick Douglass could move such people beyond endless discussions of irrelevant historical facts that hold no potential to liberate blacks.

Such people foolishly believe that their careless talk paints them as a formidable opponent to mighty whites. The alluded to idiocy is an obvious sign of their unwillingness to abandon their rabble-rousing in favor of meaningful politics. I have tired of planting black liberation seeds in barren soil.

It appears as if I am not the only one frustrated with black males’ disengagement with the political arena. As the 2020 election season approaches, the usual groundswell of getting out the Vote is occurring. Predictably, few of these endeavors target black male voters.

My how things have changed

The latest group to address this issue of getting black males to the Poll are exotic dancers. Yes, you read that correctly, a rising tide of exotic dancers are imploring apolitical black men to get their booty to the Poll.

The women behind Get Your Booty to the Poll may be able to reach black men who have ignored standard voter registration drive initiatives. This latest effort to get out the black male vote is innovative, intriguing, and problematic.

Although the Get Your Booty to the Poll effort is notable, it raises troubling questions regarding why some black males are so afraid to confront other groups on the political battlefield? The prophetic words of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Chicago-branch of the Black Panther Party, should haunt many black males. According to Hampton,

War is nothing but politics with bloodshed, and politics is nothing but war without bloodshed.

I reserve the coward label for extreme circumstances.

How strange would it be if the missing ingredient in getting black males to the Poll is booty cheeks? Most of us could never fathom that instead of political education classes and voter registration drives, our efforts would have been much more productive had we used sultry black women to swing on poles with the words “Vote! Vote!” on their left and right cheeks?

The above leads me to ask the following question.

Have black males fallen into a bottomless abyss of foolishness and political ineptitude?

It is incredibly disappointing that our best hope to grasp the attention of apolitical black males is by writing the word Vote on the booty cheeks of scantily clad strippers. Lord knows that I wish that we weren’t in the midst of such an important political season; however, this moment mandates unprecedented voter turnout for apparent reasons. It appears that the nation’s future direction may be determined by how many black males are coaxed into a voting booth by booty cheeks.

I guess that in the end, a vote is a vote after all.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.