Tre Melvin

 

picture courtesy of cypheravenue.com

Manliness used to mean going to war for your country, being the sole provider for your family and not showing your emotions. Today that definition of manliness no longer exist. Today the definition of manliness would be having the courage to stand up and do something different than what everyone else is doing, and if you show emotion during the process it’s okay. Someone that fits that definition of manliness today is Tre Melvin. Tre Melvin is a youtube personality that is straight up and makes you laugh. Tre also happens to be bisexual. A year ago he made a youtube video called my “New Years Resolution” where he came out to the world. That took a lot of courage especially because putting it out to the public in that form can cause a lot of backlash, which it did, but it also showed Tre that his fans would still love him.

In this weeks reading The Generations of Men: How the Cycles of History Shape Your Values, Your Idea of Manhood, and Your Future by Kate and Brett Mckay, they mention that during the third turning or the unraveling that “Individualism and personal satisfaction are at their highest” If you were to take a look at Tre Melvin’s youtube page you would see that Tre stands for individualism and self satisfaction. He does what makes him happy and doesn’t care what others have to say. Tre also expresses his individualism. Not many people prior to our time had the courage to do what Tre has done and continues to do.

In the article the Mckay’s say:“What I see this mean for Millennial men is a desire to return to a simple, straightforward, non-angsty approach to being a man; they’re not so concerned about gender roles and manhood as something they need to get in touch with or analyze or are angry about; rather, it’s more like, “Yeah, I’m a man, and I like being a man. So how does a man live a good life?”” In another video that Tre did called “What is a Man” he explains that he is just as manly as he was the day before he came out and just because he is bisexual doesn’t change his masculinity. Tre also says that coming out was the best thing he could have done because he inspired so many other men to do the same, and to live a life where they are no longer hiding their sexuality, and are free to just be themselves.

Mckay, Brett, and Kate Mckay. “The Cyclical Nature of History | The Art of Manliness.” The Art of Manliness. N.p., 12 July 2012. Web. 08 Aug. 2015. <http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/07/12/the-generations-of-men-how-the-cycles-of-history-have-shaped-your-values-your-place-in-the-world-and-your-idea-of-manhood/&gt;.

“71. What Is A “Man”?” YouTube. YouTube, 17 Feb. 2014. Web. 08 Aug. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbG4AX17Eg4&gt;.

Melvin, Tre. “My New Years Resolution.” YouTube. YouTube, 31 Dec. 2014. Web. 08 Aug. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqv1-Ac4Xm8&gt;.

Movements of Our Time

The Black Lives Matters movement as a whole was a success and a failure for this generation. The purpose of this movement was to make people aware that black lives matter, to end police brutality and to get justice for the victims that had been done wrong. Two out of the three goals of this movement have failed.The body count of black lives that have been taken by police brutality is getting higher each day, and there is still cases such as the case with Sandra Bland that still has not received justice. But there was also the success. The marches, the rallies, and even riots have gotten the message out to the people that Black Lives Matter. It not only reached the Black community, but people of all the races. It got people to want to see a change in America which is how a revolution starts.
In my family doing the right thing and fighting what for what you believe in is very important. In most of these videos that’s what the people strived to accomplish. Take the Arabs Springs video for example. Mohammed Bouazizi was fed up with the way his government was running things, and decided to take matters into his own hands, and do something about it. Although I would not have personally lit myself on fire to create a movement, but that’s what he believed it would take to get what he wanted. As a result of him doing so it caused a ripple effect of people wanting change in the middle east. Another example is the people in France that did not identify themselves as Charlie. They did what they they felt was right, and instead of going along with the mass majority they had their own cause and fought for it.
For a revolution to occur it takes people noticing that they want a change. The time that it takes people to realize that a change is in order can take months, years or even decades. However, once a revolution starts you see people of all ages participating in it, as was seen in the Black Lives Matters movement, the Je Suis Charlie movement and the Arabs Springs movement. It takes more than one generation to start a revolution because the problems that are needed to be fixed usually remains damaged for more than just one generation.

Smith, Hannah. “An Introduction to the Black Lives Matter Movement.”YouTube. YouTube, 1 May 2015. Web. 01 Aug. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js4ynmPbwPA&gt;.
“Arab Spring Timeline.” YouTube. YouTube, 1 May 2012. Web. 01 Aug. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqOdG9RygNw&gt;.
“”Je Suis Charlie” | Journal.” YouTube. YouTube, 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 01 Aug. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXzcjU5pwrQ&gt;.

revolution in Ireland photo courtesy of greenleft.org

We The People

My people have asked the questions “When will it end?”, “ Why doesn’t the media report the crimes that are actually serious?”. “Where is the justice for the people that have been killed due to police brutality?”, “Who will protect the public when the police break the law?” ,”How are these people being found innocent?” “ and “ What has happened to the justice system?” The underlying question is; what is being done to stop the deaths of african american men and women by the hands of racist police officers, and how do we get justice for those people that were done wrong.
The questions that are being asked are being asked rightfully so. We want to know what is happening , why this keeps happening and what can be done to stop it. If no questions were asked then that would mean that we simply did not care, but we do. What is it going to take for the murderings to stop? If the roles were reversed and it were white children and fathers being murdered how would they react? Would they not ask the same questions?
When it comes to the actions that are taken by the black community after a black life has been lost to police brutality, I do not always agree. For instance the riots in Baltimore and Ferguson. The people that rioted, while they did not kill anyone, they are just as bad. Breaking the law is still breaking the law, and there is also the fact that there ruining their own communities. What exactly does ruining your own community do?, Nothing except show that YOU don’t care about YOUR own community. Its one thing to be fed up, but it’s another to take your anger out on yourself. Fighting violence with violence is never the way to go. Nothing ever gets solved, and no progress is made.
A public reaction that I felt was handled extremely well was the one with Trayvon Martin. Instead of all the violence and hostility there was peaceful protest and marches. They saw that black lives actually mattered, and in order to prevent more deaths like this from happening, they could not use violence. This situation was handled as the delicate situation that it was.

1800’s or 2015
photo courtesy of i_am_king_24

Being a Millenial

I identify myself as a Millennial or, according to the Pew Research Center  “ the American teens and twenty-somethings who are making the passage into adulthood at the start of a new millennium.”  Like the typical Millennial I have social media accounts with privacy boundaries, I have moral values and respect my elders like I was taught too. I do not really follow politics, but I do support Obama and also social change.

However there are some things I just can not relate to. For example, the Millennials that aren’t religious. While I respect their beliefs or rather their non beliefs, I do not understand them. God is a big part of my life, he always has been, and he always will be. I also can not relate with the Millennials who expect the government to do more to fix problems. If you want something  done in life you should not rely on the government to do it for you. Do it yourself.

It was said in an article by Joel Kotkin  that “the new generation must lower its expectations,” I however disagree. We should not have to lower our expectations because the economy is doing bad. As a generation we should find ways to make the economy better for us and the next generations. When people have high expectations they typically work harder to meet them. which in the long run is better for society. When people see someone else doing good they want to do just as good or even better.

If the Millennials are anything we are a generation of technology and advancement. I totally agree with the Pew Research Center when they say that we “are on track to become the most educated generation in American history.” Our generation has experienced so many new things, and so many new concepts have been introduced during our lifetime. In the past few years alone the technology that we have had access to is amazing.No generation has made this much progress in the technoloy department in such a short amount of time. It is clear that we will posses more knowledge than past generations.

The age of social media and technology. the photo is courtesy of Mavrck.com

Thompson, Claire. “Millennial Medium Chill: What the Screwed Generation Can Teach Us about Happiness.” Grist. N.p., 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 July 2015.

“Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change.”Pewsocialtrends.org. N.p., 24 Feb. 2010. Web. 18 July 2015.

Go To Church?……. Maybe Not

While walking around the campus of Michigan I see many churches, as someone who was raised in the church I understand what a church is supposed to symbolize. It’s supposed to symbolize peace and joy, but each time I look at a church it reminds me of the events that are occurring with churches in the South. The first event is the killing of the nine black people in Charleston, South Carolina by Dylan Roof that occurred on June 17. The second is the burning of the four black churches in the south, the most recent of which occurred on July 1.

It is a sad day when people have to worry about their safety in the church. The church is not only where you go to worship and pray, but also where you should feel safe. It is where some go to feel closer to God. To have that feeling taken away because of your skin color is immoral.  No one deserves to be murdered because they have more pigment in their skin, or because they have different religious beliefs, or a different sexual orientation.three things can be said about  a person that murders someone because they are different. One it lets the world know they are a coward, because killing someone who is unarmed makes them brave in no size, shape, or form. Two it means they don’t care about their own life, or how it might affect their family. And three they are among some of the most troubled people on this Earth.

As me being a black person in today’s society I would say that I am fortunate. I nor my family have personally been targeted, though those crimes still affect us. It makes people that identify as African American extremely wary of who we trust and let in. It also make us cautious and puts us on alert. It makes us not really want to interact with other races. Although this may seem wrong, how exactly are you supposed to deal with it? I am pretty sure you’re not supposed to embrace them and give them a big hug.

For me to go to the University of Michigan at this point  in time, it makes me extremely grateful. It means that I’m not falling into any stereotypes that society has put on my people in. It means that I’m not at home constantly wondering if the next hate crime will involve me or my family. Most importantly it means that I was blessed with the opportunity to go to a great school and further my education to become someone that my family can depend on, and is proud of.

The Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal church in South Carolina the photo is courtesy of The Independent