Leaving the Plantation Vol. 1
What plantation!?!? After a short conversation with my Dad, I realized how alone the black millennial in America is. There is no outside salvation coming to liberate us. We are going to have to escape the plantation of 9-5 ourselves.
The reason I say this is because my father isn’t just an outlier, he is the embodiment of Black Baby Boomers who’ve “made it”. Went to college, got a job and worked their way into the middle class. DANGER! This is not 1979.
2019 vs 1979
The model of “go to school, get a degree and work for someone” is broken. About 80% of college grads don’t work in their field of choice. They are saddled with thousands of dollars in student loans they will never be able to pay. Further more, benefits are more sharply skewed to benefit the owners of the corporations/plantations rather than the “workers/slaves”.
Black Millennials were simply lied to. We were told that "with hard work and dedication we could be whatever we wanted to be". Reality Check: We can be whatever we are allowed to be within the confines of someone else’s company.
Black Millennials are not interested in a Freedom for Security Model. Our parents were willing to give up 40 hours a week for a steady income and the promise that one day they wouldn’t be slaves anymore (slave and 9-5 drone are interchangeable here).
Why do we have to leave the plantation?!?!
Because it is literally killing us. The black man was never intended to do the bidding of others. We were created to be free and every second that we are not, is a for a subtle torture. Every time:
- We let a mildly racist comment slide
- We pretend to be interested
Then it happens (BOOM)
- You find yourself waking up later and later
- Taking mental health days
- Requesting leave
- Looking for new jobs
Eventually, after the promotions lose their luster, and you’re completely fed up with being the version of yourself that “fits in” (because being the real you just won’t do in the corporate environment) you SNAP. The real you shows up and in HR to explain why you are so frustrated. YOU ARE NOW READY TO MAKE A BREAK FOR IT AND LEAVE THE PLANTATION.
You can consider Langston’s World a stop on the underground railroad to freedom, and I’m just one of many conductors dedicated to getting you off the 9-5 plantation, so that you can be free to live life on your terms and make your dreams come true.