HOW TO “MAN-UP” THE RIGHT WAY
Growing up, I heard a few fathers say the words ‘man up’ to their kids because the kids were always scared. Older brothers have smacked the heads of their younger brothers because they complained of getting beat up again by that one bully! Many young men have experienced this next one: that time your homeboy offered you a joint expecting that after one puff you would pass. But you knew you would have passed out and so you refused. Or the time he offered you a bottle knowing fully well that you cannot hold your liquor to save your life. Oh, and the times when you failed to lead a successful relationship or end it properly. And your ex had yelled out in front of your homeboys, “MAN UP loser!”
This all reminds me of a young boy called Little a.k.a Black from the movie “Moonlight”. From seven to seventeen, he had been told to ‘man up’. His age mates told him “don’t be soft, don’t let these fools beat you up, MAN UP!” Or even worse: 7 year-old Little, looked straight in the eye by his mother and she echoed the exact same sentiments of strangers: “MAN UP, boy!” But little did they all know that each time they said this phrase to him, it gradually filled a deep, empty well in his soul with fear and anger. To him, it meant “go fight for your ego loser, get your pride back!”, “What kind of a son are you?!” Even more disheartening was when Little’s best friend calls him weak. Well, that right there did…
