Where the HELL are all the black people?

Do you see where the black people are located? How many? I count seven...

I have not lived on the South Side of Chicago since I was 18 years old.  Up until then, I've only truly known the black experience and what it meant to be black living in a poor neighborhood.  It was, "We all had nothing don't complain about it." I respected that line of thought and look out my windows to see the Chicago Skyline and wonder to myself, "What is it like to live there?" "What are the people like when they're not from around here?" 

Now that I live on the other side, I usually start out with a  "Oh Lord!" and a "Help Me Jesus!" Then I'd ask, "what in the world was I thinking?" Don't get me wrong! I love where I live right now, In Iowa City, IA.  There's a lot of friends and relationships I've been able to build since being in this city.  However, there are days where I'm just sitting in church, or sitting at a coffee shop, or just people watching, and I say to myself, "WHERE IN THE HELL ARE ALL THE BLACK PEOPLE!" 

Cultural Isolation can feel like prison!

I've gotten down on myself. I got depressed. I would isolate myself from people and family.  I'd look like I was in prison with no hope for parole!  Sometimes it really feels like prison.  But you see, I'm a man of faith, a man who is trying to follow God while in a foreign land, and sometimes you get homesick.  A LOT OF THE TIME you get homesick!  But where is home?  Is Iowa City home for me now? How do I accept this?  Will I be rejected by others because I don't fit in either place anymore? 

So, I thought to myself and said, "self?" and myself said, "huh?" "What if we allowed ourself to not despair or cut ourselves away from people and just took time to get it all out?"  I said to self, "What a great idea!"  So that's what I'm doing, I've created this blog, "Black Man/White World" to be a place for me to share my expressions, observations, frustrations, pain, and joys about the life I'm leading in a seemingly foreign place.  I'm blogging to you to allow you to see if only but a glimpse of what life is like for me from the inside.  

Maybe it will lead you to greater empathy...maybe you'll feel confirmed in your assumptions..maybe you'll feel challenged...either way, I'm not that worried about you (no offense), you're strong and you can make it.  This is me communicating me, you can take it or leave it, shout at me, reply back, high-five me, just know that when you communicate, know that you're only getting a small picture, never the whole slice, you're limited, and most people can learn and understand more when they accept those limitations.

I'll be blunt, I may share a few "words" about things.  I may not always communicate the clearest, I may say, "h#ll" or "sh!t" or "d@mn" a few times here or there.  I may also surprise you by my ability to articulate deep feelings and emotions, or you may get bored and not read it again.  

High Cheek Bones!

Here's my response to that (Tony smiles).  

Notice how high my cheek bones get when I think about trying to please you and only you...  Its my response in saying, "Good for you! I'm going to keep moving, and you are too."  So here's to a journey we might 

both be taking together, may God guide us, help us to laugh at ourselves, help us to grieve the hard things, helps us to be challenged appropriately, and help us to remember and grow and endure! 

May we both survive it!