During my coaching years I began to notice how too many of my athletes were coming to practice intoxicated, or they were suffering the ill effects of addicted family members. This led me to write Message N/A Bottle: The 40oz Scandal (BWORLD@yahoo.com) in 1996. My latest book, Hip Hop Hypocrisy: When Lies Sound Like the Truth, exposes the seduction of an entire generation by an intoxicated, violent, misogynistic subculture that arose out of gangs and prisons. I work with young people, as well as parents, educators, ministers, social workers, and counselors around the country to help improve academic performance and classroom management. For more information on our services, visit www.ACoachPowell.com. To participate in the dialogue, visit here often and share your ideas, questions, comments, and strategies.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Drunk on junk

Yesterday at the Apple Conference I talked to student leaders from around the country about how bling bling is a form of intoxication. An entire generation is drunk on junk. One of the hypocrisies I deal with in HHH is how gangsta rappers “love to promote the bling bling lifestyle in their music, but the hood they supposedly represent is characterized by poverty and unemployment” (p. 10).

Despite this glaring contrast, our children buy into the hype. While their rapper idols buy true bling valued at thousands of dollars, young people buy fake bling like glass earrings and pretend they’re diamonds. Within the span of 24 hours, 2 teachers from different parts of the country told us about students putting aluminum foil on their teeth as make-believe grills.

To understand our children, just look at the larger society. The entire country is addicted to bling bling, so why would our children be any different?
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