B. Lorenzo Buckinchere
Jun 15, 2025
This coming Thursday, June 19, will be Juneteenth, the one hundred and sixtieth anniversary of the emancipation proclamation marked by the thirteenth amendment. This is a celebratory event that brought about the end of one of the darkest periods in American history, the trans-atlantic slave trade.
This year is also the fourth anniversary of Juneteenth being a federal holiday, which first happened under President Biden in 2021. So I figured that now is as good a time as any to discuss the topic of Black privilege.
They always talk about White privilege in a way as if to suggest that there is no Black privilege. This is done subliminally with the intent to create a perpetual state of mental serfdom within you.
Speaking of mental serfdom, was it not the legendary reggae singer Bob Marley who once sang, “emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds,” during a song that he appropriately titled “Redemption?” Well I am here to tell all the Black dreamers out there that you definitely have privilege on this soil.
First of all, Black privilege is not racial, it’s creative and academic. It also has a lot to do with your time and place of origin. You have the privilege of living in the greatest nation on earth, during a time where with the advent of the internet, you can find a way to make all your dreams come true.
Time and place also has a lot to do with your native tongue. If you are a Black person in the west, you likely speak English as your first language. Which is a plus because English is the most recognized language in the world for the sake of global trade and commerce.
Secondly, let me continue by reiterating what I have said repeatedly on my blog site. Which states that the same capitalism that allows your landlord to raise your rent while your employer cuts your hours, also allows you to turn the scorn and prejudice against you into creativity and ingenuity. If you really hone your craft, they won’t be able to tell whether you are a genius or a madman. Either way, they won’t be able to stop buying tickets to see your show.
Vaudeville performers and New Orleans jazz musicians of the 1920’s understood this concept very well. So did the shoe shine guy, and they capitalized off it tremendously. They didn’t let the racial insensitivities of that time prevent them from showing up every night and making a buck. In fact, they used their creativity to take advantage of the prejudice against them.
This evened the playing field overtime, and paved the way for their future descendants to enter a wider range of professions. Some chose law, others chose medicine, yet there are those who chose a more creative path. If they could do it without the internet in 1925, then what’s stopping you now in 2025?
If you really want to get ahead financially, no one can stop you but yourself. They might try to sabotage you. They can definitely delay you for some amount of time, but they ultimately cannot stop you. Which brings me to my third point.
You have the privilege of privacy, but you must enforce it. They cannot sabotage what they don’t know. If you operate in privacy, your chances for success increase ten fold. At some point you must arrive at a decision as to whether being friend centered is more important than your goals.
This is especially true when you consider that half these motherfuckers who say they are your friends, are really spies and saboteurs. You don’t have any friends out here. You don’t even have god. You only have yourself. If you fuck up, that’s on you. Hold yourself accountable and seek wise counsel.
Ok, so what do you have? You have the privilege of the English language as your native tongue. You live in a developed country with clean tap water and internet access. You have an accurate grasp on human nature that you can’t unsee past the age of thirty. You may not have the capital as of yet, but you have a master plan. Above all else, you either have privacy, or privacy is attainable, even in limited quantities for the time being. So then you have Black privilege.
Happy Juneteenth!!!
© Copyright 2025 The Buckinchere Publication, SP.
All Rights Reserved.