This career, and black success discourse is unproductive and quite stupid. (Please read everything before responding).

Please read before responding. I am an entertainer and successfully building a career. I know I’m contributing to the conversation but truth needs to be said. We are getting to caught up in an unproductive argument instead of building one another up. Instead we are tearing one another down, and yes commenting on a post talking good about an athlete and saying “I don’t want to see this if they aren’t doctors” is tearing each other down.

Yes everybody isn’t meant for entertainment. Those of us that are have been drawn to it and no matter what else we tried to do we always found our way back here. The same is true with anything that’s how that works, but in that same breath Everybody also isn’t meant to be a doctor. Everybody doesn’t have the heart, everybody doesn’t have the kindness or patience to care for others. Everybody ain’t meant to be a lawyer. Everybody doesn’t have the capacity to lie for criminals they know did the crime. Same with athletes everybody doesn’t have the discipline to stay in the gym and train.

I am an entertainer and everybody doesn’t have the discipline to stay consistent, train your voice, better their craft, make posts that may not get any traction at first, record songs that are slow to gain traction at first, make content, market themselves, and network network network, watch what contracts they sign and make sure they didn’t sign all their rights away. My point is everyone is meant for different things.

All of these careers are very different but they take more than a degree or some talent. It takes a lot of internal traits like sacrifice, discipline, loads of self confidence, patience, mental anguish at times and failure before success, seeing it when no one else does, getting up even when you don’t feel like it and working. which is the real reason some people don’t succeed because they don’t realize how much of this it takes. Then on top of that us being black adds an extra weight. This discourse is filled with exclusion, and I only see one side trying to exclude certain careers which says a lot. Yes I understand entertainment and sports is sometimes a gamble. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen for those who pursue it. I have yet to see anyone say “black kids should only aspire to be a singer rapper or athlete”.

Every child that wants to be an athlete or entertainer doesn’t think that’s the only thing he can be as I said prior many of us who are meant for this are drawn to it no matter what they do to fight it. It’s called a calling. Same with those meant to be doctors, lawyers and teachers. Now yes there are black kids who believe this but they aren’t the majority. When you say “black entertainers or athletes shouldn’t be in the conversation “ you are tearing black people down and saying their success is less than.

So yes we should celebrate every black person in media, entertainment, academia, law, medical. Each person in all these fields helps all of us to see we can dream big, and live those dreams. Regardless of what they are. I don’t care if you think it’s realistic or unrealistic or if what I’m saying is unrealistic. It’s the God honest truth.