Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” Vince Lombardi broke it down like this, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” Confucius put it where the goats could get it when he spit, “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”
Well playas…Ben Davis’ best cornerback and probably the best cover corner in the state, Jontae Dobson, has accepted a full scholarship offer to play at the U.S. Military Academy. That’s West Point for y’all that’s checkin’. Talk about personal excellence! We call that black excellence where I’m from playboy. There are a lot of kids that can play ball but there aren’t very many that can play ball and hold it down in the classroom too. Not at that level.
They aren’t just lettin’ boyz into West Point because they’ve made the honor roll a few times. He’s done somethin’ that very few young people in the world are capable of doin’ and that’s gettin’ into WEST POINT!!
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Accordin’ to admissions director Col Deborah McDonald, about 15,000 students apply to West Point each year and only 9% of those have the opportunity to enroll. There were 1,859 black applicants for the incomin’ freshman class, and only 14% of those were accepted.
So for Jontae to get in is excellence, in and of itself, and the fact that he’s a young black male is even more OUTSTANDING. Why? Because the statistics don’t always work in the favor of our young men. Accordin’ to the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C. based group that advocates for prison reform,1 in every 3 black males born today can expect to go to prison at some point in their life, compared with 1 in every 6 Latino males, and 1 in every 17 white males, if the current incarceration trends continue.
Now we all know that black males aren’t anymore dangerous than any other race of people but they are more likely to be convicted of the same crimes that their white and latino counterparts commit. The American criminal justice system is a total wreck and our kids are sufferin’ the most from it’s ridiculous racial disparities.
Did you know that accordin’ to the NAACP Criminal Justice Fact Sheet, African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites? Nationally, African American children represent 32% of children who are arrested, 42% of children who are detained, and 52% of children whose cases are judicially waived to criminal court.
So when I see Jontae Dobson preparin’ himself to attend the U.S. Military Academy I become overly excited by all of the possibilities that are within his grasp. The statistics didn’t get this one and the fact that he avoided the foolishness out here will allow the next kid to use him as an example to avoid the nonsense and so on and so forth. He’s where he is today because his parents have done an excellent job of raisin’ him. Mark and YaWanda deserve major props for standin’ in the gap to make sure he’s lived up to his potential.
It’s called standin’ on the shoulders of those that have come before you. Jontae will be standin’ on the shoulders of Henry O Flipper, the first African American cadet to graduate from West Point in 1877. That’s a huge responsibility but if he’s capable of gettin’ into West Point he can handle the pressure of livin’ up to the expectations.
So when you see the lil’/big homie on the streets give him a pound because in four years he’ll be an officer and you’ll have to salute him. However, I’m not goin’ to wait for four years to pass by. I’m salutin’ him right now because with a degree from West Point he’ll be at the front of the line! Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Spit: verb – to say
2) Put it where the goats can get it: verb phrase – to make it as elementary as possible. To put it at ground level so everyone can understand it.
The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”
The caption under the photo isn’t real but its real talk!