Your Black Bloggers The official gathering spot for black bloggers
by Lauren Anderson
I am a product of a mixed socioeconomic family in that I have been exposed to the bottom and top of society. I have traveled and lived from projects to suburbs. I have studied at community college to private institutions. I have worked from KFC to Corporate America. I have learned and adapted to each phase of my life. I am a well-spoken intellectual that does enjoy the use of Ebonics in comfort with friends and family. This is no new phenomenon. As black educated society, we often become consumed with our behaviors of adaption to enter the white Anglo- Saxon threshold of success as we become more educated. Our conscious assimilation efforts are not to be looked upon in a negative light; these behaviors have afforded us the opportunity to make comfortable lives for ourselves. But, in our comfort, we should not be content! Although we may have mastered the technique of double consciousness, let us not forget about our family and our friends. Those who haven’t been afforded the opportunities to excel at higher educational institutions are owed our knowledge as well. It is our responsibility to be accountable for our community progress and at the very least we can provide tools and chats to convey our knowledge to the aspiring intellectual. I’m recalling a conversation with an old friend from grade school who came to me for advice on how to increase her vocabulary and how to speak without embarrassment in front of others. That conversation inspired to me to illuminate the issue of Black Insecurities of the English Language.
It is known that people have an affinity for other people that are most like them; in fact, studies have been conducted and have found this is found true in the interviewing of candidates for jobs. Most often people are most comfortable around their own people whom they can identify with. In the comfort of the black family and friend circle, many of us are able to relax our speech. But, we also can articulate very well and feel just as comfortable speaking properly. Let’s be real! Black people use Ebonics, not all of us, but many of us. It’s in our music, it’s in our books, our parents use it, it’s all around us and many have used this language their entire lives. My old friend came to me seeking tips to rise above the comfortably relaxed language of her peers because she too realizes that the universal language of success is proper speaking. So, here are some tools to that assisted me in developing articulate speech:
1) Motivational Speakers: In college many speakers come to chat about an array of topics, some more interesting than others depending on interest. I would sit in on free discussions and listen to the speaker even if those topics didn’t interest me. What set me apart from my peers is my personal research on the topic to gain understanding for myself. I would listen to the words of the speaker and if I couldn’t recall a meaning to that word, I would research the meaning. In the end, not only did I gain new understanding for a topic I had no previous interest for, but I also increased my vocabulary through research and finally application of that dialect in my own conversations.
2) Community: Our primary socialization begins with our family and extends to our closest friends. It was necessary for me to gain new friends who had interests as mine to be able to communicate effectively together in our new knowledge. I began to surround myself with people who I knew spoke better than me and who had achieved higher than I had achieved. In turn, it increased my ambition and enabled me to join their conversations and become more informed.
3) Stay in School: In a utopia, education would be free for all. We aren’t in a Utopia, but if afforded the privilege to attend a university or college, take advantage of all aspects. High Schools and Colleges offer elective courses for speech, I took that course in High School and began speaking publicly and continued to do so until Graduate school. In return, my confidence of public speaking has risen and I am more comfortable with a crowd.
4) Resources: Primary schooling taught us all a useful technique. I recall as a child having to remember spelling words for a contest and having to go over those words dozens of times. That technique still works! Repetition produces great results. The same is true for adult learning. Resources are books, magazines, dictionaries in our age online dictionaries; all the same, these resources are available to us to increase our learning and outside of the classroom.
If your hope is to increase your vocabulary or become less frightened by public speaking, remember these tips to assist you in overcoming your insecurities with language. Perfect speaking isn’t attainable but improvements can always be made.
To become great, you must become familiar with what greatness is to you…surround yourself with great people, increase your ambition, and take action to reach the level of your dreams! And repeat… – Lauren Anderson, M.S CEO of Young Black Minds LLC |Motivational Speakers Bureau www.youngblackminds.com
