The term itself is a microcosm of a deeper problem associated with trust issues within Black relationships and the evident lack of responsibility this precarious lifestyle encompasses. Several years ago a gay co-worker and friend of mine described the mind set of some gay men driven by their insatiable libidos with disregard for the ritualistic nuances of traditional dating and use of protection. He also expressed his discontent with men being afraid to commit to either sex as it is also frowned upon within the gay community that has spawned a new generation of men associated with the DL lifestyle.
Hip-Hop is also convenient and the culprit for exploiting a hypermasculine lifestyle as rappers glorify its presence in its music, videos, and fashion trends while participating away from prying eyes in its exclusive parties and abundant social functions. Am I against homosexuality? Absolutely not, however I am concerned about its long term effects it has on our communication with Black women and families that are the collateral damage of such prevarication. These practices should serve as a wake up call to assess the men that lie dormant for years behind county jails and state prison walls without the comfort of a woman and decide to indulge in sexual behavior with a man, that many prisoners deem exempt from their outside world and personal lives.
All our lives Black men has been wrought with enigmatic suspicion and this paradox serves as continuum with no definitive resolution thus far. Regardless of how we live, we must be honest with ourselves and to the people of whom we claim to love. If we are to allow instant gratification to dictate our self worth, then who are we really? Are we defined by a pejorative nature or from a higher level of consciousness that will enable Black men to accept their true identity regardless of its repercussions? I strongly feel that the term “down-low ” is a negative connotation reflective of its esotericism in nature despite its behavior existing long before its current phenomenon.
Fear have become synonymous for those that continue to limit their potentiality of becoming emancipated from the constraints of societies prejudices and biases, and I would like to commend those gay men and women that are willing to die for what they believe in and renounce those that cower and are unaware that what is done in the dark will ultimately be brought into the light sooner or later.
via Krusher Kronkite
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