Know Your Role & Shut Your Mouth

By Kashif Ross on

There’s a new generation of men being bred. The group of brothas that grew up in my time were the revolutionary ones that started this new breed of men who talk too much.

Our Hip Hop culture always represents the stereotypical type of black males in our society. In the 90s, there were thug faced hardcore men that spoke very little unless they were rapping—Ice Cube, Nas, and Snoop Dogg. Now, there’s an interesting group of men that can’t shut up and are overly braggadocios—Drake, Chris Brown, and Kanye West.

When I was younger, I was too much like Kanye, I couldn’t shut up. For most of my life, I always had something to say. My discovery learning involved debates and hearing the other person’s point of view. I wanted to learn and grow by interacting. After I got married, that died. I learned two things: Listen and shut up.

My grandfather and great uncle were men of very few words. They had tendencies to gossip, but only when they were around their buddies. Otherwise, they kept to themselves.

What made them so quiet and straight to the point? Women.

Now that I’m getting older, I’ve learned to understand that I have to control my mouth because the more I speak, the more I say things that offend my wife. I don’t want to generalize to the entire feminine species, but I was raised around many women. From my experience, women are often a tad bit emotional. And the more men speak, the more we’re likely to put our foot in our mouth. That chemical imbalance often leads to disaster.

I’m not recommending that guys thwart the communication any more than they already do. (I saved that for another post). What I’m saying is, think before you talk. I’m quite sick of the arrogant jerks that cloud the radio waves and television screens. I’m down to take it back to the day when men realized the strength in their words and used their vocals with discretion.

About Kashif Ross

Kashif Ross is a California grown writer. He's obtained two degrees that most people have never heard of, a bachelor's in Social Ecology and a master's in Gerontology. Initially, he used writing as therapy to block out all of life's stressors. Overtime his hobby evolved into a passion that made his spouse a writer's widow. When he's not devoting every spare minute to his "Barcode" series, Kashif can be found jamming out on Rock Band, embarking on adventures with manga characters in his twisted mind, or outside playing hide-and-seek with the sun.

Jazz

Interesting perspective. I look forward to seeing other comments on this topic. As a woman I am interested in what a man has to say as a reflection of how he thinks. How a man thinks controls his behavior whether he says a word or not. So if I can’t respect what he thinks, and how he thinks shows no respect for me then we may as well be forthcoming with his words. So speak your mind brothers so I know what kind of man I’m dealing with.
- http://twitter.com/Animscition Kashif Ross
  
  I can respect that, but “actions” show you how a person thinks more than their words do. Many people often say what they think you want to hear; actions often lack that inhibition. If you want to know what kind of man you’re dealing with, observe his behavior and ignore his literary devices.