htothejizones

Hello everyone and welcome to Black History Month 2012. This year I have decided to do something a little bit different. I have asked some friends of mine to tell me their stories; why Black History is important to them and what their individual impact is. I think that Black History is a huge part of the history of America, but I also think that people doing what they do, day in and day out, is a huge part of our history as well. That’s why you will have the pleasure to read about some amazing people who are doing amazing things every day, just by being who they are. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have enjoyed gathering stories.

To start off the month you are going to be reading about a man, who I’ve only known a short while, but has blown me away from day 1. His name is Marvin Dangerfield and this is his story:



Bio:
Marvin Lee Dangerfield
48 years old
Father of six + 2 grand children
Born in New Orleans / Raised in Detroit Michigan
Former: Marine Corps Engineer
Current: Business man / Radio personality in Japan

Upon leaving the military, I decided to stay in Japan and test the waters, and after 30 years of testing the waters I am still here! I’ve worked for various industries here over the years and have come to rest in both Education and Media. I’m a fulltime employee of an English Language School, which has over 36 locations throughout Japan. My current role in this organization is developing their Japanese Language program to assist their employees, instructors, and foreigners in the general public to improve upon their Japanese communication skills. I am also a radio DJ or radio personality, as they say here. I’ve been in this line of work for about 20 years now and love it. So, basically I wear 3 hats: 1) the father, 2) the businessman, and 3) the DJ. I can honestly say I enjoy them all with great passion.

Black History:

As I am a black man from America, born in the 60’s, I have seen a great deal of the good and bad of America and now being an expat; I’ve been able to also view America from a distance and see the various stereo types of the black man. The musician, the athlete, the thug, etc … projected in the news and in movies. The more I see these stereo types, which are very true to a certain degree, the more I feel that educating not only black people about their heritage, but also all people of the world about the positive contributions made by African Americans is extremely important. Here are several points I think are important.

1. Black people need to study and understand our past in order to make a better now and even better future for the black race. Knowledge is power; knowledge brings pride and self awareness. Black children need to be taught about great black people, so that they too can dream and aspire to be great. Education is the key that opens the door.
2. Non Blacks, who only know of or see the bad stereo types of black people need to be educated on the positive contributions made by black men and women, not just Michael Jordan or Jay-Z, but people like: Lonnie G. Johnson, Granville T. Woods, Percy Julian or Elijah McCoy, George Carruthers, and so many others who have helped change the world, not just for black people but for all people, regardless of color.

I grew up in a predominately black environment in the Detroit Metro area, with very little direct day to day contact with white people except for school, work, shopping, etc. There were very few white people who lived in the neighborhood (you could count them on one hand) and we always felt that we could not trust whites or that whites were against us, or had advantages over us, and so on and so on…

Although, this was somewhat true, as we lived in a rough environment and had a shabby public school system, blah blah blah and the images that we had of white folk were from “Happy Days” or the “Brady Bunch”. I learned as I got older, educated, lived with, worked with, and befriended many white people from all over the world, that they basically only knew what they saw on TV or in the Movies about black people, they too had not been educated on the positive contributions or just how similar we all really are, as they too didn’t know us, just as we didn’t know them. That is why being educated on Black History is important for all of us, as it brings us just a bit closer.

What have I done?

Well, as I am but a simple man. I feel my contribution to black history is current and ongoing. As I have great pride in myself, I instill that pride into my children. I teach them, that being black is not a bad thing, and that they should be proud of who they are, so hopefully they will keep that pride with them and pass it on to their children. Also, being in a unique situation where I can meet many men and women from all over the world, I tend to be very positive and show people respect and kindness and expect the same in return. I honestly feel that I have had many interactions and my personality has opened the door for many non blacks to not be afraid of “the black man” and hopefully they will be able to befriend or communicate with other black people.

Lastly, for me being one of the only (maybe only?) 100% black American radio personalities here in Japan, I have hopefully opened the door for many many Japanese people to understand that blacks are just the same as them, we just speak a different language, look a bit different, but deep inside we are the same. On air as in face to face communication, I give and share positivity. I feel at times that I am an unofficial ambassador for black people. If I can conduct myself in the business world, daily daddy world, and the on air radio personality world with pride, respect, intelligence and positivity then, my contribution to black history is being made now and will roll over to the future.

I’m proud of my past, the good things and bad things in it. I’m proud of my heritage and I’m proud to be a strong good man, who just happens to be black!