A Wise Woman

The Gantt Report

 By Lucius Gantt

I love women. Let me repeat that. I love women.

I love women but it’s not be-cause I’m a designated hitter, not because I’m a pimp, not be-cause I know how to hit it or consume cat food and not because I need a woman to finance me.

I grew up around smart and strong females. My father taught me how to be a man, taught me to work hard and insisted that I fight for what I thought was right.

However, it was my mother, grand mothers and aunts that taught me morals and values. They demanded that I went to church and encouraged me to participate in church activities.

I have two sisters and two daughters. None of them act, write or talk like me but they all have that Gantt DNA, and they will clap back at anybody that tries to play them, especially their employers.

My youngest sister is a church girl but my oldest sister was a so-called gangster that was once accused of throwing a classmate out of a high school window. She was incarcerated for armed robbery and spent over a decade in prisons inside a prison.

If you believe her, she says she taught me everything. I disagree with that but I was very observant. I watched her interactions with women and men and I never wanted to treat women the way men treated my sisters.

Today, too many girls and women are aspiring to be “TV gangsters.” They watch “Empire,” “Power” and other shows or movies and wrongly think the street life is the good life.

They want the cars, the cash, the nails and the hair and they won’t hesitate to sell drugs, launder money, shop lift and boost, do mortgage and bank fraud and do anything else to realize a ghetto come up. The BET American Gangster series called “Trap Queens” should be required viewing for women that don’t know the final chapters of “that life”.

Women are quick to say, “If a man can get paid, I can too.” But they neglect to visualize themselves in the end game when they go to jail or to the cemetery.

Imitation gangster talk is one thing that gets women in trouble. It’s not unusual to hear women cursing men out, putting their hands on men, threatening men and stealing money from men.

If a woman believes she can get ahead in a relationship, or a life, by criticizing, belittling, chastising or disrespecting liars and fools, no problem. But, “You’re a dog, you’re dumb, you’re stupid, you’re never going to be anything, you’re a coward, you’re a victim” and stuff like that will never get you anywhere with a good man that is honest to you, loyal to you, faithful to you, a provider for you, a protector for you, who understands your feelings, who values your opinions and pays most of the household bills.

Our women are so joyful these days. They are getting elected to public offices, hired in important business positions, appointed to meaningful and significant positions in education, finance, law and other areas.

Once upon a time, sisters hated to see Black men date and marry outside of their race when they become pro athletes, entertainers, business owners and community leaders. But they seem quiet as a church mouse when vice presidents, supreme court justices, tennis players and others date and marry non-Blacks.

If you want a good man, be a good woman! Woman and men can both express themselves without using profane adjectives and pronouns.

Black men and women are in the same boat today just like they were in the same slave ships of past days.

We need to work together to progress together. We have to love each other.

Jobs, titles and appointments come and go but knowledge and wisdom will last forever.

Traits like good character, personality, perseverance, and consciousness also live on.

I love women, especially a wise woman!