Essays – LeRon Barton

Men and the need to be vulnerable

October 3, 2017October 3, 2017 LeRon Barton

I have been pondering a question for some time: what if we let men be themselves? Without any of the societal pressures, role assuming behaviors, or passed down expectations? What if we did not force men to succumb to any of the actions or conventional behavior of what a man is supposed to be? What if we just let men be free from all the identity destroying expectations we have placed on manhood? As I ask myself that same question over and over in my head, I have come to…

I don’t care about a statue: Pacification in the fight against racism

August 30, 2017 LeRon Barton

Pacify – [pas–uh-fahy] verb (used with object), pacified, pacifying. to bring or restore to a state of peace or tranquillity; quiet; calm: to pacify an angry man. In the last few weeks, the spotlight on America’s white supremacy has been magnified tenfold with the events at Charlottesville, Virginia. What began as a rally of Neo-Nazis and different factions of the far right movement now known as the “Alt-Right”, complaining of America’s treatment of the white man, and proclaiming this to be a time to “return to what the U.S. is supposed to be”, has morphed into a battle of free-speech, anti-fascism, racism, and where America is headed to. The response from…

Race Baiting and white America’s response to the Procter & Gamble commercial

August 9, 2017August 9, 2017 LeRon Barton

I, like millions of people, saw the Procter & Gamble commercial. In it, there were various Black children and teenagers of various ages talking with their parents about the everyday rigors of racism. A little girl sits with her mother looking in a mirror as she is told she is beautiful; a young boy talks to an older relative about being called a racial slur; a young man is counseled by his mom to get home safe; a teenage girl driving for the first time is given advice by…

Thoughts on the Google memo

August 6, 2017August 30, 2017 LeRon Barton

I am not surprised at the Google memo that has been leaked. If you have worked at any tech company in Silicon Valley, you will know it is rife with sexism. People often ask, “Why aren’t there more women in tech?” I have a theory – Tech companies are extremely sexist and anti-female. Women are talked over, their input is disregarded, and they are thought of as “too emotional” to do IT. When women are our superiors their directives are ignored or questioned more than men. When a woman is…

How the Good Men Project Helped Me Find My Voice

July 18, 2017July 19, 2017 LeRon Barton

In my life, the one thing that has come the easiest to me is writing. The ability to create worlds on paper, express my thoughts by using a pencil and pen, and to make my point through the written word has always been effortless. I was always encouraged by my mother to write, my craft was refined in high-school, my writing style was influenced by those who had come before me, and my environment and upbringing shaped what I was to talk about. I truly love writing; there is not…

Tupac Shakur, Malcolm X, masculinity, and the importance of fatherhood

June 18, 2017June 18, 2017 LeRon Barton

June 16th was the birthday of Tupac Amaru Shakur. Everyone was celebrating his life and the release of the film “All Eyez On Me”: the biopic about the rapper, activist, actor, and icon. There was the usual praise lavished on Shakur – greatest rapper ever, legend, brilliant actor, and symbol of Black male excellence. While I agree with everything that has been stated about Shakur, when I think of him two things come to mind: a life unrealized and the importance of fatherhood. Tupac was like a lot of young…

Pushing The Boundaries of Creativity

April 25, 2017June 18, 2017 LeRon Barton

In 2017, technology is making a permanent place in our lives. What was once optional, tech has now become almost as important to our everyday lives as water, food, and sleep. Leaving house without your smart phone is unthinkable. Airport check-in kiosks have replaced clerks, Email and text messaging are the preferred mode of communication, and instead of purchasing a physical magazine or newspaper, a periodical can simply be downloaded. In other words, technology has changed our lives forever. With tech being nearly irreplaceable, it is only logical that…

The dark turn of the immigration fight…

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017 LeRon Barton

In light of the current immigration raids, I thought of a conversation I had with a good friend of mine. When he was a child, his parents smuggled him into the United States in a trunk of car. Growing up, he and I did the same things as any other young man – went to school, played video games, read comic books, and talked about girls. It wasn’t until the Immigration Customs and Enforcement raids started to happen around our city that he told me how he arrived here….

Only in America: What a Donald Trump presidency means to me Pt. 1

November 28, 2016May 26, 2017 LeRon Barton

I am not surprised, in shock, or disappointed. The 2016 election unfolded the way I thought it would. Donald Trump: real estate mogul, reality television personality, bigot of all things not white, and possible sexual abuser has won the presidency of the United States. It’s weird; even as I type this, it is weird. In what land can you spout economic inaccuracies, hurl racial insults at large groups of people, cheer on Black protestors being assaulted at his rallies, make light of womens’ health issues and ascend to the…

The Day After: What a Donald Trump Presidency Means To Me Pt. 2

January 19, 2017May 26, 2017 LeRon Barton

The day after the election I was trying to wrap my mind around the fact that reality TV host and professional blowhard Donald J. Trump was going to be the 45th President of the United States. In the first installment of this series, I gave my analysis of why I believed Trump cruised to victory, crushing Hillary Clinton 304 to 227 in the electoral poll. As I wrote in “Only in America”, I was not surprised that Trump beat Clinton. There was an earthquake of racism, anti-establishment, and absolute rebuke…