Man Code (eBook)

Whitney L. Woods Ph.D. (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
122 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-5393-3 (ISBN)

Infos

'The Man Code' is a play in five acts, or chapters, that confronts the essential topics of manhood head-on. Millennia of ancient wisdom, married to modern-day examples, drive our analysis. Each scene seeks to paint a vivid portrait evocative of male reality. The conflicts can appear complex, and the issues are, at times, nuanced. From the theme of bullying in Chapter One, to Chapter Five's discussion of self-defense, we will examine whether the monster we are grappling with is external or internal. Regardless, the focus is on time-tested approaches to securing victory from certain defeat! In 'The Man Code,' an A-list of exemplars of human excellence and achievement all vie for the opportunity to share their testimony with you. This is your invitation! Inspirational parents, mavericks of the business world, industrial analysts, championship-winning coaches and players, and current and former servicemen, eagerly await your arrival. But attorneys, scholars and educators, and the men of the skilled trades, among many others, have something to say as well.

---

"e;The Man Code"e; is a play in five acts, or chapters, that confronts the essential topics of manhood head-on. Millennia of ancient wisdom, married to modern-day examples, drive our analysis. Each scene seeks to paint a vivid portrait evocative of male reality. The conflicts can appear complex, and the issues are, at times, nuanced. From the theme of bullying in Chapter One, to Chapter Five's discussion of self-defense, we will examine whether the monster we are grappling with is external or internal. Regardless, the focus is on time-tested approaches to securing victory from certain defeat!In "e;The Man Code,"e; an A-list of exemplars of human excellence and achievement all vie for the opportunity to share their testimony with you. This is your invitation! Inspirational parents, mavericks of the business world, industrial analysts, championship-winning coaches and players, and current and former servicemen, eagerly await your arrival. But attorneys, scholars and educators, and the men of the skilled trades, among many others, have something to say as well. This book provides each man with a compass and guidance to accompany him along his walk. It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Yours starts once you open the book's cover. Or as Hall of Fame former National Football League coach and announcer John Madden would tell his players, "e;Don't worry about the horse being blind, LOAD UP THE WAGON!!!"e;

Textauszug

Chapter One:

Bullying: Addressing
The Elephant In The Room

This chapter will discuss common conflicts inevitable in one’s evolution from a youth to grown man status. As in all chapters, I’ve dropped in some personal examples. The purpose of the stories is to provoke thought and reflection. It should be easy to make analogies and comparisons to your own experience, especially for an adult reader—that is the intention. It’s very possible that you may recall a situation even more prominent and dramatic than the ones provided. This is also good because the goal is to have a running dialogue as you move through the text.

The point is not to glamorize violence as a means to resolve conflicts. In fact, if we do nothing else, we should promote its avoidance, and where possible, ask did WHATEVER CHOICE WE MADE ACHIEVE THE DESIRED OUTCOME? After stating a Man Code, an object study will be given. As we close, we will review lessons learned and ponder how this data may inform future actions.

Currently, bullying is a hot topic. It appears you can’t view news or contemporary events without someone claiming they are a victim. However, we as keepers and practitioners of the Man Code don’t get it. From my perspective, the children of the 1960’s and 1970’s, not to mention earlier eras, never seriously considered whether we were being “bullied.” Why? Because many of us weren’t running in the house complaining about another child whupping our butts, and those who did, were told to go back out, and, in some instances, not to come back until we settled it ourselves. If the adversary were a child that were much older or an adult, now that’s a different story!

You fought your own battles and win or lose, you generally lived to tell another tale. This taught young men the independence and aggression necessary to survive. Weapons were generally frowned upon as an act of cowardice and only considered if one were outnumbered or at a gross disadvantage. In addition, if you picked a fight with a child who had physical or mental challenges, you lost all respect and suffered endless ridicule.

There are two more rules I can add to the above. First, a conflict, whether it arose on the basketball court, the schoolhouse, or in your neighborhood, was generally between TWO individuals. You could be fighting a classmate and his brother and a friend could be standing right there. They were only present to stop the fracas if it got out of hand, or provide “assistance” or as a deterrent to others thinking of joining the fray. The onlookers might give pugilistic commentary or simply say, “that’s enough” and pull you off each other. They would not jump in because it was not THEIR FIGHT.

If your hands were good that day, your opponent might ask their entourage, “Why didn’t you help?” If their response were on code, they would say, “BECAUSE IT WAS ONE ON ONE!”

A second standard was that yesterday’s opponent could be today’s ally. If the two of you were allowed to engage each other, whether in sport or fisticuffs, you gained the other’s respect. The next go round, that same young man may see you having a problem and offer his help.

There are those of you who may believe what I am describing is a young male utopia. This is partly because of the uneven rules of engagement YOU may have witnessed. The Man Code SHOULD be an inter-generational conversation anyway. Merely a few decades ago, it was uncommon for young men to be in the house all day playing violent video games instead of outdoors playing until the sun set. Should we be surprised that the first time someone lays a hand on these fingernail gangsters, they’re ready to blast?

MAN CODE 1:1: IF PEOPLE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU, THEY WILL

I heard dad say this once. When I was about five years old, I began to understand why. Our family lived in a then Co-Op known as Parkway Gardens on the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. At that time, in the early 1960’s, unbeknownst to us, Michelle Robinson, who would grow up to be First Lady Michelle Obama, lived there too. Now, Parkway Gardens is one of the most notorious housing projects in America. One day, I had two dollars and was given permission to go buy some candy at the drug store on the corner of 63rd and South Parkway Avenue (near the L Train Station) with my cousin Fred, who was the same age.

Mission accomplished! As I crossed South Parkway while returning with my bag of goodies, I had a genius idea. I was determined to take two to three minutes off of what was only a 15-minute trip. “Fred, let’s take a short cut.” Instead of walking south on South Parkway, the main street, we could cut through the alley/playground of the elementary school on the corner and enter our building from the back. As we got halfway through this truncated route, we were approached by two older boys who looked to be at least 16. “Let me have the bag,” one of them said while simultaneously reaching for it. “What you got in your pockets?” was next as he ran his hands through them, pulling out the loose change I had left. They did the same to Fred, but to no avail, Fred didn’t have any money.

Only later did it occur to me why I was crying and Fred wasn’t when we returned to my grandmother’s. In fact, my cousin had a quizzical look on his face as if he were wondering, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ He couldn’t feel my pain because he didn’t lose anything! At the moment, I felt the loss of innocence and a small amount of candy. Were my cousin and I “bullied?” Probably not, certainly when you consider the times. It was just business as usual on the Southside.

But looking back on it, Fred and I were lucky we were not physically harmed. I also learned a valuable lesson. Even prior to this incident, the elders always warned us never to take short cuts. Now, I had an object lesson why. To this day, I rarely take the alley.

Anytime a young man can learn a lifesaving lesson and come out relatively unscathed, should be cause for celebration. Those who insulate our youth from age-appropriate adversity, are doing them a disservice.

MAN CODE 1:2 THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE BIGGER AND BADDER THAN YOU

As a high school teacher, I related a lot of my lessons to mental and physical toughness. Sometimes, the young men would brag, “Mr. Woods, I never lost a fight,” in their quest to impress me and their classmates. It didn’t work. My retort, “It’s probably because you never fought anybody.”

Muhammad Ali was the “Greatest” because he fought in an era of great heavyweights. He lost and regained his title three times. He was the champion of champions, beating Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, and Ken Norton. No other fighter before or since can lay claim to such a portfolio. In a similar manner, we must encourage our youth not to shy away from competition since it is what defines their greatness.

I was fortunate enough to be in the presence of youth who excelled inside and outside of the classroom. One such young man was point guard Michael Talley, Michigan’s Mr. Basketball in 1989. The Detroit Cooley High School team he captained, was the last in Michigan to win three consecutive state championships in Class A, the largest division.

I was one of Mike’s teachers as a substitute at Cerveny Middle School. I used to play basketball with him and his center Daniel Lyton, after school in Cerveny’s gym in the school’s basement. When Mike got to high school, I would run pickup basketball games with him and Danny, who was also all-state, on Saturdays at a local community college. But Mike wasn’t playing against other kids, he was playing with and against grown men such as myself.

Now fast forward 25 more years, and Mike is the basketball coach and Dean of Students at a high school where I was teaching. I reminded him that I was one of his teachers in middle school as well as a teammate in those pickup games where you had to win because it might have been hours before you got back on the court. Mike told me that back then, he was always looking for top-notch competition, so he borrowed his mother’s car to ride out there on those Saturday nights.

Mike filled me in on some details I didn’t know about his background. He was from Brightmoor, a rough neighborhood on Detroit’s Westside. “When I looked out my door, on the left were the dope dealers, gang members, and drug addicts. On the right, was the playground. That’s the direction I headed in.” Talley’s journey led him to the University of Michigan. There, he was instrumental in recruiting fellow Detroiters Jalen Rose and Chris Webber, as well as the other three members of what would later be known as The Fab Five. This recruitment was the ultimate sacrifice, because while it meant the team was better, Mike’s playing time was reduced.

Mike Talley would also win a state championship as a coach with a team starring his son, Mike Talley Jr. Coach Talley told me he set the example by demanding that Michael Jr. follow in his footsteps, not just on the court, but in the classroom.“When his grades would dip, we would put the gloves on and go in the basement.”

However, some of my students weren’t impressed. As the school’s dean, Mike was compassionate but firm. I loved his...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 26.3.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Beruf / Finanzen / Recht / Wirtschaft
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-5393-5 / 1098353935
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-5393-3 / 9781098353933