I never heard the word coming up. People called it different things back then. Presence. Charisma. It was what took over a room when my father entered it. It was the silence that followed when my mother spoke. It was what made schools and neighborhoods follow my cousin. It was never said, just understood. Back then, when people were people and not counterfeit images, they knew somethings were better experienced and not proclaimed.
In this world, we are so quick to name a thing, so it can be defined, packaged, bottled and sold. It can be traced and copied. Swag is no different. Now, it's down to the right sunglasses and jeans. skull clothing and mohawks. Vans and Nike SB's. It can be as simple as copying a rapper, who copied it from somewhere else. Jim Jones loves this proclamation, but he stole it from white rock stars, and now you steal it from him.
Your no better than 3rd hand swagger? That's pretty damn sad.
Before, you learned how to carry yourself from men and women you knew and respected. You knew them, what made them stand out, and you learned from them. Even still, it was awhile before your own particular presence stood out, because it didn't fit you yet. You had to live, learn, follow, fall, be taught, understand, comprehend, fail. Succeed.
Some of it, you couldn't learn. Some of it was bound to your DNA. Born with it or not. A square is a square, even if the packaging is fair. Aint no changing that.
Even then, you had to tailor make it for your life. You had to show and prove. And it was more than clothes or talking slick. It was standing up and showing the world through action that you were a man or woman to be respected, listened to and followed, because you went through the trials and tribulations of being your own man/woman no matter what. Up against the torch, you stood up still, and took the hands of those who needed to be led and did so, with care and concern, because you realized that their welfare was in your hands. That they depended on you. Through these actions, you walked different, talked differently because that responsibility made you different. You had to have this presence, this swagger in order to stand up and lead, to take brunt of the foul lies the world is waiting to cast on you and yours. And yet still, you never proclaimed it, for if it were true, the world would validate you and tell your tale.
I never understood swagger to be anything, but when I think about it, that's what I understand it to be. My father had the respect of the those men who were to be respected. They listened to him, waited for him to speak. He didn't change for the world, but the world changed for him. Young women want to be like my mother, and young men hope that their wives are like her. They bring comfort and understanding through their lives and actions and people in turn follow them. It has stood the test of time and scrutiny.
But this shit in 2008? Grief, I have no idea what this is. What I do know is that weak men fabricated it, and foolish women have validated it, and now its counterfeited form is being mass produced on fraudulent assembly lines housed in factories of ignorance. And its all too sad, because now those among us who possess the gift, and have paid the cost are now being overshadowed by the masses of those who proclaim swagger, but possess nothing of the sort. And when pressed, the flaws show, the quality is lacking and they all crumble, leaving all of those who fed on their lies unsatisfied and confused.
Leaders, stand up and lead, and give the world a true definition.
2 comments:
Per your request I have read your latest blog entry. While I understand your impassioned response to the masses' overuse of the word swagger and its derivative, swag, I am not in agreement with your original understanding of the word. Therefore, I looked the word up in the dictionary because I am a logophile and an asshole (there, now you have it in writing). Ultimately, I have determined that your definition, the dictionary's definition and mine, are not compatible.
According to the dictionary, swagger means "swaggering manner, conduct, or walk; ostentatious display of arrogance and conceit". Now, I have always known this to be the true meaning of the word swagger, however, being a true logophile I understand the evolution of words and how people can abuse such a thing.
Over the years swagger has snowballed into an abonimable monster that has given birth to the bastard swag and changed somewhat from the original definition. I believed that swagger defined a person that embodied a certain type of presence or bravado more than anything else. Swagger is a type of cool. Point blank, nothing more to it. Therein is the evolution of swagger. From arrogance and conceit to a composed demeanor and unruffled bombast.
In your entry you state that you are not truly aware of the meaning of swag or even swagger, yet you go on to claim that originally it was something akin to a person who received great veneration and admiration from others and protected his/her family and community despite what others may think.
In all fairness, I think your disgust for the changing of the definition in your eyes has besotted your reception to the word swagger when it should be directed to the absurdity of the creation of swag.
Swag is complete and utter bullshit. Hands down. You are absolutely warranted and correct in saying that those who wear those silly as skull and bones t-shirts and tight jeans for men (doesn't that phrase sound oxymoronic?) and profess to possessing swagger or its offshoot swag are idiots. Swag is the moniker for those men who are followers and not leaders, boys not yet men. I also agree with the notion "that weak men fabricated it, and foolish women have validated it". Overall, this argument you have submitted is exactly true of something you previously stated. This swagger debate and other misses are only symptoms of a greater problem. Perhaps we should identify and address that greater problem instead of quibbling over the misuse of words.
If I may, a question for the author: do you possess swagger?
The fact of the matter is quite simple. Anybody who attributes "swag" to their own character is at the very least a cornball assclown who has given up on trying to make any real personal progress. Its far too easy to just pick the hot word of the week and slap it on yourself and then march out into the world as if you're something special, when all you're really doing is treading water with the rest of the idiots who jumped in knowing damn well they can't swim, but were determined to fake it till something happened. This is a terrible plan. If it's yours, good luck, and please don't talk to me.
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