12 Commandments of the Negro

I was reading a book for my law and religion class and came across a piece from it that I wanted to share. 

Now, I realized a few pages ago that this book will not be much more useful for the purview of my paper, but I've kept reading. I stumbled across this and it resonated with me for two reasons. 

Firstly, I grew up under the guise of many of these maxims and was tickled to see at least one other person did too. But it was bigger than that for me. It was indicative of the underlying culture we as "African-Americans" share. Without a country, without a language in the colloquial and accepted sense- "we" still exist. There is a shared culture. A shared premise from which we understand the world and ourselves in it. There are codes of ethics we have been raised to live by. From Africa, to the slave ship, to the plantation, until now. We are a people with a common heritage, a shared experience and paradigms from which we understand and relate to the world. 

Secondly, it spoke to me as being the basic tenements of African Diasporic North American culture. I have a friend who hopes that one day we'll form communities akin to that of the Black Wall Street era. In these communities, we'll establish rules, principle we as a people hold dear and want to live our lives according to. This, I thought, was a cute and nostalgic take on that. Of course forming a modern day "Black Wall Street" would require a bit more than this; nonetheless I think the below statements are words that transcend the North American Diaspora and I hope the familiarity will give you all a slight chuckle the way it did me. 

12 Commandments of the Negro

1. If you ask a neighbor to borrow sugar, you take a stick of butter or some eggs to the person you are asking to borrow from.
2. If you at somebody’s house come dinner time and they don’t offer you a plate, it’s time for you to leave.
3. You don’t let no body talk about yo’ mama. If they do- you gotta fight; otherwise no one will respect you.
4. You don’t call folks out they name and you don’t curse em.
5. You say “yes ma’am” and “no sir” to grown folks/those significantly older than you.
6. You don’t question your elders about nothing, you just sit and listen.
7. Watch out for the neighborhood kids when they mama and daddy are away.
8. You never make fun of deformed or crazy people because everyone has their cross to bear.
9. When someone is cleaning their house, you don’t just sit there, get up and make yourself useful.
10. If you at someone’s house while they’re sweeping and they accidentally sweep yo feet, get up and leave.
11. When it’s thundering and lightening, put away all things metal and sit still because “God is Talking”.
12. You fight. Lose or win. You fight. You never run.

Nne Lusiah Teish
“Jambalaya”