Emancipate Yourselves from Mental Slavery

"Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;None but ourselves can free our minds." Bob Marley.
I have been listening to Bob Marley's Redemption song for a while now and after a epiphany of realization I would like to share with the world on the importance of this song to me and how important I think this can be for countries such as America.
First off, Bob clearly points out the first problem in Many Americans which is the unwillingness to step out of old ways. Though not bound by physical chains, many Americans ignorantly remain enslaved by the restraints of culture. In the black community I have personally experienced this. As an aspiring scholar I was discouraged by many teachers and peers as well, to the point of hopelessness. Because we all know the ticket to financial stability is a degree and college cost money. And money is something many Afican American households don't have a lot of.
In 2007 the U.S. Census Press Release stated that median income of African Americans was 32,000; 15 grand lower than less than the national average. This alone can discourage even the most vibrant of learners. This mental state of hopelessness is the essential emotion of any prisoner in any penitentiary. The hopelessness of being truly happy.
And this hopelessness is not exclusive to Blacks in America. Its also felt by those who are culturally deviant to norms such as gay men and lesbian wemon. They face just as much mental oppression and social woes as blacks. All the teasing, humiliation, and legal inequality that comes with being homosexual in America can shackle an individual to the bonds of hopelessness. Suicide.org states that 30% of youth suicides are completed by homosexuals. For those individuals the prison of depression gave them a death row sentence.
In the bleak reality of such a hash world or bondage their is hope. The prisoners of these mental prisons have within them the power to free their minds. I can say however that is is not easy. To release my own chains I had to make things happen and take advantage of all the resources I could. And had to understand that to be half as good I had to work twice as good. And in retrospect I believe my determination to stay mentally and physically free drove me to where I am now, And by no means am I done. I have it in my mind to make it to the top, and no chains of culture, society, or finances can hold me back.