The Battle Prepper

A DIFFERENT KIND OF PREPPING FOR A DIFFERENT KIND OF PREPPER

A Dark-Skinned Prepper

There are hundreds of preppers on the internet. Many of the personalities have cool names that seem tactical and practical.

I did not start out trying to be a prepper. I did not like the moniker that went with the title. When I talk to my co-workers about prepping, they immediately start talking about the zombie apocalypse. When I try to talk to my friends about prepping, they look at me like I am crazy. When I talk to my family about prepping, they smile and say the Lord will make a way.

                Why do you think my inner circle brushed me off? I think that if I were a middle-aged white man in a three-piece suit, telling the world about an alien invasion – People would stop and listen. I am not a middle-aged white man in a three-piece suit. I am an African-American man, and that may be the difference. When I refer to Dark-skinned Preppers, I am not just talking about Africa Americans, I am talking about all minorities regardless of their backgrounds.

                The weird thing is most minorities have been preparing for one event or another most of our lives. From tough neighborhood, crammed schools, or hostile work environments; our friends, families, or society have trained us to endure. We start out by telling our kids not to talk to stranger – Stranger Danger. Someone may tell you to carry an umbrella, just in case it rains. Make sure you have on clean underwear incase you are in an accident. Don’t walk down dark alleys, or do not wear certain colors on around certain neighborhoods.

                The term Prepper simply means someone is prepared. Whether you are wearing a jacket to prepare for cold weather or stocking a bunker preparing for the cold war; everyone in some form or fashion is a prepper.  As a prepper, we take those childhood warning that one step further. The issue I think most people have with preppers is that first prepping step.

There are so many different levels of prepping, I don’t think even preppers know them all. Most prepping is broken down into categories like Escaping and Evading a Hostile Urban Environment, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear preparing, Sheltering in Place, and Offensive or Defensive Tactics. Preppers may word these in different way, but it all boils down to getting away from danger, hunkering down and waiting the danger out, neutralizing a threat.

The amount of prepping can be divided into time, location, funds. How much time do you have to prepare for danger? If there is a hurricane on its way, should you stay or go? If you go where are you going to? Will you have enough gas to get to another location? If you stay will your shelter withstand the hurricane? How much cash do you have? There is no “Correct” answer to this, only suggestions.

As a minority, our resources are limited. Most of us live in the same town as most of our family members. So, if a hurricane come and people have to evacuate, you may think to hop in the car and go to Aunt-tee’s house. The problem, as you pack the last bag in your Toyota Camry, Aunt-tee pulls in the driveway. Then there are the old folks, the ones set in their ways. The ones that say they are not materialistic but refuse to leave their homes. They hunker down and plan to wait out the storm, but then they lose power and the food starts to thaw. The stove and microwave will not work and now their situation has gone from bad to worse.

Let’s talk about it.

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