It
was the late sixties and I was caught in one of the most difficult times of my
life…forced busing and integration that has never really taken place. I distinctively
remember my classes. I was moved from first chair clarinet to third chair at
the newly configured, so-called “mixed school.” African-American students were
treated as if we were from third world countries; holding our hands up with the
right answer, only to be shot down by Ms. Habick (Blond-haired, blue-eyed English
teacher) who would rather call on a White student with the wrong answer, before
calling on me, an African-American with the right answer.
Amazingly,
we had our hands up back then, hoping to be recognized with a correct response
and not shot down with rejection, avoidance, and disrespect. Here we are in the year 2014, fifty-years
post Civil Rights Movement, and African-Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, and
others, are still marching in Ferguson, Missouri and other cities, with their
hands up, asking not to be shot with bullets, pepper sprayed, gassed, or the
use of other weapons “of mass destruction,” to silence and control the voices
of the people, pleading for their lives….
Unfortunately,
there are still many Americans who are stuck in the throws of seeing
differences in others, rather than similarities; discriminating against others,
rather than respecting them; and showing inferior treatment towards others,
rather than accepting them unconditionally. Recently, Ferguson, Missouri was
thrust into the limelight as the cover of racism and discrimination were pulled
from over them, when an African-American teen, Michael Brown was murdered, by a
White police officer. Sadly, there are too many cities in America that are
analogous to Ferguson. As a result of Michael Brown’s murder, decades of unfair
treatment of people of color have been brought to light in Ferguson and around
the country. Many African-Americans seemed shocked and surprised that much of
what was happening in the sixties to people of color, is still happening in
2014.
However,
as African-Americans, there should be no surprises. Too many of us have become
complacent, believing that if some of us have arrived, all of us have arrived. We have forgotten to remember our history. Too
many of us believe that THEY will change. We are so busy looking for change to
for us to come from others, that we have forgotten who is in in our mirrors
looking back at us each and every day. It is time for African-Americans to
realize that we are in control of our own destinies and that ‘PEOPLE DON’T
CHANGE!!!’ Until they change their hearts and change their mindsets, people of
color and people who look different from others will remain an after thought,
if a thought at all.
As
African-Americans, we must come to change our mindsets about US; change our
perceptions of OURSELVES as a people. We must begin to prioritize what is
important, recognizing that until ALL OF US
have arrived, NONE OF US has arrived. We must stop looking for THEM to make the changes and make the necessary
changes OURSELVES. If others see us as unworthy and we begin to see ourselves and
continue to treat ourselves the same, we can’t expect others to change their
perceptions about us; it takes US to make the changes in how we see ourselves,
how we treat ourselves, and how we treat each other as African-Americans.
As
African-Americans, when we think about racism, we see 1967, not realizing that
it was only yesterday. Unfortunately, too many of us have been given a false
sense of security and made to believe that society and the system see
African-Americans as equal to the majority. The problem is, too many see
African-Americans as being equal only to other African-Americans; we all look
the same.
We
have worn our rose-colored sunglasses for too long. We have been fooled by the mammoth-sized
houses that can be taken from us at any time, the jobs that others don’t
believe we are qualified to hold or have a right to hold, the education many
NEVER believed we deserved to achieve and still are not respected for
achieving, and the cars that we are allowed to purchase, but still not owned.
As
African-Americans, until we wake up and see that 1967 exists in 2014, we will
continue to walk around with heavy hearts, our heads in a tail spin of
confusion, our minds clouded with doubt, and our very rights to equality and our
beliefs about who we are will not only be continuously questioned, but taken
away. The day we open our eyes and see that the murders of our African-American
boys and African-American men are the extensions of the lynchings that took
place prior to and during the Civil Rights Movement, we will NEVER see things
change for the better for African-Americans in our lifetime. The visible chains
and shackles have been removed from our hands, our feet, and our necks. However,
we have allowed the system to replace the visible chains and shackles with
invisible, more powerful chains and shackles by binding our minds, our hearts, and
our thoughts, keeping us focused on material things that are dangled in front
of us, keeping us in slavery, believing that our greatest and worst enemy is
each other.
Until
we wake up and see that the modern day lynchings of African-Americans are now
in the form of low or no education, guns and other weapons that we tend to use
on each other, drugs, sexual exploitations, self-abuse and disrespect, black on
black crime, and material things we don’t need (high priced sneakers, purses,
and other things we use to define ourselves) which are all forms of genocide,
intentionally and systematically put in place, we will continue to see replays
of Emmitt Till, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amadou
Diallo, Eric Bell, Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Eric Garner, Michael Brown,
and the thousands of other African-American males who have died because they
were seen as ‘three-fifths of a man,’ and as threats to others. It is known
that for every African-American male who’s jailed, physically, mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually murdered, the African-American population is being
drastically diminished.
We
sat back and allowed prayer to be taken out of our schools, while the devil was
invited in. We ask our children what we want them to do, instead of telling
them and guiding them to what they need to do. We have thrown discipline out
the window, and our children have CHOICES about church and school. Too many of us accept substandard treatment
from the post office to the neighborhood stores in our communities. Our
churches have become big businesses at the expense of the people who show up to
worship, looking for hope and a way out, while the heads, hands, and pockets of
the church leaders keep expanding, and hands and pockets of the body (the
people) keep shrinking. And too many of us abate our rights to make our voices
heard in the voting booths of America. As Malcolm X once stated many years ago,
and it still holds true today, ‘we have been hoodwinked, bamboozled, and thrown
amuck.” Wake up black folk…racism still exists!!! We are the only ones who can
control our destiny and what Happens with the noose is up to YOU and US!
Sadly, when
people such as Bill Cosby speak the truth about US as African-Americans and our
seeming lack of responsibility and accountability in modern day times, because
we seem to be so busy chasing dollars, we get ‘mad’ and become offended. We are
constantly looking for ‘A LEADER’ to emerge among us. Look in the mirror!!! The
leader is standing in front of you and resides inside of you! What are you
willing to do to take on a leadership role to help address the many problems
still facing us as African-Americans?
A major issue is
the haves believing that they are entitled to having and keeping all that they
have, at the expense of the have not's. And the have not's are desperately
looking to others (too often to the haves) to help them to reach their destiny
in life and gain equality. It is past time for the have not's to recognize that
as long as you are waiting for someone else to fix what's wrong within and
around your life, or for the haves to take responsibility and become
accountable for how they have treated you because of your racial and/or
cultural background, you will still not have the justice afforded you under the
constitution of the United States. You must take a stand to claim and/or
reclaim you position with yourself, with your family, and then with and within
society, but with pride and without destruction.
It
is imperative that As African-Americans, you must reach out to each other, hold
each other accountable, take back your neighborhoods, take back your schools,
TAKE BACK YOUR HOMES, YOUR CHILDREN, AND
YOUR FAMILIES!!! However, we must also rid
ourselves of the ‘crab in the barrel’ mentality that we seem to have adopted in
the past few decades. If ten of you can each pass the message to ten
others, look at how powerful the message then becomes. If each one reaches one
and teaches one, you will have accomplished quite a bit. One of the greatest
problems that have plagued us as African-Americans, is that we tend to forget
each other as we gain information, gain understanding, as we grow financially, grow
in prominence, gain positions, and gain power. In
the words of Frankie Beverly and Maze, “We are ONE!” The group goes on to say, “…Can’t understand
why we treat each other this way.” So you must ask yourself, why do you/we
treat each other the way we do?
As
African-Americans, I challenge you to form coalitions and not continue the
competitions in order to do the following:
·
Define
the PURPOSE as a people
·
Identify
PRIORITIES needed to help fix the
plethora of issues
·
Discuss
and identify the POSSIBILITIES
·
Don’t
be afraid to see the POTENTIAL
·
Develop
a PLAN
·
Make
PREPARATION to implement the PLAN
·
Gather
together to engage in corporate PRAYER
YOU ARE YOUR
BROTHERS’/SISTERS’ KEEPER! YOU not only determine what happens with the noose,
YOU control YOUR destiny as an individual and as a people. Stop looking on the
outside to fix what’s wrong on the inside! YOU have to be the change YOU want
to see!!
