Challenge: Wake up – they'll never be another Dr. King
The absence of a clear identifiable leader has often been dubbed as the next crisis of Black America. Books have been published, discussions have been held, and news articles have been written. In Black circles, "Where is our next leader?" is like asking "What is the meaning of life?"
Allow me to get straight to the point: Even if we had ONE LEADER, everybody wouldn’t follow the same person.
The Civil Rights Movement united and galvanized us to seek change. As a race, we had one common objective: FREEDOM & EQUALITY. The issue of class existed, however, it took a back seat to the more pressing issue of equality. Once intergration happened, Blacks subconsciously divided into distinct classes with each class having it’s own distinct needs. The needs of the working class are quite different than the needs of the rich. What’s likely to happen is various leaders from each class will emerge and champion the issues of their respective class. Grass roots leaders will speak for & represent the poor and working class. Leaders from the middle-class will seek better housing, education, etc. Leaders from the uppper-class will devise strategies to break the glass ceiling…etc…
Today’s young Black professionals have attained the sort of education, connections, and experience that those before them could only have imagined. They have more potential and more opportunities than any generation before them. This new Black professional sees the business world as the nexus of American power, rather than Capitol Hill. Instead of seeking to effect change through government, this generation is marching through freshly opened doors in the corporate world or building businesses themselves. Rather than "fight the power," this new generation seeks to take the power for themselves and use that power to uplift our race.
Therefore, it is not so much that the next generation does not have any leaders. Instead, THEY ALL WANT TO LEAD. If there are to be leaders, there must be followers, and that is not what this generation is about.
Care to comment…
What's up with Tavis Smiley & Cornell West…
T.W., a member of our blog family enlightened me about Tavis’ disparaging remarks regarding Presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Here’s her post in context.
"Tavis has made several implications that would make a person (if they
didn’t research and know for themselves) think that Barack is not
fighting for justice or for issues concerning our race. He was very upset that Barack didn’t attend his State of the Black
Union this year and made it seem as if Barack was avoiding talking
about “our” issues. I understood and understand that Barack is in a
fight for the candidacy right now and had to be in whatever state at
that time.
The latest remarks were from Dr. Cornell West saying that he was
bothered and disappointed by Barack not going to Memphis for Dr. King’s
memorial on April 4th. Their sentiments were that he was putting his
candidacy above honoring Dr. King. They stated that he remained silent
on that day yet he spoke about Dr. King and his legacy while he was in
Indiana.
On the April 8th segment of the Tom Joyner show Tavis ended his talk by
saying “If the cost to occupy the White House is to be muzzled and to
render black suffering invisible, then for me, it’s too high a cost." I understand that every black person isn’t going to vote for Barack
just as every woman isn’t going to vote for Hillary but what I don’t
understand is why Tavis thinks that he is the spokesperson for black
people on black issues, especially regarding Barack and his candidacy.
He’s received a lot of backlash from his supporters regarding his
commentaries."
Thanks T.W. – very insightful analysis of the situation.
In my opinion, I’ve decided to nominate both Tavis and Cornell to the "Hateration Federation." Both Tavis and Cornell can give the keynote address at the annual Hateration Convocation. Make sure the servers continuously fill their glasses with "Haterade" while they continue to hinder progress.
That’s right – I said it!
What’s your take?
Where do you fall…
Challenge: Eliminating the Hate Among Us…
In the black community in America,
there is a severe disconnection among those of different classes.
Many upper and middle-class blacks feel
as if they can look down on, talk down to, and overlook black people
who are considered lower class. Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed black
people who are college-educated, living in nice homes, driving fancy
cars or earning a high salaries, looking down on blacks who are less
fortunate. Lawrence Otis Graham even wrote a book explaining why
upper-class blacks want nothing to do with other blacks. They only
want to deal with “Their Kind of People.”
Why is it that
some blacks who have "moved on up," by working hard and
achieving the American dream feel they can distance themselves and
underestimate poor black people? Is it because they feel they have
nothing in common with lower class black people? Is it because they
feel they are more accepted among white people?
Perhaps it is
because lower class blacks get blamed for many of the problems the
black community allegedly has, such as speaking poor English; having
babies outside of wedlock; high dropout rates; using and selling
drugs; and filling up the jail cells.
Is it because they
feel like they are more accepted among white people? Or are they
just outright silly, feeling as if they have arrived?
The last
time I checked I thought most of the black people in America were
descendants of slaves. With that being the case, we all come from
nothing. They make brainless statements like low class blacks are
not good enough to associate or be seen with. They even have a
website devoted to “stuff educated black people like.”
Some
are so confused. They go as far as talking bad about them in front
of whites. They are not willing to try and take the time out to help
or share information that will help the lower class blacks get to
their level. They don’t attend black schools, and they move away
from predominantly black neighborhoods.
That is not to say
that all black neighborhoods have lower class black people living in
them, but a lot of blacks have forgotten who they are and where they
come from.
Black people are not in any position to look down
on one another. We as black people haven’t risen to our full
potential. Even rich black people are not globally in control of as
much as they could. They are rich, but they have to be careful what
they do or say because if they make the wrong move all of their money
can be taken away in the blink of an eye. High and middle-class
black people who are walking around feeling as if they are in a
position to look down on others need to wake up and smell the coffee.
In my opinion, the divide is created by
the monopoly capitalist economic system and social structure which
gives rise to and reinforces class divisions within the society.
Hence, classism is the effect, not the cause. Trust me, at the end
of the day, we are all the same.
Challenge: The Black & Hispanic Divide
For me, I rarely share my political views for obvious reasons. Like religion, one can reserve the right to keep their beliefs to themselves. This is why I have not openly shared my views regarding “my president, Barack Obama” (hint…hint…). The one thing this election shows is that RACE STILL MATTERS and the problem WILL NOT BE SOLVED until Jesus returns’ (come quickly Lord Jesus…).
As African Americans have voted and tuned in on the presidency, Hispanics are firmly opposing Black leaders in favor of white ones. Is the brotherhood among minorities dead? The Democratic primaries in California and Texas woke up a lot of people. During this election, there was a lot of talk going on about the “Black and Brown” divide. Most people have assumed for decades that since Blacks and Hispanics are minorities, it is only natural that they will support each other for elective office. Wrong!
BLACK PEOPLE LISTEN UP: Hispanics have always viewed themselves as a “dominant” group.
While Blacks have helped to elect Hispanics (The wife-cheating Mayor of Los Angeles, for example) it is abundantly clear that Hispanics have a clear opposition to voting for Black candidates. Whether it’s viable Black candidates like Ron Kirk, the former mayor of Dallas who lost his bid for the senate, or now Barack Obama running for president, Hispanics have opted to vote for the white candidate–or not at all. Up until recently, this trend has been most notable in places like California and Texas, but as the legal/illegal Hispanic populations increase across the nation, I note that this trend is not just isolated to the southwest United States.
What we see is that when the candidates are Democrat or Republican, Hispanics will routinely vote Democrat. However, when the candidate is Black and his opponent is White, Hispanics will tend to vote against the Black candidate as we’re seeing in the Obama/Clinton race. During “Super Tuesday” for presidential candidates, California voters chose their candidates for president. Hispanics make up a huge block of voters in California and they overwhelmingly chose Hillary Clinton over Obama by 64% according to MSNBC. It is now clear that being a fellow minority hasn’t created any kinship with Hispanics in America if we ever had this. We’ve all heard of the racial school fights that are almost a daily occurence in California, and the situation in the jails is so balkanized that even rival gangs like the Crips and Bloods put aside their street differences, while in prison, in order to put up a resistance to the Hispanics in jail, many of whom are illegal aliens.
What we see coming into form is a two front assault: Whites against Blacks on the one hand and Hispanics against Blacks on the other.
It’s clear that Hispanic disdain for Black people is no accident and it is clear this is not a trend we will see diminish. As Hispanic influence increases, we will see fewer and fewer opportunities for Black Americans develop. Remain in denial about this if you want, the proof will definitely be IN the pudding. We will be in the middle of a giant squeeze play, crushed between Whites on one hand and Hispanics on the other. While no one should construe this article to mean anyone should be anti-Hispanic (or anti-anyone else for that matter) we as Black people need to see to our own affairs first. We can’t just support people because they are white—-or Black for that matter. Screw-ups cross every ethnic line.
Hopefully this will “open the eyes” of OUR people who have slept on this for years, decades even. “BE for US, by US.”
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Telisha, a very smart woman I know, shared vital information regarding class distinctions that I want to share with you:
Here’s the five 2006 income brackets according to the US Census bureau:
$97,032 & above – Upper income
$60,000 – $97,032 – Upper middle income
$37,774 – $60,000 – Middle income
$20,035 – $37,774 – Lower middle income
below $20,035 – Lower income
Thanks for sharing Telisha!!!
So, how do you measure up…