From 1992 - We The People a Post Dispatch Community Forum

This piece was part of a 1992 series titled "We the People" local residents gave their views and messages to the 1992 Candidates for President. I had already started an essay when I was approached by Jabari Asim who the worked for the Post, so I modified my piece for the PD Series - Interesting to compare my views of 1992 to the ones 18 years later:

What does true empowerment mean? Also what must a President do to show that he is truly committed to the cause? First, a President must come to understand that true empowerment should mean more than memberships in country clubs. For African Americans, empowerment should mean a fundamental change in the status quo, a change both in the distribution and access to wealth and opportunity in America.
Hopefully, this change would reflect a human rights agenda, not merely a rehash of appeasement policies of the past.

In 1992 many our brothers and sisters live in Third World conditions. A presidential commission should deal directly with the long standing question of reparations to African Americans, and the president must be prepared to carry out such a program. A president who is truly committed to change will also be prepared to make a change in the allocation of federal revenue. Too often, budgetary priority has gone to NASA and the Pentagon for some of their projects i.e. the planned Mars mission or the numerous pork barrel military programs. The military industrial complex must take a bigger budgetary hit, especially since the global challenges are not economic, not military.

Further redistribution must be focused on the billions of tax dollars that never make it to the national coffers because of the myriad of legal loopholes that wealth families and corporations have at their disposal. Empowerment must also occur in politics. Historically, African Americans have been relegated to lower level cabinet posts and shut out of most top level regulatory appointments and white house staff positions e.g. chief counsel or office of management and budget. The ideas that I write about are not new. African Americans from Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X, to Louis Farrakhan have spoken or written at length on these and related topics. Unfortunately, these leaders have been labeled “radical” or “extremist”. They were typecast as spewing racism and hate. Worse, many “mainstream” leaders in the African American community chose to distance themselves from those “radical” leaders and their views. That choice however, was not without a price.

When our mainstream leaders decided that it was better to assimilate rather than agitate, to identify with their oppressors instead of their oppressed brothers, the rift in the African American community grew wider. The visceral anger displayed in the streets following the Rodney king verdict and played out in music by rap stars like Ice T is not just a response to an unjust and oppressive system, but more importantly to a civil rights community that the masses believe has grown soft.
There seems to be justification for this anger. For more than 30 years the masses have hear the civil rights community talk of patience, compromise and reconciliation, yet this TV generation sees pictures of change occurring worldwide and the perception continues to grow that the African American leadership is unwilling or unable to produce change here. The brothers and sisters in the streets perceive the African American leadership as too “removed” from the struggle and the day to day stress of being black in America, too “elitist” to care. The growing popularity of Malcolm X among the young is a reflection that they are now rejecting the old school of thought.

Our options are limited as we allow them to be. The African American community must look toward a new era with caution. While Governor Bill Clinton, for instance promises relief for the middle class, little suggests (except for his health care proposal) that a Clinton administration would reach out to those who have been historically disenfranchised. Little evidence suggests that African Americans will play a major policy making role in the next administration. I hope African American leaders remind the next president what change means.

Dispatch from Haiti

Greetings all,

I am writing to you from Haiti. I am here to volunteer for six weeks and will return March 23rd. Thus far, it has been indescribable, mind blowing, eye-opening and yet, massively rewarding. To say that Haiti is in desperate need would be an understatement. I came alone with no agency I simply picked up the phone made an reservation and went from there. After multiple cancelations, a few days lay over in Miami and flying into the Dominican Republic and then busing into Haiti , I have arrived and have been here for 2 weeks. Finally, the shock is over. I am in my second hotel and have identified one person to help.

You can not began to know the magnitude, everyone lives on the street a million or more! Some have tents. There is every NGO in the world here. There is every army in the world here. The streets are filled with cars, motorcycles,(this how i travel they are cabs) buses(haitian) children wondering(heart breaking) and too often pigs, goats,cats and dogs. We are all wading together and there is no room to walk in the streets or the sidewalks which are all cracked and filled with piles of buildings. The air quality is so hazardous and buildings are collapsed yet leaning all at once.(very dangerous)

The camps near the media are descent for that reason but God help the camps away from the public eye. I will not describe but use your imagination!. Haiti itself in the mountains and other parts even in Port Au Prince, is sooooo beautiful, and spiritual and colorful and lively and the women are beautiful and colorful and protective and helpful and the men are passionately outspoken and sooooooo angry(understandably) It looks like China with the people on the streets and selling of goods which hardly anyone buys. The filth is shocking! There is NO money not a dollar. The NGO's, Unicef, USAID, Save the Children and 100 others from France, Germany, Latin America, Norwegian, Sweeeden, China and more are swamped but trying. Unfortunately the needs are so vast and they are trying to figure out how to spend the money in the mean-time everything came to a hault. In 2 weeks I have not seen one line for food , water, or medical supplies I am sure there are some but I am always down in the heart of Port Au Prince and everyone is on their own. It is survival of the fittest!!!

I went to the embassy when I arrived , they told me to go home that evening on the USA Army plane immediately! I said no so the took me to a hotel and got me a somewhat reasonable rate (although now inflated) and began to call NGO's, gave me food (MRE'S)and phone numbers, and a quick lesson on the money. They were not supposed to do all this but they did because I refused to leave! UNICEF said to come in the next day and the rest is history. I worked with the Director of Child Protection and last week made an exit! They are helpful but too slow. I was always helping to prep for meetings and entering data of child disasters. I have great contacts from them and others and now I am on my own . I check in when I need to speak or ask for something! I am hitching my wagon to the Hatian, German and many other NGO's nation wide or other US citizens trying to make since of it all and doing what we can.

Finally I have found a women named Nadine and she and her husband are haitian lawyers (not legal means had professional jobs) They have an Orphanage of women aged 11-20ish They were able to fine 100 of them on the street 50 are in hospitals in the Dominican and now they all live on the streets. Their orphanage is ruble. Nadine's house is gone but the office front exist. You can not go in the building because it may collapse. The girls sit in the door front during the days and and at night the 100 girls and 6 or 7 adults go to bed on the streets. They hover together and get up at 5am to start again. The entire street is on the ground so this is normal. Everyone I met is on the ground in front of there tiny flattened home or in a camp!! It is crazy but this is the reality. The poverty before the earthquake was obviously humungous. I think some have more now if they have tents and free MRE's(meals ready to eat). There is never enough food--never. We are heading into the rainy season and I can't imagine the disaster which is looming. The UN is trying to migrate quickly. I have UN access so I go to the building of the hub where everything happens, all supplies, all NGO's and all military bases. The Us Army has been sooo great and they are good and protective of their citizens. They are here for security and is not part of the UN Log building operation. They are leaving in 5 weeks and are very cognizant of not being seen as occupiers. There are protest against the government and they say that Obama is their president they LOOOOOOOVE him. Well I will go bot before I do I need your help! Please!!!!

Look people I know times are hard in the states but I am asking anyone who can to send a small care package.

1st choice Urgent-Urgent-Urgent

Beans
Rice
Spaghetti
cans of spaghetti sauce
candy for the girls(it makes their day I brought some from the states and they look forward to it)
This is their diet now and it stretches
I have been buying food for them along with Nadine and her husband but unable to keep doing so
I am trying to be their mouth peice to the agencies it is hard but I am plugging away

2nd Choice
unused clothing(non-winter) and shoes
used sheets for the ground they will get tents oneday (hopefully and will use them)


3rd choice
ladies underwear 10to 20yrs old
deoderant(ladies)
journals and pens(they need something to do during the day I am trying to get them to journal and do something creative during the day
Drawing pads and markers

If you can please send one of the following choices it doesn't have to be large they can use every single thing
will send a quick mailing address monday night. UPS is free to Haiti I was told completely 50lbs or less


Thank you in advance,

Godspeed
Yvette in Haiti

Et Tu Congressional Black Caucus?

The recent New York Times article detailing the cash machine that the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has become is story within a story. At first blush, the capacity of the CBC to tap into the long and deep pockets of major corporations, in a manner unparalleled in Washington is impressive. But, taking the longer view, it is troubling on several levels. One, as the article mentioned, although, the Congressional Black Caucus members serve in predominantly black districts, and are in office due to the unwavering support of the black community, they – not their constituents are the primary beneficiaries of the corporate largess. A few years ago, I came across a blog on the Congressional Black Caucus, titled Train to Nowhere by Joshua Frank. In that piece Mr. Frank wrote “For starters the pro-black organization doesn't represent the majority of black people in the Untied States. As a matter of fact, one could rightly argue that the Black Caucus is anti-black”. He went on to “look under the hood” of the CBC and outlined the extent the Congressional Black Caucus was in bed with major corporations, and he went on to list a litany of policy choices made by this group, that reflect the influence of corporate America, rather than the community, they serve. On the face of it, one may say, what makes the CBC any different that any other inside the beltway organization that understands the connection between power and money? One may also say that the rules of the road in Washington inflict a Darwinian type of mentality ergo, those who refuse to play the game, do so at their own peril. Finally, one may make the case that even though the benefits represent a mere trickledown effect, it beats a blank. Therefore many of those black legislators will tell you this game the cost of doing business, and undoubtedly, they will remind doubters that they are able to leverage those relationships for the good of the community.

Or have they? What “We the People” often see is the finished product, the Rose Garden ceremonies, but not the horse trading that goes on smoke filled rooms, nor do we fully gauge the ever widening impact of special interest groups. However, this year’s raucous debate over health care, allowed a peek behind the curtain to expose a legislative process that should shame the framers of the Constitution. Using the First Amendment guarantee of Freedom of Speech as a cover, many of these groups, for all practical purposes have become a defacto fourth branch of government, further marginalizing the will of the people.

All which begs the question, when our Congressman come back home spouting a laundry list of bills they are sponsoring, do we truly know how much of that legislation represents their K street and corporate patrons, and how much represents the people? How much of the original intent of the legislation been watered down, in exchange for junkets, gifts, donations, and other “perks”? For years, the black community has given our legislators a “pass” assuming that they operated above the fray, and their work was solely on behalf of those who elected them. Considering recent revelations, I believe it is time to for our community to reevaluate the loyalties and priorities of the Congressional Black Caucus. No longer should they be allowed use their “blackness” as a protective shield and therefore avoid being held to the same standard as their white counterparts.

What is interesting is the context in which the CBC has been “outed”. In the last twelve months, no one word has been dissected and parsed apart more that the word change. The cries of “Yes We Can" in the summer and fall of 2008 were in support of the change message of then candidate Obama. Now one year into his presidency, critics on the left and the right, raise doubts on the effectiveness of President Obama to deliver on change. As recently as December, members of the Congressional Black Caucus chastised the Obama administration for failing to direct more Presidential attention to the Black Community. With alarming alacrity they made headlines by threatening to hold up some key administration initiatives, as an expression of their concern. Yet to be fair, for anyone to assert that Barack Obama promised he would be the “black” President is engaging in revisionist history. In 2008 Barack Obama did promise bring change to Washington, a campaign promise that sounded great on the hustings, but much harder to deliver even from the Oval Office. Moreover, Barack Obama the candidate, often talked about the shared responsibility for change, which meant those in power would must be open to more transparency, and have less fidelity to corporations, and lobbyists. Now it appears many of those “advocates” for change, want change as long as it doesn’t inflict pain on them or intrude on their private fiefdoms.

This is unfortunate and symptomatic of a government’s dwindling capacity to do big things. Given the disconnect between what is needed in Washington, and what Washington is able to deliver can there be little doubt that our officials’ impotence have stoked the seeds of discontent? For years, partisan politics and political allegiance to corporate interests were merely glossed over as business as usual. Now with the hot glare of engorged media outlets, and the unrelenting 24 hour news cycle things are changing. This summer’s raucous debate over health care exposed our government as being incapable to rise to the occasion, as their heads stayed on the collective swivel trying to determine how to balance the needs of one corporate entity over another. Lost in the commotion was the precept that policymaking should represent the will of the people, not the profit margin of major corporations.

The fact that the Congressional Black Caucus is engaging in a long standing Washington ritual doesn’t make it right - it makes it worse. In fact it is downright disingenuous for them to criticize the Obama administration while they continue to dip their collective beaks. A perusal of the CBC website listed 42 “bills to watch” in 2009. Included in those “ones to watch” were bills on predatory lending, the Community Reinvestment Act, and affordable housing. Despite their import to the black community, according to government watchdog website govtrack.us.com, all three bills lay dormant and far removed from Presidential signature. One would think that while they are holding President Obama’s feet to the fire, they would be mindful of unfinished business on their end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Too often the default mechanism of African American organizations and leaders whose dealings are exposed is to pull out the tried and true race card, and/or to whine “the white guys do it too”. And too often the black community goes for the “okie doke” and succumbs to this sophomoric attempt at victimization. Just to be clear, any such attempt by the CBC will fall on deaf ears, as I am reminded of the old adage, either you are part of the problem, or you are part of the solution. Right now, I would have to look real hard to see any real problem solving by members of the Congressional Black Caucus. I recall reading John Kennedy’s book Profile in Courage, and how many politicians responded in the face of influence and pressure to do what was right, not merely what was politically expedient. Unfortunately, our political leadership’s ability to do the right thing is eroding exponentially. And now, the Congressional Black Caucus is having their “et tu” moment.

Historically, crisis is one of the great unifiers, where people of all races, stations in life rally around a common cause or common threat. Yet when I look at the political landscape, the American public has been duped into a variety of distracting and false choices. Political leaders have been aided and abetted in this distraction by media talking heads who scream loudly in both directions, as many Americans refused to do their own thinking, and still believe that our political system can still produce change. They become long hanging fruit for those who can push emotional buttons and continue to look the other way as politicians avoid making hard decisions, and point fingers. But the fact is that this system is broken, policy that begins pure and ethereal becomes a political football, as political puppets, pawns, have lost their collective nerve to stare down their patrons. Instead of division, there should be a national discussion on the undue influence of corporate and multinational interests, and how it threatens our national sovereignty.

The Congressional Black Caucus, although new to the game, is just another example of how deep and pervasive this crisis is. This organization founded in 1971 with a mission to empower America’s “neglected” citizens now seems more intent on self empowerment and self agrandization. The machinations of some of their members came to a head late last year when it was leaked that several CBC members including Congresswoman Maxine Waters, was being investigated by the House Ethics Committee, and powerful Chairman of the House Ways and Means (the committee that ostensibly writes the tax laws) Charles Rangel was revealed to have several questionable real estate tax shelters in New York city. All this comes as much of the celebratory mood within the African American community has been dampened by the struggles of the Obama administration, the gridlock in Congress, and the awakening that those who support the status quo are more emboldened than ever. Now when courageous, effective leadership is needed, it appears many of their own legislators are showing themselves as duplicitous co-conspirators fighting not for change, but against it.

We Doing the Dayam Thing - Aint We?

We doing the dayam thang – Ain't we? © 2004

IAMWHOAM1959

We sit with hands folded
While our politicians
get bloated

But hold it!

That doesn’t mean
We can interrupt their meal at the Hyatt’s
And though they deny it
We get a steady diet of how they tried it
Oh for sho they want us to buy it
But despite how BET and others hype it
I can’t keep quiet
Cuz I know in my heart
That -

Mis educated men NEVER start riots

And you know when they’re lyin
Cuz their acts of defiance
Seems more like compliance
And their reliance
On those whose guidance
Is dubious at best -
Yet, with amazing zest
We settle for less
And I’m reminded that in 65 brother Malcolm took slugs to the chest
May he rest –

May he rest
But not in peace
For even as his soul was released
And before sister Betty could weep
Two-faced traitors cheered at his defeat

They made plans with the beast
Which now have allowed our streets
To be turned out by the enemy
Those with eroding credibility
But blessed with the ability
To speak from both sides

And

Just like pigeons they’d
Rather walk than fly

So Instead of a nation of leaders
We’re led by pretenders
That fold like beginners
Now as a result
Paralyzed minds
Makes us contenders -

But we contend
For the bottom of the food chain
And the claims about our “historic” gains
Have a similar refrain
But still lame
As our young run loose
Like runaway trains
And with us not knowing what to do
Or who do blame

So we sit with our fingers crossed
Approaching the albatross
As another revolution gets scoffed
How many new ways
Can we say yessa boss
Thank you for the crumbs you tossed
A further reminder
That
Unlike Bin Ladin;
We don’t set it off
But turn on the cameras and watch us floss

But the flossing is done by
Leaders that others have defined
Leaders paid to remain blind
Wasted minds
Cause a nation of greatness to lag behind
But it’s all good
Cuz Eldrick “Tiger” Woods can play Torry Pines
But in these last days an times
Many are lacking spines
As 8000 elected Negroes
Singularily Fail to stop the dying,
Every two hours more mothers are crying

And even as I say these rhymes -
even as I say these rhymes

We participate in their political
Tom foolishness
With a long wish list
As if -
As if in exchange for loyalty
We will be treated like royalty
But instead it’s our casualties
That increases exponentially
So potentially
What coulda been a generation of kings
Don’s prison orange and greens
Now, what was that Martin said about a dream?
Well what ever was inferred
Is now deferred
As we continue to slur
Our great history
Minds dulled by Henessey
Hoping for another Kennedy
But our leaders sleep with the enemy

Or is it me?
I mean?
What is it about this hypocrisy?
That you fail to see
When once we had dignity
But now is our
Affinity
For spending sprees, smoking trees, leaders on their knees
That has become our legacy
Or is it complacency the reason we continue to plead?

Cuz What hidden creed
Did we read, and now believe
That has us thinking
One-day this system would allow us succeed

I know in 54 Brown v Topeka said
With all deliberate speed
But I don’t think the intention
Nor did they mention
That we should the ones to do our own lynchin
And I don’t think the law was meant to be applied
So that we deny
Or belie
The horror of the middle passage
And I’m reminded that on April 4th 1968 another great man was blasted
One more ancestor left to twisting in the casket
As the streets that honor his name

And the streets that honor his name?

Are known more for drug traffic
Bodies in plastic
Turn your head from the TV cuz its too
Graphic

Graphic depictions
Far worse than fiction
Another repast in the kitchen
More mothers hearts rippin
Statistics reflect we continue
Slipping, but ego tripping, continuing to do the heavy lifting
Swinging for the fence
But still missing
Take the path of least resistance
Young ‘g’s caught up
Headed for prison
Another dead black child
So what’s the difference?
To be born black
Still equals a death sentence

So
Is it a nightmare or a dream?
For at night
I hear the ethereal voices of the ancestors scream
I wonder if we’d come clean?
If confronted by the ghost of brother Malcolm or Dr King
And perhaps explain
How we now worship the bling
And sold our souls for the sound of cha ching, ching
how our queens
Have become fiends
Unloved and demeaned
And that a white powder would become king
And 10,000 toddlers will never hear freedom ring
Another 10,000 will never live out their dreams
And that day by day by day
Black Genius is wasted on
Another foolish scheme

Or will we look them dead in the eye
And say
Look at us now
We just doing the daymn thing!

Is Blackness Dead, or has my classmate lost her mind?

A few years ago I began my poem “Black Power – Yeah Right” with the words:
“What appears to be insurmountable
And our survival less than probable
Yet our ancestors faced
Far less tolerable
Conditions
Their existence
Challenged
By legalized lynchings
We are the descendants of the strange fruit
But our integrated minds make the point moot
Our Miseducation served to dilute
And once stable communities now mimic Beirut”

I often reflect on those words, but this year as we embark on yet another Black History Month “celebration” this reflection seems juxtaposed against a backdrop of a black collective that seems hell-bent on self destruction, although like those in Hans Christian Anderson fable, The Emperor’s New Clothes, many of us still fail to grasp the depths of our descent. As a result, in 2010 with a man of color in the White House and a full generation of blackness enjoying the fruit of the sacrifices of the sixties, many of us would suggest that self destruction and dysfunction would be the adjectives of “haterism” and not an accurate portrait of reality.

Perhaps if one makes allowances for black on black crime, black neighborhoods running amok, or a black leadership class that is more known for betraying trust than earning it, then yes perhaps dysfunction may be a bit too harsh. One of the more popular sayings in recent times is “what would Jesus do?” What happens if we inserted the names Harriet, or Frederick, Martin or Malcolm? Past is prologue right? – Or perhaps not. All which begs the question how would those iconic figures that we celebrate during black history month view their progeny? I considered that question in my poem “It aint prophecy” when I wrote:

“I wonder if we’d come clean?
If confronted by the ghost of brother Malcolm or Dr King
And perhaps explain
How we now worship the bling
And sold our souls for the sound of cha ching, ching
And how our queens
Have become fiends
Unloved and demeaned
And that a white powder would become king
And 10,000 toddlers will never hear freedom ring
Another 10,000 will never live out their dreams
And that day by day by day
Black Genius is wasted on
Another foolish scheme”


And just what schemes have befalling the black nation? With Richter scale irony, the greatest scheme may have been the manipulation of a people’s desire to connect with their motherland, and as a collorary strategy, using white guilt as a tool for social change. Conceding the import of both as legitimate in the context they were developed is easy, but now it is time to recognize that both blackness and white guilt are no longer tools for uplifting a nation of kidnapped souls, but instead they are tools to hoodwink and bamboozle. Therefore for many, no matter how much we achieve, how much we excel, our blackness can only be validated via the acceptance of white America. In addition there exists a more insidious belief that as long as racism and white supremacy exists, we as a black people can never be free. What is worse, are the hoards of young blacks who now rather sit home, be aimless, and do nothing, but as long as they can “front” with the symbolism of blackness, and spout hatred for whitey and their crooked systems, or blame the “illuminati” – they are absolved from taking responsibility for their own dysfunction. As a result, significant amounts of energy has been expended either in blaming white America, or in trying to change the hearts and minds of the sons and daughters of former slave owners rather than the instillation of genius in the sons and daughters of former slaves.

Recently, I read my high school classmate Debra Dickerson’s book The End of Blackness. What I found was quite compelling. The premise of her book and the inherent message to black America therein was simple and succinct. White America has given all it will give in concessions and apologies to black people for any crimes real and “imagined” therefore any further attempts to validate our worth by virtue of gaining white acceptance or white acknowledgement of their past wrongs is an utter and useless waste of time. In addition Debra cited, power is there to be seized, not begged for, yet a race of people knee deep in to on victimization are singularly ill equipped embrace their own power . Yet black America continues on its search for white approval and for mea culpa - reparations.

As I write this essay, I am reminded that organizations like the NAACP and the National Urban League often whined during Republican Administrations that they were ignored by GOP Presidents. Yet, the black electorate, represented by these organizations effectively rejected the Republican Party, and since many black leaders assailed Republican Administrations because of their “anti black” policies and programs, was the point of their whining? For instance, did they truly believe that the mere appearance of President Reagan at their conventions would lead to a more progressive Republican agenda? Did they believe that the mere words of a man whose policies they abhorred would represent a dramatic change, or that Ronald Wilson Reagan would appear before the NAACP Convention, and reverse an increasing right wing agenda? I hope not, because if they did, then they exposed themselves for being political neophytes at best and mere fools at worse. Forgive me if I wonder out loud, if the lamentations of these organizations merely served to distract from their increasing political impotency and diminishing relevance.

Beyond the lack of relevance of outdated strategies, lays a more penetrating question, could we as a race look beyond the blame game, the “white folks don’t respect us” game, and define ourselves, outside the perimeters of white acceptance. In ‘Blackness”, Debra opined that if the white racism ended at 12:00 noon, at 12:05 the issues in the black community would still remain. For example, there would still be crack in our neighborhoods, our inner city schools and housing stock would still be crumbling, our collective credit rating would still be low, and our obesity excessive and disease would still be rampant. Who would we blame then? To take Debra’s thought further, suppose that mythical moment also meant there was not a single white person in America, how would those issues get fixed? Could we resolve them? Since we have totally adapted the western cultures preference to look external rather than internal, would Black America now bereft of white America to blame for its problems, find the wherewithal to look inside and move forward? The ancestors that we celebrate during black history months had no illusions about America, and while the trap of victimization was available to them, we honor them today because they didn’t fall prey to it.

Those that came before us, lived lives often one step away from the noose, therefore they had their collective heads on a swivel as if there life depended on it, and often it did. Yet they understood that victimization and vigilance should not be confused - nor should we. This is America, the same America that bred Bull Conner, the KKK, and David Duke; therefore it would be foolhardily to suggest we ought not to be vigilance. However danger lurks when we fail to see the forest for the trees and succumb to the fool’s gold of playing the role of victim to a nation who utterly refuses to see you as such.

In the album “Be” the rapper Common must have had that in mind when he wrote “be vigilant of foreclosure over your shoulder when begging a nation built on slave labor for reparations.” That poetic warning rings louder in the light that we still seem too primed to blame white America for our ills preferring to lie in repose lamenting the opportunities given to Mexicans who often take jobs we refuse to take, or bellyaching over how the “A-Rab”, or Korean that stores dominate industries in our community while forgetting our own communal abdication. In light of the many black families seduced into taking sub prime mortgages now facing real foreclosure, Common’s lyrics now show themselves as being prophetic.

But if hustling victimization wasn’t bad enough, black America was also inundated by modern day “pro black hustlers” who played on our natural desire to celebrate blackness to the degree that we began to confuse smoke and mirrors for structural change. In short, we were sold a bill of goods that suggested - putting a black face on Jesus, or being known as African Americans ( all while having very little knowledge or appreciation of Africa) would substitute for substantive change. Did any one take time to ask, what good is it to know Swahili in a country where there are more Spanish speakers than English, and at a time when our biggest trading partners speak Mandarin? Pro black hustlers seemed to have little interest in the promotion of greatness, or delving into community problems with a seriousness that is required. But when the cameras are on, they became quite skilled in organizing candlelight vigils, and marches that follow homicides, but very little interest in supporting schools or organizations that may reach our young before they become homicidal.

Sadly, what started as a Pan African movement by giants like Marcus Garvey, and W. E. B. Dubois – movements which simultaneously promoted blackness and greatness has now degenerated into street hustle. One of those hustles is to put black faces on western traditions, which allows us to participate in those traditions - without guilt. Therefore we painted Jesus black ostensibly to cope with the religion of our oppressors, as if a black Jesus would now make Christianity more palatable, and exorcize the role of the church in slavery. And to double down our bets, we developed our own version of Christmas via Kwanza but like the lights on the Christmas tree, after Kwanza is over, the principles are put back in the collective closet until the next year. Given the current state of black America, it is a chilling statement that the Kwanza principals of Umoja (unity) or Kunjchagulia (self determination) are only worth discussing for seven days!

The Nation of Islam was unique in their hustle. Aiming their hate at white “devils” exploiting the disingenuous nature of the Christian message for blacks – especially black males, they were able to reel in men from the penitentiaries, and cleanse them in the name of Allah. But at the end of the day, the greatest beneficiaries of this “cleansing’ were the “Honorable” Elijah Mohammad and now Minister Louis Farrakhan. To give credit where credit is due, both of those gentlemen lit a spirit of purpose in many black men, yet in the end I believe they manipulated them for their own agenda. I considered this as I wrote my “message” to Minster Farrakhan in my poem

“This Aint Prophecy”

“A few years ago
I witnessed your tearful mea culpa on 60 Minutes
But for me it failed to diminish
Your role in brother Malcolm’s untimely finish
A bloody blemish
Remains
An ugly stain
A sold out soul
But to what gain?
So that 30 years later
A Million men could march
For your glory, your honor and your fame?
You got misguided soldiers worshiping a fraudulent name
Too busy hustling pies to
Peep game
Or so they claim
But I think it is it fear of reprisals
That has them restrained
Like Pavlov’s dogs
Conditioned and trained
Freed from prison -
But still in chains
If they only knew -
If they only knew
That now a black demon has replaced a white one
And at the end of the day
Only the shackles have changed”

More recently a new hustle has evolved as a group of blacks calling themselves “Moors” are hustling a concept of “sovereignty” that among many things will allow them to walk out of court rooms and say some magical incantations to a judge and then walk out unscaved - their innocence or guilt notwithstanding. They also suggest that by filing your UCC you grant yourself legal insulation from the laws of this country, and if you go on their website they will file you EIN # for $50.00 – The fact that you could go on the Internal Revenue Service’s website and file for free, is a detail left for another day.

Finally there is the “conscious hustle”. These folks go where the Christian and Kwanza, and Moorish hustle dared not - the hustle of the spirit. Thus leading the way for the popularity of the West African religion Ifa practiced by the Yoruba tribes and other related groups and practitioners. Their aim is to connect us to Africa not merely by written principles, but by providing a portal to Africa via mythical deities, ancestors and guardian spirits who would protect us from the enemy, and oh by the way absolve us from personal responsibility – because – they got us.

Lost in all the chatter of ancestors and ancients, white hatred, and sovereignty are concepts like paying your bills, developing a marketable skill, loving yourself, be responsible, build a community, and teach and raise your children. The unfortunate and perhaps inconvenient truth is that we have missed a golden opportunity, to prepare a generation to be poised for greatness, at this critical junction in this countries’ history. For as America mires in economic upheaval, and with a political structure too gridlocked to do big things, those who are innovative, ingenious, emotionally stable, and prepared, can seize the day. Instead of a nation of greatness, we are a nation of blackness well versed in all things black, but now lacking the wherewithal to excel at a time when there is a premium paid to those who bring their “A” game. Now at “High Noon”, we realize perhaps too late, that those who hustled blackness got paid, but we as a community were left holding the bag.

In 2010 we need to as they say “get a grip”. To be relevant means more that being able to quote greats like John Hendrix Clarke, the writings of the Metu Neter, or changing your “slave name”. When we look back at the life of Malcolm X, his true liberation didn’t come from the “X” but from extracting himself what he saw an organization that he felt was rooted in hate and lies rather than evolution. The heirs of Frederick Douglass made a conscious choice to use smoke and mirrors to advance their agenda. As a result, a generation of blackness begun to believe that 500 years of black slavery, both chattel and mental, could be eradicated by some allegiance to pseudo traditions, mythical deities, and putting black faces on western customs. In the battle for black minds, trickery and slight of hand won out over the pursuit of greatness, effectively taking an entire generation down with it.

From where I sit, a generation of these failed experiments are dispositive – “Blackness” is dead. For all the years of pro blackness, we somehow missed the lessons of living within our means, eating a healthy diet, avoiding unnecessary debt, developing a sense of personal integrity and accountability, and most importantly the development of personal power. In America where deadlines, and commitments manner, Steven Covey’s books should be required reading, in America where we are constantly downloading both information and misinformation, embracing quiet time matters, in a country where the federal government looks the other way as the worse foods are delivered to our homes, diet and fasting are necessary, in a country where the education systems produces functionaries - not greatness, alternative educational practices is mandatory and in a country where materialism reigns supreme, personal discipline should be a way of life, and finally and most importantly in a country whose spiritual tenets are the belief in an exterior God at the expense of an interior one, the reconnection to the inner divine should be “job one”. All of those issues are not rooted in blackness, or Africa, but in humanness. Before our ancestors were Africans, they were humans.

Yes it is true that the people of Ancient African were one of the first peoples on this planet, to organize and create a cohesive, society, and yes, arts, letters, science, math, and medicine are rooted in the genius of the African soil, but in 2010 black America immersed into the mores, and doctrines of the west, is far removed from the greatness of the Nile. Africa of Menes, and Thebes is a mere memory, and while they provide great historical “talking points”, standing alone, they are not a path to growth and evolution. In the final analysis, blackness is only of value when it walks in greatness, lacking that, it is effectively the death rattle of a people so lost, so disconnected, that they seek the symbol of Africa, but lack the substance of her genius.

And often what is lost on those hustlers is that greatness has no race, or continent, or nationality - it is what it is. Blackness was a social construct put on a group of people by their oppressors to fit their genocidal agenda. Now these hustlers have turned blackness on its head and are using it for their own means. For the descendants of slaves who were kidnapped and brought to this hemisphere, the search for blackness was a guiding light; a driving force that they believed would somehow make them whole. Today we shame them with our propensity for minstrel foolishness, and chicanery in the name of blackness.

In 2010, it may be time to realize that blackness as a tool for evolution is nothing more than a fraud, fools gold that prevents a people from their true path – greatness. Greatness and blackness need not be irreconcilable, but what is the point of embracing blackness through the prism if mediocrity, and self hatred? Putting a black face on white traditions, has not eliminated crime from our communities, growing “locs” or wearing kente has not extracted crack from our communities, or kept our young from the path to self destruction. Greatness comes from recognizing your inherent gifts and genius, harnessing those gifts and leveraging them for a fulfilling life, and hopefully to share with the collective.

In 2010, the black community cannot sustain ourselves when our best and brightest are filling prison cells rather than universities, we cannot sustain ourselves by leaving ideas, and dreams undone and unrealized because we are intimidated by paperwork, bureaucracy, or underdeveloped skill set. In 2010 greatness requires a paradigm shift in our perspective; it requires viewing the world through the vision of opportunity, and abundance. Greatness requires developing the discipline, the vision, the inner genius, and unleashing the array of skills needed to impose one’s personal will, and chart his pr her own path. In doing so if the black community benefits, great, but in the final analysis I agree with my classmate, blackness as a portal to self actualization has run its course, its high noon for black America, a new day is dawning, and with it the death of “Blackness”.