It is a divine moment we are witnessing with the election of Barak Obama for President of the United States of America. We have come into a time in history that we are at a crossroad whereas we can either do something; or continue to have things done to and for us.
Let me be clear. Obama can not come to our individual cities and right the wrongs, make us do business amongst each other, create and run the programs we know are needed in our neighborhoods and communities,,, because that is up to us. His election prompted me to upgrade my game and step up closer to the plate. That is what Black men can do to really celebrate this historic victory.
Over the years, I have been told I needed to get a 'real job', because I am a 'community organizer'. I don't work for government or a corporation. I started, run and manage a nonprofit that creates and implements programs that have empowered our Black brothers and sisters and youth so they can reach their fullest potential. It aint easy, but I have had blind faith that in the end I will prevail.
1) Do we receive support from the Black church that puts millions of dollars every Monday morning in banks we can't get jobs and loans at? NO.
2) Do we receive ongoing contributions and support from the Black professionals and business owners that sit in these congregations? NO.
3) Do we receive respectible contributions from the companies that we buy our needs and wanted trinkets from, for the work we do with and for our people? NO.
But I believe the time will come where we will have to pull up, rein in and gather ourselves to do what is necessary, right and just.
It is up to us and it is possible for us to make the necessary change needed in our neighborhoods and among Black people worldwide, but we must be willing to step up to the plate and change our game plan. We cannot wait to have a President Obama, democratic party or multicultural cabinet do what only we can do to help ourselves. It won't matter if Obama won or McCain if in the end we continue to be who we have become. Complacent, Apathetic, Non-commited. We can not allow others to make us think he will save Black people from themselves simply because he is the first Black President. That's foolishness! We can't sit on the sidelines as fans and watch as if his election is a spectators sport. We need to be on the field, where we are, giving all we have to give. If not, we need to be working out so we can eventually take to the field.
Wherever you are and whatever you do, believe in yourself and your fellow brother and sister. Organize where you're at and begin the change we talk about and was the campaign mantra. If it is we who we have been waiting for, then this is a sign that that time is now. If the overwhelming number of Whites want change too, they must realize it will only become a reality if they also empower, embrace and support the Obama-like leadership among them in their city. If they don't change the way they give or act in order to support the way we live, then at best it was an easy way to merely redeem their own consciousness.
Me and Obama are the same age, but the change in my city has come about because of my efforts and not his. I have met and associate with young amazing brothers like Ephren Taylor and Dr. Farrah Gray whom have accomplished success as young Black men and, who knows what they will be able to accomplish by the time they are 47 yrs old? I have close contact with youthful sisters of leadership like Illai Kenney whom will become a world leader in her own right by the time she is 47 yrs old. Brothers like Lee Green of NBBTA, Roger Madison of iZania and Kenneth Blake of ThinkBigRadio,com have provided us a platform for change, unity and purpose long before Obama even made it into the Senate. Our success will come about through teamwork; not a sole effort.
Let us not forget that Barak Obama was not born President, he was goomed over the years by those who cared enough to share their experiences with him; whether they were related to him or not. In our midst our young Black children that apparently we can groom to greatness. Yet according to stats, we are not doing that job very well.
We can stay the course by doing the same, or we can see the signs on the wall and change our modus-operandi? We can continue to wait for the agencies outside of Blackness to care for us or we can take on the responsibility to Do4Self. Not because we hate White people, but because every race that tends to their own has grown productive fruit. We can continue to invest in cars, clothes and things,,, or we can strategize, formulate and initiate a better mousetrap. The decision is now on us!
We can strive to be the best in the cubicles we occupy or we can come out of them and change the world; one neighborhood at a time. We can rush home after work and point fingers, but at the end of the day, three of them will still be pointing back at us. We can look down at those Black 'community organizers' and give our money everywhere else outside of our community or we can support their efforts because we don't have the time to do it ourself. It is not impossible, but it does take work and a commitment to change we can believe in!
A President Obama will be able to form policies that can change the bad conditions we live in on the whole, but he can't change and address the local policies that really strangle, hold and check us. We need people of Obama's caliber on the local and state level. Those educated, articulate and bold enough to go to battle in order to change policies that impact our future and those of our children. When the grant money is made available, where will we be as a people to take advantage of them to get the funding to implement programs for change? Millions of brothers and sisters will be coming out of prison, so who will they be sent to? Us or Those who have failed us to date?
Like the Million Man March, the world will be sitting back to see what the Black man and woman does under this historical leadership. If history is a guide, some are betting we will do nothing but sit back and do nothing. They are concluding that our attitude and actions will not change. They are banking that we will be no better off in 4 years than we are today, because we either don't know what to do or don't have the stomach to do it.
I'm a souljah fulfilling the mission yet accomplished. I didn't need a Million Man March to tell me what to do when I came back to my city. I don't need a Black President to tell me what to do because I already know what needs to be done, and if I don't I'm willing to listen and change course. I fully know what I can do, and will continue to do more; especially now that I have been injected with some hope and optimism of the future. You can join me or watch me, but I'm gonna be on the move. Can we work together and change the WORLD?
YES, WE CAN...
"Chance Favors the Prepared Mind" -Louis Pasteur-
