I haven't wrote on this blog in a very long time. To be honest I haven't felt inclined or motivated enough to put down what I'm feeling. Nothing that I thought was important enough.
However, after a very interesting and enlightening conversation with an Atlanta based actress, a very good point was brought up. This point lead me to the question, what do Black people want?
Black people do a lot of talk about change; how we're treated unfairly; racism is still holding back our community; the way the system is set up its disadvantaging the black community economically; we aren't given a chance to succeed.
But I wonder, out of all the people that complain about these issues, how many people are really doing something about it?
During President's Obama first campaign everyone was so hopeful for change. Those who supported it were convinced that this country needed change, that Barack Obama was going to fix our problems. And those in the Black community believed that with a Black man in the White House, he would fix the issues and speak on the issues faced within the Black community.
But those who had such high hopes have been let down, at no fault of our president, but at their own for having such high and unreasonable expectation.
President Obama is just one man. He was not sent from Heaven to fix all the issues that America faces and or what the Black community faces. Obama has a job, and that is to the leader of the free world, which entails many other responsibilities than to be the voice of the African American community. I say all this as a preface to the point that many people expect someone else to be the answer to their problems; for someone else to make a change so we can reap the benefits; someone else to open a door and make way for our success. This way of thinking is the exact reason why so many people stay stagnant in their life.
Yes some opportunities are just handed to people. But the majority of people do not have that luxury. The millionaires and billionaires that we see fought their way to the top. They did what they had to do to be successful. Whether it was thinking outside the box to create a product or investing in something, they made things happen for themselves.
One thing that a majority of Black people do not do is invest. Whether it's investing in themselves, investing in a project/product or investing in others. How can we ever expect for something to succeed if someone does not invest in it. Not only investing financially, but investing time can have a huge payoff. President Obama invested in himself with his time and all the resources he had to become Senator and then to the White House.
Putting in the work and taking risk is the only way that something can be successful. Bill Gates had an idea based on an article in Popular Electronics in 1975. He contacted the creators of a new microcomputer, he took a chance and threw out there a crazy idea he had, the company took a chance on him and now he is one of the wealthiest men in the world.
Yes Bill Gates is a generic example, but he took a chance, someone took a chance on him and look where he is today. I could go on with a full list of innovators including Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Anderson (your first Myspace friend), Robert Johnson (founder of BET), Nnamdi Azikiwe (first president of Nigeria), Michael Jordan, Ntozake Shange (writer of For Colored Girls...), Spike Lee, and Tyler Perry. These people did not wait for something to be handed to them, they did the work and went out there to get it.
We all have a chance to succeed. We all have a chance to make a difference. There is absolutely no good excuse why someone can't get something they realistically want. But then again, what does it mean for something to be a realistic want? We set boundaries and limitations on ourselves. Beyond incarceration and maybe a disability, there is absolutely no excuse to not pursue something.
We do a lot of talk about supporting one another. But when was the last time you've reached out to an individual trying to succeed at something and helped them out?
We do a lot of talk that our communities are impoverished. But when was the last time you have given back to the communities financially or community service wise?
We do a lot of talk that our voices aren't heard, ie not enough Blacks in the entertainment industry. But when was the last time you supported a Black production that isn't backed by these big studios?
We do a lot of talk that our kids need uplifting, and need to be taught one thing or another to succeed. But when was the last time you've taken someone younger than you under your wing and supported them?
We do a lot of talk that we aren't given opportunities. But when was the last time that you stopped waiting for opportunities and you made your own opportunities?
We do a lot of talk about laws and how blacks are unfairly treated. But when was the last time you've actually studied the politics and values of people running for office? Or even considered running for office in the future to be that change?
We do a lot of talk about police brutality and the unfair advantage that whites may have. But when was the last time you've taken a stand, made your voice heard beyond your Facebook and Instagram?
Something that the Black community is missing today is a leader. A leader that would give us a common goal; A leader that can be a voice of our community; A leader to motivate and congregate the masses for one common purpose.
Since the passing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, the Black community has not been able to have a common goal, a way of thinking that we can all agree on to call for change in and for the Black community. It's been decades since these men left this earth, and it seems as though we have lost the connection with ourselves. The connection that empowers all of us to not just talk about change, but to be the change.
If the Black community knew exactly what we wanted, pursued what we want, support those who are trying to fill that void for that want, then maybe we would get what we want economically and politically, which would trickle down for all of us to succeed.
