Negotiation from strength
We must learn to build both our political and economic strength. If we learn to negotiate with society from the position of strength, we will immediately stop thinking we are being targeted for victimization. As long as we continue to deal with society from the position of weakness because of our slave mentality, we may be doomed as a race. We have put in place many miniature programs for economic progress in response to problems in the inner cities. But such efforts are so fragmented across the country, we are not effective. We have never learned to network well together without planning to rip each other off. Like the old African proverb, "If spider webs unite, they can tie a lion." Our fragmented efforts are like small spider webs, easily broken once the wind blows, not even waiting for a storm. Therefore, when we fail at the community level to implement both effective economic and social changes, we start to blame Whites, who have little to do with our failures.
Take the great success of the Million Man March of 1995 in Washington, for example. It was a very good idea and embraced by most Blacks and more Whites than was imagined. The message was for Black males to go back to the inner cities, join hands with the Sisters, and implement changes at the community level. At the implementation stage, it failed across the country because there were no effective forces in place to engineer and establish those changes. A year later, Black kids are still car-jacking and killing other Blacks in their neighborhoods. Many people have become frustrated and given up. So, the Million Man March is reduced to a historic symbol instead of a catalyst for change and horizon of hope.
Our outcry of racism has emotionally crippled us as we continue to suffer from a self-imposed inferiority complex, complacency, and impotence of action. Everybody knows we must develop a strong economic base through networking and being dedicated to successful strategies in business. We must get rid of this slave mentality to free our minds from cognitive blindness, and mental paralysis. These are serious diseases causing lack of progress for Black people.
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Tuesday, October 5th 2010 at 12:19PM
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