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| The conundrum of Black Progress -- Where to from here? |
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| Written by Roger Madison Jr. | |
| Friday, 07 October 2011 | |
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At nearly every station of American progress, you can find the presence of African Americans: successful entrepreneurs and millionaires; Corporate managers and "C" level execs -- CEOs, CFOs, CIOs; Academic achievements -- Ph.Ds in many disciplines; Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners; military leaders; political leaders; leaders in entertainment and sports (including ownership); even Black billionaires. Why then, does this not translate to widespread advance? What is the conundrum? Why don't significant achievements of individual African Americans translate into significant progress broadly for all African Americans? Why have our collective efforts yielded such poor results? Is it professional organization? We have formed the NAACP, National Urban League, UNIA (United Negro Improvement Association), Southern Christian Leadership Council, National Society of Black Engineers, National Medical Association, National Black MBA Association, National Bar Association, and many others. Yet, our professional and organizational efforts lag in affecting broad advance -- in society at large, or in creating a stronger professional pipeline. Is it grassroots organization? The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) led the protest movement of the 60's. Dr. Leon Sullivan's OICs (Opportunity Industrialization Centers) led the movement to increase skills of Black workers in the 70's and 80's. Jesse Jackson's Operation PUSH , and Al Sharpton's National Action Network, are examples of recent grassroots movements focused on the plight of disadvantaged African Americans. Why are the numbers of African Americans in poverty and the unemployed at Great Depression levels? Finally, is it lack of political clout? The Congressional Black Caucus has 42 members in congress; there are more than 650 Black mayors across the country; and there are over 650 Blacks in state legislatures -- with representation in all but 9 states. Why hasn't our presence at every political level translated into significant benefits for African Americans? There is a huge disconnect between perception and reality. There is a perception of widespread progress, but a disproportionate reality of increasing gaps. This is a riddle that has not been solved by political pundits, social activists, academic analysts, or business leaders. Where is the disconnect? In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois said, "The problem of the 20th century is the color line." A full century later, the color line is still definitive in every measure of social progress toward the American dream. There is a real and measurable difference in the conditions in Black America and White America. Instead of iconic racists like the Ku Klux Klan, we now speak of "institutional barriers" to our progress. So, perhaps a different strategy is needed to break through these barriers.
A new
strategy will produce new results. Most of what I read about the
progress of high achieving Blacks fits into the category of self-motivated
achievement. There is a lot to be said for self-starters. In fact, that is the
starting place for all high achievers. The recent death of Steve Jobs is a good
example. He was lauded as a genius, visionary, and driven to success. However,
he created an institution that will survive him, a culture of innovation, and an
inspiration for generations to come.
There is much that needs to be done to improve the number of successful African Americans in every aspect of American life. Most of what needs to be done needs to be done by us. But first we need to recognize that individual accolades and success stories without a collaborative effort to sustain the gains we have made will leave our children the legacy of being less well off than we are -- lost without a compass. We need to quit running from our African heritage when we become successful. We can solve the riddle of Black progress if all of us recognize that none of us "has arrived" with a singular individual success. We are still in a game of catch up, and that requires greater effort to make progress. We must build "Black success institutions" that preserve our gains and leverage our progress for future gains. And finally, we need to quit apologizing for being Black. It is okay to say, "I'm Black and I'm Proud!" Where to from here? I believe that we have much more collaborative capacity than we realize. The future is in our hands. Roger Madison, CEO iZania, LLC Trackback(0)
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Brother Madison
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The late brother James Brown sums up our problem today in one sentence ?talking loud and saying nothing?. Its only one direction we can go in now and that is Finance. We have been talking about our problems for the past half a century. Guess what we are still in the same situation because we are all still talking. When we support something with our money by investing in our selves or donating to a cause the outcome is much more positive you can see the changes. Take for instance educating our youth we have been donating and sponsoring scholarships for our children and other?s for generations. Look at the outcome African Americans are the most educated people of color on the planet. Now education helps but it does not solve the economic problem! Today we are so educated and have all this knowledge that all we want to do is talk about the problem. Talk is cheap solutions cost money. This is the problem we are not willing to target our money toward the solutions of our economic problems. Hell all we want to do is sit and wait for some white knight to come and give us some money. For instance Mayor Bloomberg recently donated $30 million dollars to minority youth. Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Facebook donates 100 million to Newark?s schools and George Soros donates $30 million dollars to the Young Men?s Initiative for African Americans in New York. Now don?t get me wrong I appreciate the donations and give them all a great big THANK YOU but where are the African American dollars. Where are the Black CEO's, CFO's, CIO's PhD's, business organizations and the average Black American on this issue. For a people that have an annual disposable income of all most a trillion dollars a year. Why haven?t we put some sort of fund together to solve our own problem instead of spending all our billions on everything and everybody you can imagine but ourselves! When we start supporting and investing in our own financial institution and other black institutions we will begin to control our money you will see changes over time. Historic Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) are falling on hard times right now because we are not supporting them enough. We have gotten to the point that we send our kids to other colleges to get a better education. Our best and brightest have not realized that HBCU?s are major centers of employment for African Americans throughout the North East and the South. They generate billions of dollars every year while educating our children and employing our people. Mr. Charlie knows this and wants to cut funding and close them down or merge them with major white institutions. The only problem is once they merge Mr Charlie wants to control and change the administration, and the professors and pretty soon the university is no longer is a HBCU. This is our problem and the only solution to it is economics. Wake up folks we have the get this last piece to the puzzle correct the future of African American's in the 21 century lays in the balance. We need to do more than talk we need to put solutions to our problems in action. The solution is economics along with how and where we spend our money! Peace report abuse
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Nobody needs to give us anything. We simply need to value the power of teamwork, and helping others when it is within your means to do so. Enough talking has been done, reach out & help someone. Find out what you can do to put America back to work. www.messsageofthemonth.org
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The pinnacle
of African American progress in the USA seemed to have been achieved with the
election of a Black President. If so, why are African Americans so far behind
in education, employment, home ownership, entrepreneurship, and our wealth is
1/20th of the average white household?
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Thanks for your words encouraging African People to work together and form instituitions that emphasize collective work and responsibility. However, I am disappointed that all of your examples came from an a*similationist/integrationist perspective.
I suggest that we look at the examples of Booker T. Washington; Marcus Garvey; Elijah Muhammad. All three of these Africans dealt with issues pertaining to the racial/economic upliftment of African people. We should also study and embrace Su-Su economics which is collective form of building personal/communal wealth and derives from our Traditional African Practices in Kemet; Nubia; Ghana; Nigeria; etc and is still current and effective today.
More than anything we need Workers, people who are willing to form the organizations to bring African economic prosperity into reality. For now, we seem to be stuck in the "talking stage" toward our jouney of peoplehood.
Africa for Africans, at home and abroad. Peace and Blessings, Iyanifa Oluwasola Omifunke Orisadara Ireti Ifasade