Black Agenda: We Count

The programming on C-Span2 for the last couple of nights was a round table discussion comprised of black leaders and mediated by journalist savant Tavis Smiley entitled, Black Agenda: We Count. Some of the personalities invited to articulate were very familiar names: M.E. Dyson, C. West, L. Farrakhan, Angela G. Blackwell, J. Malveaux, and J.Jackson along with a few others. The event aired in separate parts across two nights, i was able to catch the second part last night.

The focus appeared to be around a black agenda, i believe this was outlined in a book which Blackwell alluded to as a New York Times bestseller; I must admit i was not privy to before last night. However the panel last night, whether by design or happen-stance, became fixated on the alleged shortcomings to Obama, and also his lack of overt love towards the black community. I believe Dr. West said "We loved you and embraced you long before you were [president]". There are a lot of black neighborhoods that are decimated with putrid school systems and the cutting of jobs in the public sector (postal workers, bus drivers, etc.), but this panel was lamenting that Obama hasn't done what was necessary to fix these things among others, sans Blackwell. I was at odds with these comments, we are intensely hard on Obama failing to acknowledge a couple of huge footnotes; It has only been one year and he can't pass everything he wants to at will. Obama and his staff have done quite well, starting with the fact that he is the first president to have an Urban Affairs team. They talked about getting the crack/cocaine punishment ratio even from 100:1 down to 1:1. Apparently the O administration has gotten it down to 18:1, the majority of the panel was unhappy with that. That crack/cocaine example was used to make a point, its very hard to be radical in office and get your agenda accomplished. It is important to take into account the Senate and Congress. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit to move things forward in the right direction, as oppose to holding out forever to get nothing. This country is vastly bigger than the African-American population and we cannot act as if our priorities should take eminence over the rest of the nation. I understand that we have been placed in some precarious positions but you can't ostracize everyone else (two wrongs don't make a right).

From the beginning Obama has attempted to unify not separate, that has been evident from his negotiations with Republicans and his asking for solid ideas. Sometimes the black contingent can become quite lopsided in their argument, in addition to being too dependent on one individual. Perhaps Obama was not in office, then what would we do to help our predicaments? I agree it is necessary to speak up for your communities but we need to do quite a bit more starting with home base. The O administration can do a lot but it is generally going to be on a impersonal scale but i think more important than systematic changes we need personal changes. I know that's a big statement, and i do believe both are necessary. If you provide a community with the money to rectify the failing schools and such but the kids aren't going/learning or the school board is wasting away the money then what good does the donation do?

By the time the questions came around the focus was in deep left field, so i won't comment on those. In summation it was a noble idea but i don't think it was executed effectively, from the skewed age demographic of the panelists to the misplaced concerns. I respect the conversation but we have to take care of our own before we ask someone else to take care of what we have.

The Heaviest Feather

Now that much of the adrenaline has subsided, the reality and enormity of Barack's presidential campaign has taken a different direction, for me at least. I watched Barack approach the podium with his radiant family by his side. I listened attentively as he addressed the nation, and redirected the jubilant energy towards a more critical and somber mood. But as i stared, i understood what Barack's intentions were. He knows that there is so much work to do and how paramount it is that we are all on the same page, as he consoled even those that did not cast their ballot in his favor. He mentioned that he would be forthright with information and he might not always make a call that we are going to like. I have the utmost respect for his intentions, as he appears to be a man after my own heart. More importantly this spills into a more daunting issue.

I was at work and a co-worker asked me "don't you think Barack feels a lot of pressure, because what if he doesn't do well?". When he approached me with that question, i was immediately struck with a measure of familiarity. I responded to him as if i was pregnant with the answer for 24 years, maybe i was. I told him Barack feels the same way that I do EVERYDAY! Granted i am not the president, but i carry the onus and weight of my family, race, and affiliations to everyone that i encounter everyday. I represent Wallingtons everywhere i go, i represent a black race every living and breathing second. There are so many people that i interact with at work on a daily basis that will rarely ever get the opportunity to have a quality experience with a black person, the only construction they get is through the media. If i were to affirm those stereotypes and misconceptions then i have failed. I understand it is not about what others think, and i should not have to whisk away other people's ill-informed notions but the situation is bigger than me and when you are a part of something larger than yourself it brings a greater sense of responsibility. For Barack and myself we do it for the people that will come after us, so that they too will have a chance to operate in whatever capacity of life we were once in, one of the best things we can do is "not close the door".

So Barack approached the people carefully and compassionately because he cares, but he has been carrying the onus for years, im sure people have been incredulous of him his whole life, its nothing new to him, he's been proving himself every time somebody gives him a chance. Barack is transparently a synecdoche for blacks. I believe that he is genuine and his character has steadied turbulent waters, when your lifestyle is honest and open you have nothing to worry about. My grandfather once told me when i was little, "keep your nose clean, in case you want to be president one day". Baracks grandmother must have told him the same thing.

Black in America

What does it mean to be Black in America? CNN, courtesy of Soledad O'Brien took a stab at it and merely illuminated the the lives of blacks from one end of the spectrum to another, nothing more and nothing less.

To put the discussion in drive i will start by saying this, there are a myriad of "reasons" and depths that were not explored in this documentary but being as pragmatic as possible i realize that the show would have taken hours upon days to outline and detail the many catalyst and causes for the current state that blacks in America are in. For many blacks this served as a gratuitous reminder and reassurance for a lot of facts that we already knew, especially if you've lived these stories. An important thing to remember is that CNN is a potent national network and attracts many audiences; the airing of this documentary gave other races brief insight into what it is like to be black in America without actually living it (every little bit helps). In an effort to ease the tension among racial lines it is paramount that BOTH sides take initiative to understand where the other side stands in order to help better present solutions, reasons, and formulas to make things better. If dialogue is to happen and both sides are not privy to how the other side views the subject then you could be debating and in essence not even be talking about the same idea. So from that perspective it is good to see what kind of ideas other races are exposed to concerning us. Now lets move on.

I didn't see all of the first day so my commentary is limited for the women and families portion. For the women one of the points talked about dating outside of their race, and with so many black men restricted by bars, dead, or leading an unproductive life its a wonder that there aren't more black women dating outside their race, especially those women who have achieved a substantial amount of success. One of the things that hinders relationships is the lack of roles, traditionally women have played a more of a supplemental role for the man and been the foundation of the family. When everyone follows the formula everything is simple, but now with women breaking a lot of barriers and excelling more than ever black men have been slow and/or tardy matching their excellence and this has caused a void that it is often left vacant. What is a women to do if as she progresses professionally there become fewer and fewer black male counterparts in her circle, she is sure to relate to those that are on her level and those that are in her circle which can easily become exclusively another race. The scenario does not always happen like this but it is an example. Black men need to excel not only for the women sake but for the sake of the race. Just so we are clear i don't think that dating outside the race is problematic but at least give the ladies some more options to choose from.

For those who feel dating outside the race is detrimental you have to consider a few things, if you harbor the same ideas some of our ancestors held then we will continue to be stuck in their same situations. What im saying is that older black generations as a whole probably feel stronger about interracial dating than younger generations do, but they have a right to because of the reality that they lived. But if European Americans hold on to their same p.o.v. then you have a lot of potential fights coming, so if we are all going to live together than we have to be willing to move pass the past and try to reconcile, and not just live in two different realities but want everyone to be treated the same, that contradiction won't work.

This paragraph should tie into male and female and cover a lot of ground, hopefully. Let's put this out there, some people are forced into situations by the way society works and they don't have any options, that needs to be acknowledged. They sell cocaine, crack, weed or whatever to support the family members they do have and they're forced to carry guns to protect the dope and it becomes a vicious cycle. Some folks do have options they just choose to ignore them because the illegal route seemed like a better solution to their problems. With the laws set up against black (as CNN reported harsher penalties for crack rather than cocaine while cocaine is a purer form of the drug) a lot of people dabble in that game to long. Its nothing to sell a few bricks, keys, ounces whatever to get yourself in a better position to make other moves and put yourself back on the playing field but we don't do that, we milk the drug game for everything we can until we get caught. Now at this point we are no longer doing it out of necessity, it is out of greed which will eventually do anyone in. In the "hood" you can have countless transactions take place and the police won't be on to anything because its nothing major happening and lets face it, the majority of the "hood" ain't saying nothing! So everything is copacetic. The other problem that compounds this societal injury is that we don't have the education or societal acumen to know how to do anything else because we have dropped out of school and if we were going we weren't learning anyway, which brings me to another point that a lot of inner city schools are already behind the eight ball as far as resources and class sizes. Where most suburban schools have adequate funding which will allow children to do things such as take the books home and give them additional learning time, as opposed to being in school and whatever you don't learn in class you have to chalk it up as a loss because you don't have the luxury of taking the book with you. Not to mention on a standardized test particularly in the english section a lot of the jargon can be ethically biased. I could get into affirmative action here but i digress, so now you are stuck and where do you end up? Like Kanye said "its only two places you end up either dead or in jail". Then this puts the pressure on the women once again, so while we thought we were "man-ing up" we are really running away and putting the burden back on the women. With all due respect it can be extremely hard for a women or any one person to raise a family. You don't have the time and usually scarce resources, so who ends up raising the children? You know the answer. And with so few leaders there is nobody for the youth to turn to. Children literally can not be accountable for themselves unless they are taught to be accountable. They are at the complete mercy of the parenting before them. And with so few people willing to step in and help the saga continues, remember it takes a village to raise a child.

A lot of the problems that people have been screaming about concerning hip hop is all redundant and almost irrelevant. It is true that a lot of those messages guide the youth and heck even some grown folk. But the most effective way to alleviate the problems in hip hop is to build stronger family units and values. As horrific as this may be some of hip hop is just reporting and observation, if we create better realities then hopefully we create better messages. Unless we continue to let record execs feed us foolishness and we okay that agenda. As hip hop started out it was a creative expression of a deprived voice. How can those that are not connected with hip hop at a fundamental level dictate to those that are what is good hip hop and what is not. With stronger values one is able to determine the difference between real and fake, what is right and what is wrong. And another problem is that nobody is ever willing to speak about anything they feel is wrong because most blacks have a "cant knock the hustle" mentality, and i think a lot of that stems from the truth that most blacks have done some dirt and who is to say my "hustle" is more legit than yours. But there is nothing wrong with imparting knowledge upon others if you have learned otherwise throughout your travels, once again a lack of accountability.

The point is we have to do better and stop accepting the status quo as good enough. There are so many more topics and directions this could go but i have to end it somewhere. I just ask that you hold us down and try to do better everyday and as long as we do that then we will be ok. Although black in America was only a snippet for those of us that know, we get it, and this is just a reminder to us that we need to get on our game and take this thing further than we have before. Hopefully this wasn't excessive chatter but i just had to come back with a bang.