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BLACK PEOPLE and AMERICA- Life for us here has been no crystal stair.
1500's- kidnapping, murdering and enslavement of black Africans by white Europeans
1619- first black Africans brought to America as slaves.
1776- Declaration of Independence (didn't include black people)
1787- U.S. Constitution (included black people as property)
1862 & 1863-Emancipation Proclamation (freed black people on paper but not enforced)
1865- Thirteenth Amendment, abolished and prohibited slavery
1866- Civil Rights Act, extended the rights of emancipated slaves
1871- Civil Rights Act, the KKK Act (to combat them organizing to kill black people)
1875- Civil Rights Act, prohibited discrimination in "public accommodations"; unconstitutional (1883)
1876-1965 Jim Crow Laws (subjected black people to same lives lived as slaves)
1957- Civil Rights Act, Civil Rights Commission to ensure black voting rights
1960- Civil Rights Act, federal inspection of voter registration polls to ensure voting rights
1964- Civil Rights Act, prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin by federal and state governments as well as some public places
1968- Civil Rights Act, also known as the Fair Housing Act
1991- Civil Rights Act, provided the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and introducing the possibility of emotional distress damages, while limiting the amount that a jury could award
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2012... Where are we now?
2012 and beyond
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2012... Where are we now?
- All of the civil rights organizations that championed the above accomplishments in the fight for justice and equal rights have been for all intents and purposes effectively neutered because they have acquiesced the definition of succeeding; allowing it to be determined by the same institutionalized system that we have to fight against.
- Too many black children are born into households that can not provide for them emotionally, educationally or financially.
- Black women are disparaged and abandoned on a public and private level when it comes to respect for our lives as women, daughters, mothers, wives and sisters.
- Black men are publicly and privately allowed to defend and support each other regardless of debasing acts that are committed which disrespects what manhood is and should be.
- We allow the media to negatively determine and disseminate what the public consumes in regards to our families, culture and image.
- Too many black people seek acceptance from an institutionalized system that was designed for the contrary.
- Black people allow others to use their work, their efforts and their name for controlled and limited financial gain and acceptance from an institutionalized system which inevitably means losing generational progress, legacy and wealth building possibility.
2012 and beyond
- Education has to be a priority! Black people can not succeed in this world without an education. We can debate the benefits of a formal education versus an informal education but the truth in both is the fact that an early and consistent start with reading and comprehension is a necessity for success. INTRODUCING A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE CAN SAVE A CHILD'S LIFE.
- Religious and civil rights organizations that are not doing the work that was originally envisioned in the betterment of the Black lives should not be supported. Stop allowing titles and perceived entitlements to blind you to those that are not trying to help and uplift Black lives but instead are taking advantage for profit and prestige.
- Stop allowing popular culture to negatively impact your child's development by defining their (and even your) view of the world. Popular culture is not what should be setting the standards of who Black people are or who they should be. Egotism does not build community; it only magnifies itself.
- We have to speak out and fight against the sexualization of girls and boys because it is destroying Black lives and should be vehemently discouraged without hesitation on a consistent basis. To put children into situations that are beyond their emotional and mental scope is abuse.
- We have to discourage births among teenagers and irresponsible adults. Having children should not be seen as a "perceived right" regardless of responsibility but instead a privilege of great responsibility.
- Black people must realize that mainstream society's efforts to destroy the black woman's image is a major way that the institutionalized mindset has been allowed to flourish. It is a tactical assault by white supremacy to minimize and destroy the integral foundation of Black self-worth.
- Black men should publicly and privately protect Black women and fight against anyone that disparages Black women. If we are not united against this prolific and pervasive assault it will make it difficult for Black families to thrive. A Black man's protection of Black women and children builds and reinforces honor, respect and love.
- Black women have to value their worth and stop supporting Black men that do not take a position of responsibility in ensuring that they are protected and loved. Black women sharing their lives and their efforts with males that do not protect them will continue a pattern of hopelessness that has engulfed too many in the Black community; derailing the focus of family, education, justice and equality.
