Universally Speaking
Rahim Islam is a National Speaker and Writer, Convener of Philadelphia Community of Leaders, and President/CEO of Universal Companies, a community development and education management company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Follow Rahim Islam on FaceBook(Rahim Islam) & Twitter (@RahimIslamUC)
Rahim Islam
Anyone with a half of a brain must attest that the Black community in Milwaukee and in this country is in a state of unparalleled crisis.
Never before have we seen structural poverty and institutional racism coupled with self-destructive behavior by our so-called leaders – it appears that the Black community is spiraling out of control. What will change this course?
How will it happen and what does it look like? No matter what the answers will ultimately be, it can’t happen without the Black community coming together.
Progress can only be achieved through organizing.
Structural poverty and institutional racism has produced some of the worse demographics for the Black community.
How did this happen? Did we forget that after emancipation, every institution discriminated against the Black family for the next 75-80 years?
This blatant racism lasted until the so-called civil rights and anti-discrimination legislation in the 1960s.
The Black community was already profoundly behind economically from the American institution of slavery only to fall even further behind economically by the racism orchestrated by every other American institution.
While the legislation slowed down the racism, it didn’t change the climate and culture of racism that was produced and continues today.
Progress can only be achieved through organizing.
In addition to a racist climate and culture that every Black experiences within any American institution, the set-asides and affirmative action efforts to repair nearly 450 years of physical and economic oppression, was so watered down that it became ineffective and over time what was originally a focus for Black people was widened to include every type of minority (today white woman are even included).
Today, we’re supposed to be living in a post-racial society where race isn’t a factor anymore – what a bunch of nonsense.
Because Blacks didn’t fight back the way they should’ve, the battle for what are the right reparations measures was never achieved and today the argument has been totally lost.
Today, most American institutions now practice race-neutral policies as if the playing field has been equalized.
These institutions and their racist climate and culture have produced “structural” poverty and institutional racism, and has overwhelmed and worn down the Black community that now produces “mad” and alarming demographics.
Some of the racist policies (public and private) have unfairly targeted the Black male while at the same time favored the Black women (i.e. welfare, public housing, employment, etc.), and now the Black family has seen several generations where the Black man has been literally removed from the Black family causing the “total” deterioration of the Black family.
Nearly 80 percent of all Black families are now headed by a single female parent (this is lethal and has long-term social ramifications).
One negative consequence as the result of the demise of the Black family has been the erosion of our core Black values – abnormal behavior over a period of time has become normal.
In nearly every negative demographic, our community, as a group, the disparities continue to grow (i.e. wealth, health, poverty, education, unemployment, incarceration, marriage, etc.) with the latest epidemic being the “legal” murders of our young and unarmed boys by armed police. Progress can only be achieved through organizing.
Brothers and sisters, the issue of structural poverty and institutional racism has gone unchecked for too long and has and continues to wreak havoc on the Black community – if this goes unchecked any longer (the damage will be permanent), the next generations of Black children will be relegated to a permanent underclass in America.
Isn’t this easy to see? Why? If you just look at the current outcomes that are being produced you must agree with me. However; what’s more demoralizing is when you examine what’s brewing within the pipeline.
The conditions at the beginning of each continuum guarantees that the outcomes that we see today will worsen. Let’s examine just one example: Projections for incarceration rates are being directly tied to the ability of Black boys being able to read at grade level by third grade – not only is this gap maintaining or increasing, the gap at kindergarten is widening because too many Black boys are being raised, not only in poverty but in a single, female head of household – this scenario will guarantee that incarceration will increase.
The Black leadership is failing the Black community because of the practice of self-destructive behavior.
The structural challenges are mounting like a tsunami and range from voter suppression to reduction of tools that help to empower poor people which the Black community has a significant representation with nearly two-thirds of the population living at or near poverty but that’s not what’s destroying us – what’s destroying us is the self-destructive behavior that the Black community, especially its most accomplished (leadership) is practicing.
One of the most damaging behaviors is organizational tribalism where Black people are more loyal to their organization (tribe) than to their community.
If that organization is religious, civic, or business; the Black community pledges its allegiance to the organization over the concerns and needs of the people – what’s more important, the organization that you belong to or the state of the Black community?
We must be honest with each other when we ask ourselves that our allegiance to our organization going to correct the issues facing the Black community.
Restated, will one organization really save the Black community? Will organization “A” or organization “B” or group “C” take the Black community to the promise land?
Based on the current conditions of the Black community, even if A, B and C were to merge their capacity, talents, and resources, there is still no guarantee that this collective could make a difference.
It’s a gamble that I would take because it’s a fact that these organizations individually has no shot whatsoever.
The Black community must challenge the long-term practice of organizational tribalism because it has created a further dysfunctional consequence of free-agency. Progress can only be achieved throughorganizing.
Because of the long-term practice of organizational tribalism, we now have “individual” free agency – anyone can do and say whatever they want even when their actions are anti-group.
The Black community resembles the Wild West with no rules or no regulations nor is there any capacity to correct bad behavior.
When standards have been lighten coupled with the reduction of the any collective voice, the worst behavior, in many cases, rises to the top.
When this type of behavior continues for any period of time, hopelessness increases and those who have good intentions are unable to make corrections to bad individual behavior. This is magnified in politics because there is no leadership (no one is in charge), the Black community suffers tremendously because group and organized politics (caucus) is the right type of politics.
Progress can only be achieved through organizing.
We are in a state of war and the casualty is our future.
There are no easy answers; it’s going to take hard work, strategic thinking, and working together if we are to even have a shot.
I liken our situation to a morbidly obese person wishing and hoping that he/she could take a pill to rid themselves “overnight” of the excess pounds that bad behavior has produced over a long period of time – it’s called dreaming.
If our community is to defeat the massive ignorance that has overcome us, we must earn it – no one will give it to us.
We must keep pushing; we must respond collectively; we must be present and stand up to the challenge, if not for ourselves, we must do it for our children who are being led to a most definite slaughter – just do the math.
The success of the Black community will not be achieved by an individual or one organization. Success can only come when the Black community begins to work together.
The Black community must stop making excuses for not working together.
We all want to see a better education for our children; we all want to see the prison system release our men and stop locking them up; we all want to see our communities cleaned up and revitalized; we all want to see the senseless murders of our Black youth eliminated; we all want to see Black businesses opening and thriving in our community; and we all want to see unemployment reduced with full employment for every able Black man and woman.
Progress can only be achieved through organizing.
While these issues are daunting, there are many, many more that we must address.
Achieving success for any aspect of these issues is a process and we can’t jump over any of the steps. While we all see the “promise land” (we know what we want); to get there, we will have to earn it.
This means that we must be on the path for change. That path is communication (conversation), cooperation (functional unity); and coordination (strategy).
• Communication (Conversation) – Because we haven’t had too many “wins,” we have become very cynical as a people.
There is so much cynicism now that we must challenge it and overcome its impact one day at a time (we must build up a resistance to its hold on us).
Like those who have long-term addiction (i.e. drugs, alcohol, sex, etc.); we must face our demons one day at a time.
The demon of cynicism is so entrenched that hopelessness engulfs our community and paralyzes our every effort before we even get started. There is no way we can tackle the issues we face without talking about the issues first. Like an orchestra (multiple people that are working to produce one sound), before it actually performs must tune up.
What does our tune up look like? It looks like having a number of conversations that attempt to get us on the same page. We must not only understand the key issues facing our community, but we must understand why those issues are not getting fixed.
No matter what people say when they try to argue against this process – it’s their long-term addiction speaking versus their sobriety.
Many of our people are so hurt, overwhelmed and sometimes delusional to believe that we can achieve real solutions without having significant discussions and conversation.
• Cooperation (Functional Unity) – Many times when we call for “unity” amongst our people, we are calling for something that is unachievable, especially at this stage of where we are in our development. Why?
Because, many times the call for unity is an emotional one usually in response to some outrage that we just experienced (we’re sick and tired about what is happening to us).
Calling for unity when there hasn’t been real and sustained dialogue will produce what we have now – nothing.
I, like you, want to see our people unified, but it will never happen if we’re not talking to each other.
This type of unity is so abstract, like love; it’s so subjective that it has stymied our ability to make any progress. How do you quantify it?
How do you measure it? As a people, we are diverse in our thinking and our solutions which required a hefty dose of dialogue.
Unfortunately, we’ve wasted so much time trying to obtain unity that has got us nowhere.
We must change our thought process and focus on achieving a goal that is more measurable and more achievable – cooperation versus unity.
Cooperation is basically when we’re united around a common agenda, a common cause.
Our cause must be that every Black man, woman, and child, be about the upliftment of our group in America that involves the reduction of the massive disparities in critical areas of wealth, education, and poverty.
We must all be able to cooperate around a sound plan of action regarding these issues no matter where you are in the social-economic spectrum of life?
Can the Black religious community get behind this? Can the Black political community get behind this?
Can the Black educators, businesses and civic organizations get behind this? I believe so especially if we stop calling for unity and call for cooperation – unity will come.
• Coordination (Strategy) – Because of the unbelievable challenges that we face, our solutions must be balanced, sober, and as much as possible, without emotion, rheoretic and theatrics.
Our coordination must be near perfect for us to mount any sustained campaign.
As a people, we must grow up and do the hard work – we must get past the fantasy of unity and the reality of cooperation.
We must coordinate the unbelievable talents and skills of our people if we are to have a fighting chance.
I liken the resources and power that exist in our community like the electrical energy that is running in the wires representing thousands of watts of energy.
Guess what? Unless that energy is captured and contained, it can’t be used.
In order to use the electrical power, we need the electrical socket (infrastructure and coordination). Together we must build the socket.
Don’t get it twisted – the issues we face are hundreds of years in the making.
I know some don’t believe this – okay you don’t have to.
The fact remains that the systems we must correct and or adjust has no history of serving our people therefore require the best strategic thinking and planning.
How is it that we believe we can just march our way out of this mess?
We can holler and scream all day long and nothing will get done. Nothing will get done until we do the work of building the infrastructure (socket) to corral the unbelievable talent and resources that exist in our community, and use it like a laser to eradicate our problems.
We have so many issues which require that we prioritize what issues have the biggest impact and we have the best capacity to address.
The Black community has so much work to do and no one will give it to us, it must be earned.
Earning it requires that you take one step at a time and at no time will you be able to skip through the process.
We must move to a state of “functional” unity; unity that is defined by what’s best for Black people now and in the future.
Unfortunately, we suffer from a massive level of hopelessness that has paralyzed us – this hopelessness manifests itself in a number of ways with one goal in mind and that is keep us from even trying to come together.
Ask yourself, how many excuses you come up with when the call is made. Granted, every call isn’t the right call but this call is.
This call is about Black people coming together no matter what perspective you come from.
This call is about restoring collective Black leadership without you giving up any of your individual autonomy.
This call is about aggregating our limited capacity to effectively create a stronger force.
This call is about proving that the sum is greater than its parts.
This call is about a new math where 1 + 1 = 3.
The success we will seek “and need “ will only come when we’ve earned it, which means that we must break down the walls of tribalism and free agency. WE MUST EARN OUR INDEPENDENCE BECAUSE NO ONE IS GOING TO GIVE IT TO US.
