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
As I’ve tried to articulate in part one of this article, I liken the Black community to the human body which is made up of a host of systems with each system being essential to the life of the body and works in conjunction with the other systems and organs (i.e. heart, liver, kidney, lungs, etc.), all under the direction of the brain (leadership).
The systems of the body are: the skeletal, muscular, immune, circulatory, nervous, reproductive, digestive, respiratory, and senses systems with each one of the systems being essential to the survival of the human being – to be humanly and fully functional you can’t have one without the other.
Each of these systems perform precise functions together that allow the human to essentially be human beings (masters of the earth).
The success and/or failure of any one of these systems can significantly alter the other systems and unless the problem of any one system is diagnose and remedied, they can cause the body to shut down and ultimately die.
The Black community is like the human body which is also made up of systems that all play distinct roles under some form of leadership (organization) which serves the community and its residents.
Like the human brain, the community’s version of the brain is both the leadership structure (i.e. government, quasi-government, civic and business organizations, etc.) along with the community systems (i.e. family, political, religious, public safety, economic, education, cultural, etc.) supported by a general code of conduct that the majority of people adhere to.
All of the systems in the community are critical to the overall success of the community and its residents.
Like the systems in the human body, they work in conjunction with each other and are inter-related and inter-connected.
The failure of any one of these systems, can significantly jeopardize the overall health of the community.
For example, when the education system is failing it will produce less “qualified” candidates for the labor pool.
When this occurs at the level that has in the Black community, businesses begin to close because the residents are getting poorer (discretionary income begins to decline) – this is referred as “disinvestment.”
With dis-investment, retailers and other potential investors (employers) don’t feel that their investment is justified and will instead put their resources in areas that have a highly qualified workforce pool.
Both dis-investment and/ or no “new” investment produces a lower level of job opportunities and ultimately produces a higher level of unemployment especially among males between the age of 18- 35.
The increase in unemployment and underemployment will ultimately begin to erode the family unit and the men will seek an “illegal” underground economy to survive.
With this produces young men that become more vulnerable to being trapped “crisp” of the mass incarceration of Black men.
It is clear that these systems work with each other and support each other and the failure of any one of these systems will impact the success of the other.
While all of the systems are critical, none is more critical than the human “immune system” which I liken to the community’s culture.
The human immune system protects and fights against any/all diseases that can enter the body in a number of ways.
In most instances, the immune system is the biggest defender for the body.
If this system isn’t working properly, a common cold could kill you.
Like the body’s immune system, the community’s culture also defends the community from unwanted and disease like ideas and values in its protection of the community.
One’s culture plays many essential roles in the community, not just policing and enforcing standards and a code of conduct, but culture also does the mental and spiritual policing as well.
Your culture, in many respects, will many times determine your destiny; therefore, protecting your culture is a critical and essential system that the community must have working well.
In many cases one’s culture is defined by their community – they’re inseparable and if the community’s systems are failing they will impact and shape the culture of the community.
I’m not sure how much the socio-economic conditions impact one’s culture but it’s fair to say that when the culture (community immune system) no longer works properly, we have a dilemma that we can call “cultural” AIDS – which represents the total failure of the Black community to defend against community diseases (i.e. immorality, violence, work ethic, selfrespect, self-love, peace, etc.) – this puts the Black community out of position and uncompetitive.
The Black community is out of position because its culture (immune system) isn’t working properly.
The Black community is out of position because the Black family is out of position and the Black family is out of position because, BY DESIGN, the Black man is out of position.
If you want to destroy a community, you take the man out of circulation and you begin to undermine the family unit at every level.
The international human rights organizations sight America as the worst human rights violator on the planet because of this unfair “mass” incarceration of Black men – they understand that this act has significant community ramifications.
We must come to grips with the fact that Black culture has been seriously harmed and eroded by the Black experience in America and it isn’t over yet – the legacy (sting) of the American Institution of Slavery is alive today.
What we see today in many Black neighborhoods is the impact of long-term poverty coupled with a class separation between the upper income Blacks and middle-to-low income Blacks.
When we examine the Black culture, we must take a moment to reflect on the community we’ve lived in so that we can evaluate Black culture in the right context – where you start absolutely matters.
There are too many White people that are in total denial (i.e. believe, ignorant, etc.) about the “playing” field being leveled in America especially as it relates to the gains that they have made off the backs of Black people many don’t understand or believe in White privilege. Since the emancipation, Blacks have fought gallantly for full American citizenship but the opposition, being fully resourced and knowledgeable, has worked extremely hard to keep the Black man powerless and in a subservient position.
Today, many profess that where you start is irrelevant.
If that’s true, let’s reverse roles and have the majority of White people inherit poverty while the majority of Black people inherit wealth, position, ownership, and control of every aspect of America’s institutions.
I guarantee you that there would be a different discussion in America.
My fundamental belief is that the new racism is the denial that race matters and where you start doesn’t matter – we must stay focused on the facts and not let the emotions of this issue get in the way.
If we reflect back during the enslavement of the our people, nearly 100% of Black people lived in inferior and dilapidated housing settlements on plantations except those that lived in the White Master’s house or the less than 2-3% that were technically free men.
The living and working conditions, coupled with the type of food that Blacks were allowed to eat, were absolutely inhumane and unbearable – this was the lifestyle that Black children, men, women, and families were accustom to for a number of generations.
This all took place while Blacks lived on extremely wealthy plantations but stayed in uninhabitable housing – the psychological impact has survived today where it’s become acceptable for Blacks to live in squalor while the Whites lived in absolute wealth and luxury only a few blocks away.
Because of the historical and immense wealth gap that exist between Whites and Blacks, most Whites lived in beautiful homes and stable neighborhoods, a billion times better than Blacks that live in “ghettos” or “hoods” not neighborhoods- where you start matters.
After nearly 300 years of this type of lifestyle, survival mode kicks in and this becomes incorporated within the culture – BEING A SLAVE BECOMES THE CULTURE OF MANY BLACK PEOPLE.
There has been a psychological stigma placed on the Black “brain,” Black neighborhoods, and pretty much anything related to Black people which supports the overwhelming media bombardment of White Supremacy (in everything) and Black inferiority (see how they live).
For too many Black people this slave culture (branding) has created a deep rooted black “inferiority” generally held by all Black people in some form or fashion (how can it not).
This inferiority produced a pent-up demand to jettison Black communities for the chance to live amongst Whites (Black flight) at the first possibility (so-called integration).
Once segregation was legally abolished, why did so many economically mobile Blacks flee their neighborhoods to move into predominantly all White neighborhoods and what happened?
Whites moved out when Blacks moved in at the fastest pace ever seen – some of these all-White neighborhoods became all-Black neighborhoods in a matter of only a few years.
Today, after all is said and done, very few neighborhoods remain integrated and Blacks are more segregated now than they were prior to the so-called segregation with nearly 75% of all Black people living in approximately 50-60 cities.
And what’s even worse, not only was integration not achieved, but Blacks loss so much in that process, including their very limited economic base.
Today, the final shoe has dropped and now, because of gentrification, Blacks are even losing their neighborhoods.
The Behavior of our most accomplished has help, to not only weaken the neighborhoods that they once lived in, but the chasing of the “illusion of inclusion” has significantly impacted the Black culture. – CHASING WHITE PEOPLE EVEN AT THE EXPENSE OF YOUR OWN HAS BEEN THE CULTURE OF MANY “WELL-TO-DO” BLACK PEOPLE – ITS CALLED ‘GETTING OUT.”
When most of us who were born in the 50’s or before, romanticize about a time when it appears that Blacks were doing better. In some categories this is true especially in the areas of economic empowerment and family structure.
When making these assumptions, we must stay close to the facts because for many of us at that period in America, we were either children or young adults and didn’t have the capacity to understand truly the politics of what their parents were going through.
I do believe that there was a general sense of community (working together) than it is today but we must come to know why.
With nearly 90% of all families living in households with two parents and many with grandparents, the Black community was more structured and the elders had more reign on the direction of the community (they were the greatest pioneers and defenders of Black culture).
We must remember that our elders, at that time, saw up-close and in-person the real sting of White hate and racism unlike the younger generation that was in many cases at odds with the elders (this generational fight is a normal phenomenon).
Black culture, in spite of all of our challenges, was about achievement in face of tremendous odds and inability to be equal citizens under the laws of the country.
In less than 100 years after emancipation (emancipation is somewhat of a measuring baseline for Black people), Blacks were able to secure landmark legislation that would give them the starting tools to be more competitive.
I’ve written several times that this was to be a start and not a final destination and the Black civil rights movement should have morphed into a fight for “economic” rights but unfortunately the movement was disbanded.
Prior to the “so-called” integration, Black communities were populated by a “mix” of incomes – and I don’t mean poor Blacks side-by-side with rich Whites.
I mean a wide array of high, middle, and low income Black people – this cross collateralization of ideas, thoughts, and feelings created a general code of conduct that allowed the best to lead and cement within the Black culture.
However, I contend that buried deep into the psyche of many Black people was a deep inferiority and the damage was evident in how Blacks compared “good” neighborhoods with White people and “bad” neighborhoods to Black people and where they lived – thus begins Black flight.
What ultimately would prevail is a culture that pitted poor Blacks against affluent Blacks (Black classism).
There became different levels of Black culture that was a function of what economic class you belonged to.
The higher the economic station one attains usually means the closer assimilation that the Black person will engage – this created an exodus of talent out of the many Black neighborhoods creating very poor Black neighborhoods.
Today, the confinement of Blacks continues. Only now, instead of slave quarters and the backs of buses, Blacks inhabit jails, public housing projects, and dilapidated neighborhoods.
Many Blacks that left, if they knew what they know now, would have never left because the race for equality cannot be achieved when the majority of your people are being oppressed and trying to place one’s Black self in a White culture is the equivalent of being incarcerated in a cultural prison.
Within the Black culture, assimilation is now paramount and there is a general disdain for anyone living in the Black neighborhoods – this is furthering the acceptance of White supremacy and Black inferiority.
Getting out of the community is the general charge and this message is passed down to our children at every juncture and reinforces the culture of assimilation.
Sure, we have issues in our community that is undeniable challenging; there is a general lack of services, poor education system, and violence but they will not go away by themselves.
Nor can those who are in the most need have the capacity to change their trajectory – it will require the most talented, the most accomplished, and the most resourced of our community to lead the change for restoring the a culture of “fight” a culture of “hope” back in our community.
The Black community faces “real” inferior neighborhoods (system failures) that keep them at the bottom of the economic food chain.
In addition, the Black community is being bombarded on a daily basis (24/7/365) with negative images and negative inferences regarding thinking Black, living, Black, feeling Black, and most importantly, being Black.
It is generally understood by both White and Black that the Black man is inferior.
We can say that this isn’t true, but we would only be lying to ourselves – this Black inferiority is now fully engrained in Black culture and, unfortunately, it’s getting worse.
The Black community and the Black culture has been handicapped.
Carter Woodson once said “to handicap a people for life, you teach him that his black skin is a curse and his struggle to change his condition is hopeless – it’s the worst form of lynching.”
Today, even our most accomplished Black people show the signs of Black inferiority.
Many, if they’re not trying to assimilate to become just like the oppressor or even uphold the systems of the oppressor, they are definitely not leading the fight for the self-determination of their own people.
Ask yourself, what group would have the best shot at doing this if it’s not those that have achieved the most.
Why is this attitude so prevalent (it must be because not much is being done)?
The answer is that we have been fooled by the shine and illusion of America because we have been able to integrate neighborhoods, schools, private clubs, and some previously all white institutions and workplaces.
But the reality is that we suffer as a people more than any other group in America.
When the human is sick, it’s the responsibility of the physician to diagnosis the problem first by understanding the symptoms and this cursory task will allow the doctor to determine what the next steps are to secure more indepth analysis.
The doctor is trained to search for and find the “cause” of the problem and not to rely just on the symptom because the symptoms could be misleading and the problems could be much worst.
By all accounts the Black community (its systems) is very sick and it too must take this same approach.
Yes we’ve made tremendous progress and as individuals, we have some success stories, but when we take a macro look at the state of Black America, what gains we’ve made over 50 years ago (passage of historic civil rights legislation in the 60’s) has and continues to erode.
It wasn’t like these gains were a solution – they only represented a starting point that needed to be the foundation for future gains, with the hope that the Black community would have a “level” playing field when we can compete economically.
This is a marathon and not a sprint and unfortunately, the Black community in its naivety was misled into thinking the fight was over.
The Black community is dying from within because all of its systems are breaking down and the Black culture (immune system) is unable to defend the community.
Today, some of the worst forms of “abnormal” behavior has been adopted by our youth as “normal” behavior – this will have long-term ramifications.
As a community, especially our leadership, we must develop a holistic solution with a heavy focus on restoring Black culture and addressing Black inferiority because the problems are holistic.
The diagnosis must look at the following:
• Currently, we don’t have the infrastructure (doctor) that can perform the examination of the Black community, therefore, the Black leadership must unite to establish some type of functional leadership and create a place where a strategic plan can be crafted, implemented and evaluated for its effectiveness;
• The long-term psychological and emotional damage must be taken into consideration – an assessment must be made to determine the real damage;
• The Black community must take over the education of its children – no real change will happen until we can teach them and correct the self-hating behavior before it really takes hold. As Malcolm X once said “anyone who takes his children to the oppressor to be educated is a fool.”
• The Black family must be restored by design which means that Black Male Initiatives must be bolstered and supported;
• The neighborhoods must be re-engineered with the Black middle and upper class returning back to the neighborhoods that it abandoned; and
• The Black community must seek a Black liberation theology – a theology that is consistent with what all of the great prophets would do today if they saw the condition of the Black man being made to become permanent “free” slaves.
Yes, the Black community has very serious enemies in the form of racist people, structural racist systems, and a general lack of understanding of our history, but none is more lethal than what we are doing and what we’re leaving for the next generation to work with.
We are leaving them a climate and culture of “individualism” and “I got mine and you get yours” mentality – this approach is moving further and further away from what’s needed to challenge the issues that the Black man faces in America – we must begin to rebuild our culture for unity and working together.
As bad as things are outside of us (their very bad), that fight can’t be waged until we take on the fight within.
I started this article by saying, like the immune system, Black culture is the system that is always on the defense fighting against the enemy that could kill him.
If that culture isn’t strong, like the immune failure, a common cold can kill it.
Black people are already at a serious cultural deficit based on where we’ve been in America, but that doesn’t give us a pass to not do anything.
The fight is not outside, the fight is within and were dying from within.
