Self-Serving Leaders and Outdated Orgs Among Black America’s Top Problem

Despite issues with police, the majority of the black community’s problems stem from within.

 —

Social media, depending on how it is utilized, can either be a blessing or a curse. But in recent weeks – particularly after the grand jury rendered decisions in both the shooting death of Mike Brown, Jr., and the chocking death of Eric Garner – websites like Facebook and Twitter have been leveraged by communities who are organizing, protesting and shining a light on injustices that people of color face every day in America.

We have a firm system of unaccountability for individuals who are sworn to protect and serve the masses.  And if that isn’t already a painful enough reality, there seems to be no concrete way to begin the long overdue conversation of abuse of power in the United States.

And though I’m moved by the civil unrest and solidarity “sit-ins” taking place around the country, I have to acknowledge the fact that history is repeating itself because we didn’t listen the first time around.

In 1964, both Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X said in separate speeches that until black communities support each other and show solidarity that commands respect from those who would malign and marginalize us, things will never change.

How prophetic it is that those words continue to haunt us more than fifty years later.

Sometimes it seems as if we’ve forgotten the words and sacrifices of our elders and ancestors who fought hard to move us towards true liberation.

And instead of modeling ourselves after the bold, fearless leaders of the past, we’ve bought into today’s self-serving and corrupt leadership who have jeopardized the legacy and legitimacy of stellar civil rights organizations. These types of leaders won’t allow new voices with real solutions to be heard. Their selfishness causes the gap between the millennials and boomers to expand.

And even as we all point fingers towards what’s wrong, only a few of us will actually ball those fists up and get to work in the community without fighting about who is in charge.

I wonder how many more decades of suffering and botched grand juries will pass before we, as black people, finally get it together and work as a collective unit. For all that is wrong in America, it behooves us to clean up our house and rid ourselves of leadership and organizations that stopped serving us and a purpose!

Thanks for reading the thoughtful musings of a  DIVA!

—

Photo: AP/Ted S. Warren