What Will You Do?
By Maceo Keeling
We are African American citizens of the United States of America.
We are black folk who were born and live outside of Africa (the Diaspora). We share historical connections with kings, queens and strong proud nations with rich histories that originate in Africa.
Who will we become?
Are we becoming docile, second-class people content to accept whatever the United States government sees fit to dole out to us? Are we giving up on our history and ourselves? Do we care to have a say in our future or the future of our children? Will we continue to tolerate the sting of injustice that plagues our community?
Have we drifted into a deep sleep after we sacrificed so much during the Civil Rights movement? Will we wake up again only to express outrage when our children and fathers die in the streets? Will the wretched injustice of racism, bigotry, prejudice, and implicit bias become so institutionalized and ingrained in us that we take it with our morning cereal—then go back to sleep?
What does the future look like for our youth in whom we hold so much hope?
Youth seem to languish in self-loathing beneath the whip of ignorance and a culture of victimization. They purchase and listen to “music” that overtly beats them into emotional, intellectual, and spiritual submission while they throw their hands up in the air and wave them like they just don’t care. Is it possible that, in truth, they just don’t care?
Caring is what people should do. It defines people as part of the human race. If we don’t care about ourselves, why should anyone else care about us, or for us?
I realize that stepping into action requires personal fortitude and moral courage. It means putting fear aside and doing the right thing when it’s easier to do nothing.
I have been confronted with the same choice recently. It would have been far easier for me to say, “I don’t have to put up with this; I won’t be around when it all goes down.” I could have walked out and never looked back.
If I had turned away from the injustices I saw perpetrated on my younger brothers and sisters, I, too, would have been guilty of a crime against my people. Both ethically and under the laws of our great nation, an omission—a failure to act—can be a commission of a crime under specific circumstances.
We now know evil can prevail only when people of good conscience do nothing. We do not need to spend another minute talking about what is wrong with our people or our nation. We need to act upon what we know is right. If injustice is not arrested when recognized, then the bystander who does nothing is also complicit.
I believe it is a moral imperative for the strong to advocate for the weak. When the tides of oppression and injustice rise, all boats are tossed! We can wait to see what happens in hope that things will just work out—but faith without works is dead! The “Dream” can’t be realized until we wake up and work on bringing it to reality.
What can we do?
It is folly to react to the loss of nine lives in Charleston, SC and forget the thousands of black people who previously endured the constant threat of death and sacrificed everything for our liberation from the unjust law of our land. Our parents and grandparents had to fight, bleed, and die to secure our right to vote. What can we do now to honor their sacrifice? We can go to the polls, cast our ballot and vote!
What can we do? We can arrest injustice whenever we see it or experience it. We can stand with someone who needs an advocate. We can talk to our children and grandchildren and tell them OUR story and our great contributions of the past and present. We can let them know that this country is theirs too.
Often our children think that only older folk have a stake in this country. We can tell our children that this great nation was built by many black people whose blood was spilled in cotton fields, on battlefields, and every field from science to mathematics. That blood still runs in their veins today.
What can we do? We can be firm when we hold each other accountable for the language we use when we refer to and about each other. We can insist that our friends and family members not use the “n” word in our presence. We can rebuke the “artists” who refer to our young sisters, aunts, cousins, mothers and even grandmothers as anything other than a queen worthy to be loved and honored.
What can we do? When there is a public hearing or discussion in the YMI Cultural Center we can show up, stand up and be counted in greater numbers than the others who are benefiting from the legacy of our gathering place. When we do decide to go we can ask someone we respect to go along too. We can prepare to make clear and compelling contributions to the dialogue. We can represent and make them recognize!
What can we do? We can spend our black dollars with black businesses. We can support the Urban News with advertisement. We can support WRES-100.7 FM with programing dollars. We can support Hart Funeral Services and all our black-owned businesses. We can support our local churches with tithes and offerings. We can support our young family members who have earned educational opportunities beyond high school.
What can we do? We can engage our youth and encourage them to protest on the Internet. They have the greatest single media resource since the printing press. They can blog about it, text about it, Facebook about it, Tweet about it, or Instagram about it! Our youth can do more than talk about making change happen, they can be about it! This generation’s “revolution will not be televised,” it will be live-streamed all the way!
Instead of whining after decisions have been made or buying into inaccurate second-hand chatter, we can attend city and county meetings, and find out what is happening before decisions are handed down without our input.
To try to change things over which we have no control is wasted energy. To feed our children and each other the rotten, toxic remnants of a distorted legacy and an inaccurate history in America and expect them to thrive is insanity!
These changes are within our control—so we have no excuse! No one can keep us down if we are determined to stay up! Nothing can keep us from making the change we want to see.
Right here, right now, stand up and answer the call! Remember, we don’t have to be great to get started, but we do have to get started to become great!
The Conscious Call radio program airs every Monday at 11:30 a.m. on WRES-FM 100.7. In a collaboration with the radio program, the Urban News will help keep readers informed about events, programs, news, and the progress of The Conscious Call. The opinions and statements made in this column are solely the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of the Urban News.
