Take Responsibility for The Village

Rev. Spencer Hardaway

When the Education Coalition closed its doors, shock waves went through the community. Just as the unseating of the Mayor from the personnel committee created a furor within our community, the closing of the education coalition caused a similar disturbance.
Both of these recent actions bring our community to a place where we are forced to determine how we would respond, and what should be the response from our community. When actions are taken that appear to show total disregard for those who represent our community, those decisions do get our attention.

Before we shout,
“Foul!” or pull out a race card as the Education Coalition closes its
doors, maybe we should take another look at why it’s closing, and do
some constructive community self reflection.

First,
let us express our most sincere gratitude to the Sisters of Mercy for
their contribution to a coalition whose positive impact in our
community cannot be measured with numbers.

Second,
let us look at what we bring to the table in terms of funding, other
than a hand extended outward saying, “Help us.” We cannot continue to
expect others to fund us or to provide programs funded by others and
operated by others to help our community.

Third,
if it takes an entire village to raise a child, then we have to take
more responsibility for the village in which our children are being
raised.

In the
early or late 1980s or ‘90s, a company was formed whose advertisement
was one an alphabet acronym. FUBU stood for For Us By Us.

Maybe we
should look within our community to secure funding from us to operate
programs by us that are directed toward providing a positive impact on
us.

The
amount of money that comes into our community is not given by those who
live in our community, and that is shameful. In a village the villagers
provide more than just active participation: they provide financial
support as well.

It is
tragic that the Education Coalition has closed down its operation. I
personally want to express my most sincere thanks to the Sisters of
Mercy for their long-lasting support of a coalition of workers and
volunteers who desired to provide positive mentorship, tutoring, and
other aspects of nurturing the young minds of today.

Now is
the time for us to put some actions to our faith, which says: when the
Lord closes one door, he will open up another avenue for us to travel.
To quote a phrase from a preacher who spoke at a conference last week:
“When you are down to nothing, the Lord is up to something.” Now is the
time for those who talk about their own personal destiny to look at how
we as a community can fulfill our destiny together.

We truly
need to look within our community for support to provide the quality of
nurturing deserved by those youth in our communities.