The problem with the Black community...

Hey ladies and gents, it's ya girl Untouched Jewel in the buildin! Since this is the day of birth of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I know there will be parades and marches going on all over the country in his name and honor. I dig that and all, it's good. Dr. King's "legacy" has always been about social change and equality by peacefully protesting against the powers that be during the Civil Rights Movement, etc. However, since that era the Black community (in my honest opinion) hasn't received too much change in everyday life.



I know many of you are thinking "Untouched Jewel, how can you say such a thing?" Well, it's that simple...take a good look around you. We still have housing projects in "inner city" neighborhoods aka Black neighborhoods in every major and non-major city in America, drug addicts, sub par schools with sub par education, gangs, drive-by shootings, and mid-level to poverty stricken residents. For a country that's a generation out of the Civil Rights Movement and about 2-3 out of slavery, we as a race of people STILL have yet to make the very strides we've have dreamed out in centuries past. Sure by some law book standards we have with Brown v. Board of Education, Montgomery Bus Boycott, etc., but not like we should have.



I've seen alot of these talk forums with scholars, authors, politicians and political activists via Tavis Smiley. It's a good effort on his part, and I don't knock his hustle by no means. But every time I see these talk forums on the state of the Black Union, I end up wondering to myself: "We talk about the societal woes of our people, but what is being done to tackle these issues that are being discussed?" Yes y'all, my mind got to wandering about several million miles a minute with question upon question. And that ladies and gents, is where my focus is centered. What are we as a whole (Black people) are doing to face these issues and take some action to combat the problem? Are we going out cleaning up these streets where drug deals are taking place? Are we setting up neighborhood associations against criminals and criminal activity? Are we going out into the community feeding those that are homeless or those that are living in housing projects, and are struggling to make ends meet? I ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER TO ALL THESE QUESTIONS: NO, AND HELL NO. 



Now here's where I'm about to get on my semi-soapbox and really keep it 100. We as a race are lazy as hell. That's right, I said it! We are so busy looking to a savior (i.e. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, or better yet Barack Obama) to come in and save us and give us a handout thinking that's a means to fix what's wrong with us as a people, and we are selling ourselves short each and every time. Our priorities are so ass-backwards it's sickening. Here's a list of our screw-ups:

• Waste our money renting an apartment before purchasing a home
• Spend money on unnecessary crap
• Don't teach our children to save their money 
• Don't push education or success to our children
• Don't have programs to help those in need
• Hate or kill our own people
• Always blaming White America for our problems
• Selfish and self-centered

See how the list goes on and on? Now where we really screw up, is that we as a people always TALK, TALK, TALK about these problems, but no action is NEVER applied to solve the problem. Ladies and gents, this is where I had to give props to The Black Panther Party. They were the group that did what they needed to do to initiate social change. If that change meant that it was done in Malcolm X's infamous words "By any means necessary", then so be it. But none the less, the Panthers got the job done. They created free lunch programs for the children in the neighborhoods, held meetings pushing their agenda for social change, etc. I applaud them for the work they started out doing. What saddens me is how our piss poor government did what they do best: CREATED DISCORD AND DISSENSION WITHIN. The party was torn apart from helping our communities be unified, grow socially, grow economically, and make a growth of self esteem.

Ladies and gents of every Black community of America: it's about time we start taking our list of complaints and implementing action to solve the problems we face as a people. LESS TALK, MORE ACTION. Don't hold your breath waiting on political activists to do all the foot work, because chances are it ain't gonna happen. Real change only takes place when action is taken by the people. When we take no action, guess what you have? NOTHING. Let's get back to the days of the Panthers where they looked out for the people. Maybe if we can get back to the fundamentals of how we can look for our people, much can be accomplished. But let us all take the time to think about it, then go forth and take action to make it happen. Until then, our people will continue to perish from the ignorance we display on an everyday basis.


Until Next Post,
Peace & Blessings,
Untouched Jewel