By Dr. Ron Daniels 

President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century 

Spurred by what I perceive as a “state of emergency” in Black America, in recent weeks I have been offering prescriptions for what people of African descent can do to combat and overcome decades of benign and blatant neglect in America’s “dark ghettos.” The irony, even tragedy, is that this discussion is occurring despite the fact that there is a Black Family in the White House. As the old folks used to say, “we sure ain’t what we wanna to be, sure ain’t what we’re gonna be but we sure ain’t what we were.” 

It was no accident that elders in the Black community held out such hope for the moment that Barack Hussein Obama would become the 44th President of the United States of America. As the words to the Black National Anthem attest, this moment has come at great cost and sacrifice. Unfortunately, the state of emergency which we have been describing clearly indicates that the stony road we’ve trod has yet to lead to the pinnacle of full freedom. There are still more rivers to cross before we reach social, economic and political equity/parity for dispossessed Black people in the “promised land.”

And, we will not achieve this objective unless a critical mass among us unapologetically recommit to educating, organizing/mobilizing and empowering our people for the critical task ahead. “No one else will free us but us.” Toward that end, we must heed the dictum of my long time friend/counselor/advisor Dr. James Turner to teach our people to “be of the race and for the race.” 

The success of prior stages of the civil rights/human rights/Black liberation struggle has produced untold thousands, if not millions, of Black people in various positions of authority/influence/power and millions more who are living life better than anyone could have conceived a mere 50 years ago. The problem is that far too many of our folks are “of the race but not for the race.” They suffer from historical amnesia, having lost touch with the trials, tribulations, triumphs that propelled them into a life of relative success. 

Far too many of our people identify themselves as African Americans, people of African descent or Black but have lost a sense of the power of Black consciousness: a substantive knowledge of our origins as a people, a positive embrace of color, culture and heritage and an unrelenting commitment to utilize our economic and political power to achieve and maintain full freedom for the totality of our community.

Throughout our history there have been creative explosions where awareness of self, culture/heritage and commitment to advance the race have flourished. The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s was such a time; the era of the 60’s was another. Much of what we take for granted today, including calling ourselves “Black” or “African,” is directly attributable to the civil rights/human rights movements of the 60’s, particularly the rise of Black Power, Nationalism and Pan Africanism. 

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