This is a pleas to get Black Men to stand up and be accountable to Self, Family, and Community.
A disobedient soul, lack of initiative, coupled with shame did Adam in, and when our Lord came looking for him, he hid. Is it safe to say that Black men are still hiding, sans the fortitude needed to be accountable? It was once told to me that people of other persuasions fear the Black man most, and because of it, have systemically done more to keep him down and relegated to second class citizenry. There’s no doubt that Black men have had problems throughout the annals of time. We’ve known success, have been exalted, and have given to the world viable contribution…but, inasmuch as we’ve smiled and basked in our glorious euphoria, the pendulum swings in the other direction where frowns have become frequent and foreboding. All is not hunky dory in da hood, nowadays, and I’m worried. Something is amiss and definitely wrong in how Black men are perceived, yesterday and today. Look no farther than historic content in the figures that have succumbed to selected genocide – Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, Paul Robeson, Adam Clayton Powell, Harold Washington, Steve Biko, Max Robinson, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, et al. All men of great standing that found the ire of white suppression and supremacy. Name me one of them that wasn’t excommunicated, discredited, slandered, or even murdered. Adam, representing the first man that God ever made, tapped to be the prototype of the human image of His being, exemplifies the problems faced with us today. Is it no wonder that He had to go looking for him? How different is it in these times where many factions are asking the questions where are we? As a child coming up, my father always instilled in me to be a man and a respecter of women…and I marveled at the respect he commanded in the neighborhood. If one were to believe all that is made to support the perceived habitual treatment of Black men, it would, in my opinion feed into the syndrome that most people of color posit that it’s the white man’s fault…. or that slavery has kept us behind. I understand, and can sympathize to a certain extent concerning historical content, but I feel that brothers need to step up, exert themselves and demand respect on all levels of achieved reckoning.
There’s no mistake that all is not well, and I ask, where are the men? Where are you? I see too many of my sisters heading households where men should be firmly in place, I see far too many young boys idolizing the wrong images, without fathers to their children, and I’m definitely tired of taking the brunt of the angst women hurl at me because of the brothers before me who didn’t treat them right. Ask me how I feel to see fine sisters walking hand in hand with others of another race. I can imagine and understand how the sisters must feel. There’s no second guessing Christ. He asked for Adam because Adam wasn’t in place. He defied orders, and succumbed to inequity. Just like Adam, we are hiding behind all of the ‘self dysfunctions’ that are prevalent – Self-denigration, Self-deprecation, Self-rejection and Self-hatred. We shouldn’t take these maladies lightly for it bodes a continuous ill wind that has blown much too long for the same plight that defines us in the minds of many. Pertinent issues that permeate our communities are virtually ignored – and the brothers are mute!
Too often the outcries are loud and wailing, especially from our sisters. Cry, the beloved Black man, fleeting and ever so elusive…. where are you? Too many people are looking, wondering and lamenting on whether we can still hold dominion over our brood, command our communities, and regain self-respect. It is so hard for me to close this article without first coming to closure with how can we reverse this trend.
I can’t do it alone, but this is what I can do within my stead:
- I will stand up on my own and proclaim to be a child of God, made in His own image with all the tools for love and self-discipline
- I will come out of hiding, and accept responsibility for self, family, and community
- I will gather all the strengths that have always been mine – Spirituality, artistic fortitude, and physical prowess to know that I am part of a blessed race!
- I will uphold the storied legacy of my Black woman by giving her all the respect to rule by her side and not backslide; I will make my ancestors proud, by not allowing roadblocks (real or imagined) stop me.
- I will clean up, restructure, uplift, and fortify my community so that my schools, churches, and ethics are pointed toward Godly good
- I will work diligently and dutifully to repair my image by instilling integrity, a sense of ethical pride, and righteous resolve to stay one step ahead and above mediocrity to exceed far beyond status quo.
If all of my brothers follow these creeds, there will be no doubt that the whole world would rejoice and be a better place. Black men stand up, and be counted. We are not inferior; we will fight all the battles, and regain our rightful place in time. Adam where art thou?
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