People of African descent are at a crossroads in Canada, and ultimately, in the world. It is important that they redefine and rebrand themselves in a country that is intricately involved in a process that sees Trans National Corporations (TNCs) weakening geopolitical boundaries in favour of their selfish economic interests. As John Madeley puts it in Big Business, Poor Peoples: The Impact of Transnational Corporations on the World’s Poor: “TNCs operate with little regard for individual state interests, and they destroy livelihoods, displace people, render democratic institutions impotent, and feed on life in an insatiable quest for money.”
As a result of population diversity coupled with abundant commodities and financial resources Canada has moved confidently towards its own newer global identity. Therefore, such a paradigm shift calls on all Canadians to be part of a future world in which individual goals are further subordinated by the interests of powerful economic and political elites. They are the ones forming alliances with TNCs, and as such, must maintain their power and influence by following the vision and mission of these mega conglomerates.
Since these oligarchs govern state affairs, they have little or no concern for people other than those who follow their directions and lead. And because Canada’s growth is so dependent on external influences its population is required to cater to the needs of domestic elites connected to global forces. They are best served with block voting and group support for identified party affiliations in elections. When necessary they assist in knowledge transfers from countries of origin and add to bottom lines by selling their labour domestically to TNC affiliates based in the country.
The situation described above places poor Canadians in a bind, for although many of them identify themselves as belonging to specific ethnic groups, they are unorganized and their conditions are mostly affected by socioeconomic determinants. Organizing as a response to their declining circumstances is compounded by variables of poverty, mistrust, lack of political participation, cleavages within their respective ethnic groups, and by how they are further marginalized within the Canadian state.
Blacks or African Canadians as they will also be referred to here are no longer resolute about their goals and objectives in an era of vaulting ethnic competition and deliberate community building. Newer Canadian immigrant communities have found the way of being culturally distinctive, yet their members have fashioned an approach that is nonthreatening to the national climate of conformity in an era of rightwing political attitudes and me-first economics.
We now see efforts by many ethnicities to retain the best of their traditions and origins. Concomitantly, they are moving forward by embracing and contributing to their adopted country’s resurgent economic growth and development. In Canada, where many of their children are being born, these newer Canadians, some of whose ties also run deep in its historical soil, are creating unprecedented success stories in education, business, commerce and the arts. Synergies such as these fit into the new and improved national model as Canadian elites continue the task of redefining the nation’s aims and ambitions. Canada’s economic success has always been propelled by its external, yet subtle frontier.
Canada pretends to not have imperialistic ambitions. However, because of its resources and financial sectors’ powerbase it has been able to put in place a foreign agenda without any scrutiny due for example to the megalithic size and influence of its banking, investment, and mining sectors; all of which have connections to Trans National Corporations. One only has to take a stroll through Canada’s major cities to observe the extent to which the country’s character is now linked to a well developed relationship with domestic and foreign partners.
It is not by accident that Canada’s financial sector openly carries on high stakes activities for all to see in New York, London and within the European Union. Canadians, aided by the wealth and knowledge of its immigrant population, some of who were attracted to work and live here, and in return receive high end salaries and benefits, are making unprecedented strides within newly defined socioeconomic frameworks.
But mostly people of African descent in Canada are absent from such synergies and opportunities. A look at census statistics, analysis and commentary suggest that with a presence dating to the earlier 1600s, people of African descent still languish on the sidelines as the country has learned to effectively use its human resources to enrich its Gross National Product and further its international ambitions.
Consequently, African Canadians must now play catch up in order to reshape their identities and purposefulness so that they are not placed further afield and left behind as other people advance and contribute to the greater good of the Canadian nation. While racial oppression is still a significant factor in the lives’ of African Canadians, racism is slowly being emptied of its content. Many Canadians ignore its existence or they couldn’t careless about its effects in a period when so many members of the lower white working-class are struggling to make ends meet. Some will say skin colour and how it shapes the Canadian landscape have little or no efficacy amidst the plethora of cultures now existing and doing well in the nation.
Of course it is important to avoid generalizations, because sufferance is present in all Canadian communities. But, as the Conference Board of Canada pointed out in a 2004 report: by the second generation visible minorities earn comparable salaries to other Canadians. The exception is black men, “who remain disadvantaged to the rest of Canada, even past the second generation.” The thorny question remains: Why is it, as others find milk and honey so many black males are not fulfilling their dreams in Canada?
Growing numbers of African Canadians are looking beyond the burdensome issue of racism in Canada. There is no denying it exists. While skin colour remains a feature of racial identity, who gets the jobs, and eats well, convince younger Blacks they must prudently make their mark in a world of people rushing purposefully into the future. In some cases they are the first ones in their families to have acquired skills learned from the rigors of education. And they too are familiar with social media and display capabilities in advanced technologies. Although they understand race still matters, nonetheless, in order to move ahead, they connect with broader economic and sociopolitical networks.
The jobs they seek are not necessarily in the same city they grew up in, nor are future employment opportunities being reserved for them in Canada. Residency, as younger Canadians understand can no longer be considered as a vital part of one’s citizenship and patriotism. For increasingly education, work and survival may require braving pursuits in far off places. This amounts to a brain drain among the black population that is now even more of a popular practice than it was before the 1960s.
The Canada-US border for several hundred years was indeed a porous entity for black Canadians. If they couldn’t earn a living on the northern side of the border, they moved hither towards cities in the northern US in search of work and refuge. In fact, this movement was called: “going beyond the line.” Meaning: setting out for destinations south of the 49th-parallel.
After World War II, the growth in the Canadian economy and greater opportunities may have made this practice less common. But within the past two decades more and more people of African descent, even ones who entered the country as immigrants, at some point have set their sights on the US. Globalization has added to this dimension, and younger Blacks in moving beyond the barriers of language and culture are putting their universal talents into practice by searching internationally for employment, business opportunities and peace of mind.
The issues described above are dramatically affecting many people in Canada’s black population where there is great debate, uncertainty and the search for a way forward. However, the rethinking and desire for change have not as yet moved beyond parochial discussions and bewilderment. These circumstances are also affected by a damaged image in the public’s mind brought on by what at times appears to be over media reportings of black youth violence, higher school dropout rates, the propensity of police services to racially profile people of African descent, and the unapologetic position of political leaders to happily steer clear of black people in Canada. Black people to their chagrin are treated like pariahs and are compared to other ethnic groups who on the surface are fitting into the mould Canadians like, of: hearing no evil, seeing no evil and doing no evil.
There is in Canada a peculiar cautiousness when it comes to Blacks that allows whites to avoid being cast in the same breath as Americans with its problems of racism. Canadians have successfully employed an approach to Blacks in their midst of, “do nothing to help them; and for God’s sake, do nothing to outwardly hurt them.” Such neglect and injury have meant that black leaders in more recent memory have had to be cautious in how they call attention to problems plaguing the people they claim to represent. Too loud a clarion call results in recrimination from the general public and castigation in the media.
Being affected by the tragedy of the lone wolf metaphor has served to isolate people of African descent at a time when responses to sociological problems must be addressed and societal solutions found. In the wild when the lone wolf is ostracized and separated from the pack, it is just a matter of time before tragic circumstances set in. This is already being observed and spoken about by many Blacks. One person was overheard to say: “I heard of the shooting on TV and just before the shooter’s picture was displayed, I put my hands over my eyes, and hoped it wasn’t someone black.” Unfortunately, in such cases, the general impression is it is Blacks, and mainly black youth perpetrating such crimes. In turn, irrespective of whether this is correct or not, many of them feel a sense of shame and remorse.
Challenges, recriminations, frustrations, underemployment and ineffective leadership are issues affecting some, maybe, even many people of African descent in Canada. The state of affairs is compounded by a lack of solutions and feelings of isolation as the rest of the country seemingly goes about its business. An Internet search where there are many related results support the perception about black crime and youth gangs. These are popular topics for graduate students and professors who can document the associated problems but have yet to provide tangible solutions to what they perceive are the ills black people face in Canada. Sadly, the aforementioned has spawned not only an intellectual curiosity, but is becoming a primary form of employment for people in need of work.
Black mothers too find themselves being subjected to the brunt of the blame. “Why don’t they take better care of their children?” some people ask. Underemployment and poverty are issues some of them are saddled with. But so too was how they were erroneously castigated for being welfare cheats in the 1980s; then tarred and feathered. No one is taking the time to respond to such damaging points of view: No one dares ask: Why is it that in the mid-1990s, the Ontario Provincial Conservative Government of Mike Harris was allowed to introduce dangerous and regressive policies, all in the name of placating the anger of the white male electorate. Some of these policies had a huge impact on poor and black people
The effects of Harris’ politics of spite are still being played out in 2011? Why is it that so many black youth are not responding to school curricula? Why did Harris disband procedures within the Ministry of Education and Training that after significant taxpayer investment dollars were working for disadvantaged school learners? Why are so many black youth unable to find part time jobs to help support themselves? And, why while on the surface, at least numerically, it appears more of them are entering postsecondary institutions, but if they manage to graduate, they cannot find suitable work to begin building a quality of life that will sustain them, improve the life chances of their children, and allow their families to enter the middle-class?
So it is that these are some of the challenges affecting African-Canadians. They are not insurmountable, but are ones requiring the responses of innovators and forward thinkers who have been schooled in the current moment of change and know how. These new leaders must also be wily for the political and economic systems in Canada are testaments to patronage and selfishness and require not just technical abilities to deal with the gate keepers, but the Wisdom of Solomon to move beyond those gates into the inner sanctums of power.
Paradoxically, as African-Canadians become better educated, in some cases more affluent, their organizations and status are even more fragile and regressive. This is likely the result of an historic link between their advancement and activism. In that, activism is out of favour and no longer delivers the results it once did.
According to some in the media who sway public opinion we now live in the age of a post-racial society. This pipe dream provides the rationale for making it all the more necessary to shun activism and strident social welfare community development activities. In other words, the intention is to silent those black leaders who speak out. In the past, Blacks in Canada having challenged the status quo and in being reported on in the media know the cost of being threatened with job loss, or being subjected to police harassment. Ironic, since when it served their interest the politicians and senior bureaucrats just a short time ago were encouraging ethnic and cultural activists’ responses to the age-old problems of race and poverty. Multiculturalism, the underpinning of such endeavours has certainly fallen out of favour in the halls of Canadian power.
Progress means: an old dog must learn new tricks or step aside to allow those with the capabilities and energy to assume greater responsibility. Older leaders should be proud of having done their jobs, but moving forward requires a progressive black agenda. Yet too few people are willing to give of their time and skills in a period when across the board many African Canadians are experiencing diminishing returns.
Their dilemma is the old prejudices that kept them down are still around. Also, their advancements in certain fields like business and the science and technologies are still a work in progress. And, significant numbers of them despite above average educational attainment remain stagnant in below-average jobs and poverty. Suffice it to say here, many African-Canadian youth are frustrated from within and with the broader society that fails to be accepting of them.
Other challenges continue to plague African Canadians. Individual advancement has not as yet translated into collective economic growth. Particular student achievement in post secondary institutions has not spirited the type of positive community outcomes that easily dovetail’s with the “new and improved” Canadian identity. Collaboration among African Canadians has not often created the kinds of results that place any significant emphasis on commercial activities.
Intra and inter-community communications, even with social media, mobile phones, and competition in telephony are weaker now than a generation or so a go when viable national community organizations supporting a common purpose held conferences and consultations and developed focused action plans to forge strategies of moving forward.
Outcomes may have only been partially achieved back then, but it was sufficient to summon the attention of certain, let us say here for the sake of argument, “more forward thinking politicians.” Upward mobility for some while allowing at times greater acceptance in the broader society has not as yet given those lucky members of the African-Canadian populace other than personal advantages. Greater fragmentation has alienated in particular newer sectors of African Canadian communities whose issues and problems are not readily understood by their colleagues. Then again the problems have multiplied as population size has grown immensely.
How then should African Canadians proceed to the next critical stage of their development? The current attitudes of governments at all levels of the federal system mean that unlike in the 1960s through the early 1990s there is an unwillingness by most politicians and senior bureaucrats to pay attention to the already much-talked about grievances of why African Canadians are often left at the starting blocks. And the politicians who boast of sharing friendships with senior members of what they still politely call “the black communities” have done nothing to advocate at cabinet tables they sit at for the very people they eat and gingerly frolic with.
It is not by accident that mention is made here of the role of politicians and bureaucrats. There is a long history of partnerships with some who had the decency and the temerity to challenge the wrongheadedness so many others displayed toward black people in Canada.
How can one forget the efforts of CCF politician Joe Noseworthy who at times singlehandedly challenged Canada’s racialized immigration policy long before Tim Hudak, soon to be as many think the next premier of Ontario, was born? Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s encouragement of black community initiatives in the 1960s and the 1970s were part of a progressive federal agenda. For that matter, the pernicious steps taken by Mike Harris that set social welfare and education strategies back many decades should be at the forefront of how poor and underprivileged people are affected when politicians acting in the name of narrow interests willing turn their backs on progress.
Without bone fide political advocates, lacking a feasible business or commercial base, with a leadership in crisis and organizations that continue to proliferate and neutralize each other, African Canadians are having a great deal of difficulty defining their problems, finding workable solutions and honest partnerships in the private and public spheres. These developments are the result of many factors. In the hope of encouraging further discussion some of them will be identified below. The youth related dimension to all of this will be commented on in a separate and later blog.
Concept of community
“Black community” is a term used herein, but while license is being taken in that regard, its time as a tangible label for describing groups of black people may be approaching the past tense. At the heart of the matter is the idea that somehow identified people having different grades of the same pigmentation in Canada are connected to what are commonly referred to as black communities. Such a perception is especially problematic since outside a few areas in Nova Scotia one would be hard pressed to find a geographical space that in the classical sense of the term is a functioning black community.
For many years the concept of community had to do with a shared purpose of struggle, staying power and belonging. Its no secret that before Trudeau’s Multiculturalism Policy (1971) Blacks in Canada, irrespective of their times of arrival as slaves, refugees from American slavery, ostracized Jamaican Maroons, Under Ground Rail Road fugitives, immigrants and in the contemporary period black refugees from various forms of oppression in continental Africa, and importantly, those who with the passage of time were and are Canadian born and bred, used and still use “black community” as a protective cover.
Yet even with their ostracism and ill treatment in Canadian society, black community in the sense as we know it in parts of Harlem, many places in the Southern US, was rather the exception than the norm. But it is a term everyone clings to. Black community, increasingly African-Canadian community, fashions a peculiar psychological identity in a sea of white hostility and marginalization. The paradox is however, as their circumstances improved, if only somewhat, most people with black skin preferred integration to permanent existence in identifiably black residential spaces.
In other words, they wished to find acceptance rather than a distinctiveness that would place them in their own recognizable physical spaces. This was aided by the subtleties of Canadian racism which opted for the less egregious lines of demarcations based on race, and more so on economic and social class. So it was that in the Montreal district of Little Burgundy, white people and black people existed together, as they did some time ago in the immigrant receiving Ward and District area in downtown Toronto.
In time more whites moved out of those areas, but others moved in. When African Canadians could afford to, they too moved into neighbourhoods where they lived side by side with whites, commuted to their own churches in the old neighbourhoods and up until several generations ago continued to work mainly in segregated occupations. It is true that even when sharing the same neighbourhoods with white people, Blacks were limited by the social distance used to associate them with “the other.” No wonder then that the sense of community remained as important as it did to them.
The conundrum of race in Canada has affected the growth and development of African Canadians. In a period when attitudes thawed, but were not eliminated altogether, sizeable groups of ethnic minorities with economic and white alliances have precipitated the kind of competition that at first cut has rendered African Canadians unable to keep pace with the growth and development taking place around them. Many of these groups seemingly live in distinctive communities within physical residential spaces. They work, shop and worship quite often in or in adjacent areas to their identifiable neighbourhoods. The advantages they bring to the process in some instances are ethnic homogeneity, economic and religious solidarity. All of which form part of a list of shortcomings that have been the nucleus of a collectivity of weaknesses supposedly displayed by many African Canadians.
It is being suggested here that the energy African Canadians displayed in the immediate postwar period up to the early 1980s targeted civil and human rights issues. Be they matters associated with Canada’s racialized immigration policy or the need for equitable education outcomes for many black students they along with their allies fought for fairer social policies, others too, now rightly enjoyed. But outcomes did not allow for the creation of viable and definable community entities with economic and business girders, or religious or a sense of fellow felling based on more than skin colour to support the kind of respectable identity that is now in fashion in Canada. That African Canadians are finding themselves again moving in the direction of the back of the bus has also to do with the brand of leadership many of them continue to find attractive.
Leadership
When it is necessary to cry out for changes to discriminatory policies the cause is served if the leaders have amplified voices to summon the attention of regressive and finicky politicians and decision makers. But if the issue of concern is business loans, tone of voice to gain the attention of bankers has to be sedate and a different strategy of engagement is required. In the past techniques and strategies employed by many members of the African-Canadian leadership were more fitting as a response to social issues.
The Canadian mood as indicated at the outset has changed. Black leaders need to adeptly keep pace both stylistically and/or substantively with the times, adjust faster and develop appropriate strategies for the pressing needs of African Canadians. Exceptions abound in places like Nova Scotia where a dynamic African-Canadian leadership sought out accommodations that created some changes for the better in education delivery for black students.
Leadership failures have come about as a result of many challenges African Canadians face because of how they live, survive and are organized in Canada. Over the years, attempts were made to establish self-sustaining and permanently based organizations to meet identified needs; be they, social, economic or otherwise. These organizations like the Home Service Association and the Universal Negro Improvement Association addressing particular agenda items were manifestations that took shape in the prewar era to develop long-term supports by, of and for African Canadians. Along with various religious denominations, the aforementioned worked well for a period of time.
Organizing and Organizations
With the advent of large scale Caribbean immigration in the 1960s a proliferation of organizations representing a spectrum of needs and points of view were established across Canada. While this is not true in all cases, associations emerged that catered to Blacks based on their status and idiosyncrasies. These types of splits encouraged cleavages, made unity less achievable and created divisions determined by whether or not members were Canadian or foreign born. Recognition of this problem summoned a number of forward thinking people to eagerly search for plausible solutions.
When the National Black Coalition of Canada (NBCC) was founded in the 1960s its existence provided the opportunity many people hoped would lead to the collective resolution of issues plaguing Blacks in Canada, irrespective of their country of origin, or their members’ political persuasion. The NBCC did not last, and organizations became even more fragmented along parochial lines: The National Council of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations in Canada, and similar ones for Trinidad and Barbados defined issues of concern for their members on the basis of immigrant experiences for example.
What is known, but has not been achieved is that community development goes hand-in-hand with leadership and organizations’ viability and stability. However, rather than fewer organizations, many more of them were formed and as they mushroomed their cross purpose missions were made more unachievable. The possibility of fresh ideas being infused into existing visions was made less likely as youth and young adults were shutout or sidelined from the process. These entities were and still are egocentric and the non-ending bickering among members have often turned them into dog and pony shows.
Disorganization has affected the desire by many African Canadians to become a persuasive group of voters politicians would have to reckon with. An example of this is how black people responded to the May 2011 federal election which from anecdotal responses suggests they were less organized and more so as part of religious groups. However, the actual size of the African-Canadian church population, how its denominations are divided and which political parties they support are yet to be determined.
Political impotence has had a debilitating effect when issues like youth violence are addressed. A few years ago, so grim were the circumstances where black youth and guns and violence were concerned that it was necessary at costs beyond the economic capacity of local organizations to bring to Toronto an African-American leader as a consultant so he could suggest effective ways of addressing the matter. Soon after a number of studies on the subject of youth violence were supported and undertaken at the province of Ontario the city of Toronto levels including, Roy McMurtry and Alvin Curling’s Roots of Youth Violence Report. After completion this report like many others before were shelved. The problems such reports were supposed to address have only worsened.
Weak leadership along with undermanaged and poorly financed organizations have allowed others to subvert the African Canadian agenda, all in the name of taking on attractive issues that enhance out-of community vested interests, bottom lines and credibility. Additionally, such a vacuum has had the effect of precipitating ineffective responses to local issues in cities like Montreal and Toronto where youth problems should urgently be addressed.
The situation is made worse because mismanaged organizations and ineffective leaders play into the hands of the status quo which had hoped for such a development. Now, it is all too common for other people to decide who they will work with, or stretching the mark somewhat, they determine who the credible African-Canadian leaders are to be appointed or the ones to be invited to sit at the table during consultations and deliberations.
African Canadian Agendae Development
An historic fear of many African Canadians is to be not in control of issues they deem as important to their community. This has been extended to an unwillingness to readily speak publicly about problems associated with their communities. As a consequence, anyone publicly discussing troubling matters is criticized for not being sensitive and cautious. “Airing the community’s linen in public” provokes swift and strong reactions.
Possibly this has to do with suspicions of the old style of leadership whereby it suited the handful of picked leaders to be the ones articulating the problems to the ruling elites. This meant they had to be in control of the local agenda. But in a period when African Canadians are among the most studied and written about groups in Canada, many people existing outside black “communities” are already more knowledgeable about the societal and sociological issues affecting them; any pretensions therefore of the need for an existing information firewall is mere folly.
Disguising the issues discourages serious consideration about which strategies should be employed and encourages a lack of critical thinking and transparency in an era when full disclosure serves everyone’s interest. A lack of open and democratic discussions have allowed others to define and redefine the black agendae and have resulted in greater polarization and lack of trust which causes an aversion for tolerating differing points of view. This “them and us” divide is encouraging the disunity African Canadians so willingly wish to avoid.
Them and Us Divide
Since the 1980s many more continental Africans and people of African descent from elsewhere in the world moved to Canada. Some of their issues may be different than those ones affecting earlier arrivals or black people born in Canada. An outcome of this is an existence of more than a modicum of distrust between these divergent groups. Misunderstandings have developed that are alienating all parties. On issues like education such divergence of opinion has meant pursuing differing strategies even when a common approach would be more effective. Furthermore, the newer arrivals have not always been able to benefit from the experiences of those who came earlier or were born in Canada.
While this schism benefits some people wishing to foment disunity among African Canadians, it does little to encourage any understanding, cultural sharing, supporting each other’s concerns and creating an effective front to meet the challenges internally and ones from the broader community.
An important next step
The above are but a few examples. The commentary is meant to stimulate further discussion by all interested parties in the hope of avoiding the hand wringing and fear from taking the necessary next steps. Other issues like the divide between the older and younger African-Canadian populations; effective strategies around child and family services; the routes by which government dollars and patronage reach African-Canadian communities; economic strategies; educational concerns, etc, are among the ones to be added to the agenda.
That is why the lack of effective consultations at the local, regional and national levels remains troubling and could have long term tragic results. As important is how political elites have sidestepped African Canadians. Many of the issues discussed in this document are complicated and are ones fraught with difficulty. Yet, if the African Canadian legacy is to be strengthened, they all need urgent attention.
Solutions maybe found in discussions I’ve heard younger African Canadians engaging in. Older ones meet at funerals or community happenings and are irked by how their communities’ efforts have recently been sidelined. However, the downward swing was in progress in places like Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal even before it was obvious to observers of African-Canadian community developments.
The younger generation of potential African Canadian leaders should step up and fill roles as is occurring in organizations like the Black Business and Professional Association and in its administration of the Harry Jerome Awards function. This does not mean older leaders must retire altogether from community service. They still have meaningful roles to play in advisory capacities and in providing information on institutional memory.
Such a transition is best since the leadership requirement is now more taxing. Persons in positions of authority should fully understand organizational development principles, income generating and fundraising strategies and the dos and don’ts of attracting volunteers with a variety of membership recruitment, social media, computer and other technological skills. The effective administering of an organization has moved way beyond calling a meeting and ensuring minutes are recorded and kept; or holding another dance to raise funds.
Organizations must be proactive and need members with the capabilities of building alliances to ensure survival and viability. Within the past generation and at the expense of other social and human considerations the world has become overtly and apologetically business oriented. While the latter remains important to the overall health of communities and society in general, an organization is about business, as is the people and/or community it serves. By failing to consider what appears above courts further failure.
Personal Note
The writer is mindful of how difficult the path forward for Blacks in Canada is. As has already been stated, they are at their crossroads. So too was the case in 1976 when I undertook to pen an anecdotal study entitled: A further investigation into the problems facing black youth in Toronto. It had been encouraged by my mentors at the time, but not everyone liked it.
Claims were made that the matters discussed and the recommendations made in it could not happen, and were too far fetched. A city politician thought it best to let me know if developments such I predicted ever occurred, such precipitous events would amount to a serious indictment against Toronto’s black community.
Except for Dr. Wilson Head who had been with the Social Planning Council Metropolitan Toronto, and part of the team that founded the School of Social Work, Atkinson College, York University, and a handful of other people, what I said was mainly ignored.
Where are the facts? How could he say this about our community? On and on went the remonstrations in an era before I had any academic credentials. This is not to intimate that I am any more qualified now than back then to bring attention to the above problems and concerns. But after four decades of service in the name of moving the black agenda forward, I am still unafraid to say what needs to be said.
In closing here is an excerpt from what I said so long ago in the halcyon days when the future still appeared bright:
For too long, we have acted only when it was in our best interest, then it was always the question: How much money will be granted to enable us to solve these problems. Now the grants are nearly all gone or are much harder to obtain. But still so many of our problems remain unsolved; and at the top of our problem list are the many diversified and cancerous problems that face Black Youth.
Seems to me like those events in 1976 sound so much like what is happening in 2011! And the constant is the jury is still out on whether or not lessons have been learned.
©Sheldon Taylor
July 2011
