Call to Oneness in St. Louis
One of the reasons why I am conservative in many of my beliefs is that the empirical evidence bears witness to the fact that things happen when people, not government, make them happen.
Oh, government has its place, to be sure. But it must not and never should be the solution for everything. Take crime and poverty, for example. (I know for a fact that we will always have poverty, because the Master Himself, Jesus Christ, said there will always be poor people, but I digress.) Has government—local, state or federal—actually solved these problems over the last 50 years, or made them worse? For the millions of black Americans, the answer is obvious. The “war on poverty,” which has affected black Americans more than most, has been a colossal failure.
Crime and poverty in predominantly black neighborhoods will never be solved—never—as long as the solutions are top-heavy government-mandated “solutions.” The people themselves must get so fed up with their lot that they take matters into their own hands to change for the better.
Conservatives have been saying this for decades, but since we’re mostly white, we’re ignored. (Seriously.) But almost two weeks ago, nearly 20,000 black men in St. Louis joined together and said—shouted—enough!
The “Call to Oneness” campaign, created by the Rev. Dr. F. James Clark, created the campaign to:
“…bring together African American males from all walks of life – the professional, the blue collar, the unemployed, the disenfranchised and the forgotten. The march will culminate a weekend of workshops, panel discussions and informational forums.
“When you are one of the cities which leads the nation in homicides, you don’t have many options in terms of thinking about doing something. When we march through north St. Louis, we hope to create a moral climate, we hope to reclaim, through the vehicle of reconciliation, respect for the other and the sanctity of life.”
Here’s the pay-off.
(The picture is lifted from the site linked. Lots more great pictures there from PUB_DEF.)
Thousands of black men marched in North St. Louis, a section of the city which usually makes the news almost every single night with a shooting or murder. This time, the news was about stopping the violence and reclaiming the streets. HUndreds, if not thousands, of women cheered the men on.
BRAVO!!
And here’s some of the next step.
The only people who can help black men solve problems are more black men — not government and not slick politicians.
Tell you another story: when I worked at a brokerage some years ago, we had several successful black men speak to inner city teenagers about becoming a success. Some were employees, others were invited guests. One of the guests was St. Louis American and St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Sylvester Brown, and another gentleman whose name I don’t recall, except he ran (runs?) a construction training center and is an ACORN organizer (save the scorn, this is important).
At this event, the successful black men did something I had never seen before and rarely have seen since—at least, never in the media, which loves victimization and not success. They told the teens (boys and girls) how to be successful AND offered their own hands to help them out. There was no blaming of whitey or “the Man,” no warnings of possible discrimination or prejudice, nothing of the sort. And I really don’t think that was just because the event was held at a largely white bread brokerage, either. These men told the teens, essentially, “You want to succeed in life? Stay off the drugs, stay out of the gangs, stay in school, don’t mess with the police, and most importantly, take my hand and I’ll show you what to do.”
Take my hand.
That’s more powerful than any government program.
And it’s a lesson not just for black youth, but all youth.
Posted by Big Mo
June 11th, 2008 at 8:29 am
The biggest wish I heard when I worked in the projects was, “I want to do something with my life. I don’t want to live here forever.”
But the system (or “The Man” as you called it) doesn’t allow for that. They need the victims to keep their own power.
Great post, Mo!
June 11th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
BigMo,
There is a holiday that is celebrated in some parts of the south and especially in Texas called “Juneteenth” (June 19th)……The story behind the celebration is that some two years after slavery was abolished there were still people enslaved in a lot of places….. on June 19th they were told they were free……now there are theories why this went on so long 1) they weren’t told 2) they knew but were afraid of what was on the other side 3) they were comfortable in their enslavement 4) they had never seen a free black person so they didn’t know it could be achieved….. Funny thing about poverty if you don’t know anything else or have never seen anything else you can become very comfortable with it…. it becomes your way of life…….I am sure you have heard many people say “We were dirt poor growing up but we never knew it”…….. You speak of the successful black men who spoke the youth…I can tell you from experience probably the biggest influence on those kids over and above anything they said was just seeing successful Black men in the flesh and knowing they exist…….I here a lot from the conservatives or shall I say “typical white people” that Obama is going to bring this country to ruin with his policies and programs…….Obama is just one man one president and if the policies and ideas of one president could bring this country to ruin then it would have happened a long time ago…..and you diminish the accomplishments of our founding fathers who put together a system/government to prevent that from happening…….More than all of the marches,,, more than all of the government programs…..more than all of the speeches…..electing a Black man to the White house will influence people of all races in America….saying to them “see you can do this too”….
Obama in ‘08…Just Because
June 11th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
…..electing a Black man to the White house will influence people of all races in America….saying to them “see you can do this too”….
Obama in ‘08…Just Because
Meaningless fuzzy feel goodism, if all obammy wants to do is extend and inhance the welfare state. Where is the incentive for the poverty pimps to leave the reservation??
June 11th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
They could have been doing that for awhile, you know, instead of trying to elect someone who is really unqualified to lead the nation.
However, it’s okay, I’m really looking forward to an Obama presidency. Nothing like reminding people why Jimmy Carter wasn’t reelected than putting someone in office who is going to repeat the same mistakes.
June 11th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Bruce – Juneteenth is certainly a big thing.
And on one level, I actually do agree with you about Obama becoming president.
Used to be in this country that we could say “anyone can become president.” Of course, that was true only for some people, and increasingly lately, it’s seemed like only rich people can become president, but if Obama wins, it will be historic and that group of men who can get to the big chair will have expanded to include rich white AND black men. (Sorry, ladies, not yet.)
And you’re right, seeing successful black men probably had an even greater impact than the actual words on those teens. None of the men were rappers or athletes, but businessmen and a respected journalist.
I have heard “we were dirt poor but never knew it” because I’ve been there. I wore ’70s clothes in the ’80s, if that gives you an idea of how poor we were.
And writing this post has jogged my memory about one of those men at that brokerage. He’s no longer in that business. God had another calling for him, and he’s now a minister in Ohio. I’ll have to look him up. Had one of the more powerful testimonies of anyone I’ve ever met.
June 11th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Bruce,
To set the record straight, It took a while for anyone in Texas to find out the civil war was over.
Nobody knew the date for some time.
June 12th, 2008 at 11:08 am
>>To set the record straight, It took a while for anyone in Texas to find out the civil war was over.>>
We forget about that – how difficult communications were in those days. Young men went to war and their families never heard from them again. They went west and maybe a couple of years later, they’d get news – or not. “On your own” in a way we can hardly understand these days.
Bruce…
I agree with much of your comment…but not this part:
>>Obama is just one man one president and if the policies and ideas of one president could bring this country to ruin then it would have happened a long time ago…..and you diminish the accomplishments of our founding fathers who put together a system/government to prevent that from happening>>
I disagree because it appears that the Congress will also be Democratic. Give them a pres who will sign up for whatever they pass, and we’re in trouble. If you believe that socialism is a good thing, then you will disagree with me. I happen to think that socialism has never worked and don’t want to see us going down that road.