Another State of Black America Fifty years after Brown and where are we going? By Shabaka Tecumseh As I sit in my little room in southern Virginia reading a newspaper, I can’t help but fight that sinking feeling that pervades my spirit. Reviewing the pages of the newspaper, I see Black folk involved in almost every walk of life that this culture has to offer. We have Puffy on Broadway, Magic pushing home loans, The Links offering ways to “handle your money,” and of course the million-dollar sports hero. I would say if the criteria for judging our success fifty years after Brown is media-driven, we are doing pretty damn good. But wait! I recently read somewhere that half the Black men in New York between the ages of 16 and 64 were unemployed. Given the upward mobility portrayed and virtues of integration shown in the media, I would say some of us got left behind. I won’t ask the obvious question of why many of us are left behind. Instead I will ask the question: Where are those of us portrayed in the media and elsewhere as a “success” or seeking “success” going? What image of “Black America” do we want to foster? For that matter, what is “Black America?” Is our goal to have all people of African descent become educated and enjoy the materialism America has to offer? Is our goal to have every African American use “correct” English or some other accepted form of Euro-culture, or will we make exception for the undereducated? Do we use our collective state to play victim? What are our goals as a people? I recently read that in Prince Georges County, Maryland, the Blacks who have achieved some semblance of upward mobility are thinking about selling their homes because those “other” Blacks from D.C. are now invading their space and God forbid if property values decline. They even limited the number of basketball courts in a recreation area so those “other” Blacks from D.C. won’t disturb their serenity or rob their homes. ____________________________ Is our goal to have every African American use “correct” English or some other accepted form of Euro-culture, or will we make exception for the undereducated? ____________________________ I think we must come to grips, as a people, with our attitude and leave the hypocrisy behind. We are better than that and I know it. Let’s just admit that those of us who are jockeying for position will take advantage of the legacy of being Black in America. However, once we have used this slight advantage, i.e. affirmative action, White folks’ guilt, and the “Black” vote, being Black no longer offers us any utility, so psychologically, if not physically, off to mainstream America we go. In my mind this is OK if that’s what you feel is right as an individual, but let’s not be hypocritical in doing so. If you don’t want anything to do with “certain” Black folk, whether in the inner cities or in Yorktown, let it be known; forget communal ideas. Tell those other Blacks they must embrace American values, join us, or they are on their own. (Except when I need to be Black.) In the meantime, stop pimping Blackness. As Franz Fanon said, the only choice for a Black person is to become White. But White, just like Black, is a state of mind, of privilege and property. The only difference between the two is Blacks can never fully join the White-skinned club and thereby enjoy a true feeling of liberation. We will never know this feeling of liberation because ideologically we embrace that which we are not, can never be, that which can’t liberate us rationalizing being White with Black skin. At least those “inner city” Blacks are forced to embrace the legacy of Blackness: poverty, nihilism, and the realization of some form of mental enslavement. However, for me the saddest part of all is that those of us who can offer a plan for our liberation, as a people, are silenced in favor of those on the pages of the media, both Black and White, pushing the virtues of “making it.” Shabaka Tecumseh was born in Washington, D.C. and eventually traveled the world in search of knowledge. "I think I have been fortunate enough to scratch the surface and 'express myself' with my writings and poetry. My goal is to leave something for those who come behind to build on, so humanity will not continue to be homo-sheepians.” This website: Copyright © 2004 Dream World Media, LLC. / Urban Mozaik Magazine. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in Urban Mozaik Magazine are not necessarily those of Urban Mozaik Magazine and the publisher cannot be held responsible for them. This website/publication, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.