Strong and unified.
Those are the words that came to mind during Indiana Black Expo Indianapolis Chapter’s “We Are One” forum held at the historic Madame Walker Theatre this week.
Community leaders and concerned citizens gathered to discuss the nationwide outrage over the Florida shooting of Trayvon Martin and the impact it has had on Indianapolis. The forum was also designed to develop solutions to prevent our local youth from ending up in Martin’s situation.
It was an honor to serve as a panelist for this event with distinguished individuals from the civic, education, faith and youth arenas of our community. The youngest panelist, Robert Sherrell, an eloquent 17-year-old Arsenal Tech High School student, summed up the event’s focus perfectly.
“This is not about race, but about justice,” Sherrell said. “It is about the fact that there are two sides to this story and one person (George Zimmerman) is alive to tell his side of it, while the other person (Trayvon Martin) is not.”
Following statements from the panel, we received wonderful questions on related issues from our audience.
Together, we considered a range of solutions involving greater involvement from adults as mentors of youth, more intervention from faith-based groups in their neighborhoods, restoration of the strong, united African-American family to a place of prominence in our community and fighting for more positive portrayals of young Black males in the media.
All in attendance seemed to agree that it is important for states to modify the dangerous “Stand Your Ground” or “Castle Doctrine” laws, which give people discretion in deciding if deadly force should be used against someone they believe is a suspicious looking person, even if the individual is not clearly a threat.
“The guidelines of these laws are too loosely defined,” said Tanya Bell, IBE’s president.
Hopefully, influential individuals who attended the forum will pass this sentiment on to our state legislators, who can propose necessary changes to the laws.
Unfortunately, time did not permit us to get to the bottom line solution of preventing cases like Martin’s death, which is addressing the rights of so-called “crime watch” or “neighborhood watch” leaders, which Zimmerman claimed to be.
Last month the Recorder published an article about Indianapolis crime watch organizations, and a lady with one watch group told me “you’d be surprised to see who carries a gun. I’ve seen some old ladies who know how to shoot!”
I’m all for citizens arming themselves for protection (see below) in case a criminal enters their home. The issue, however, is that armed crime watch leaders/volunteers must be trained on how to deal with people spotted outside their homes on the streets.
Even more important, they must also work closely with police in planning, and should be instructed to contact authorities if they see a suspicious person on their street, instead of taking matters into their own hands and chasing the person.
IBE promises to release action steps that can be taken as a result of this, and pledges to host more discussions in the future. It, and all those who participated this week, should be commended for a job well done.
Real Black Power
During the course of the forum, an audience member boldly asked if African-Americans should launch an armed struggle. Some cheers and some gasps came from the audience when I suggested that such an abortive, Nat Turner-style effort would not be feasible.
I hope I’m wrong about this, but the “gasps” came from a few who seemed to advocate armed conflict against racists or the government. The word “revolution” was mentioned several times. Perhaps they thought I felt our people should be defenseless.
To the contrary, I’m all for self-defense, whether a threat is domestic, foreign or from Mars. The question is, “against whom and for what purpose?” For a “race war” that could or could not happen? Against a government that could or could not go rogue?
If we are to arm ourselves against anyone, it should be against the criminals on our streets who reject rehabilitation. If someone breaks into your home or business, or tries to carjack you, they need to know that it could be their last attempted crime.
A barbershop near the Recorder that had to close after being burglarized three times is among businesses and homes that have felt the pinch of crime. Also, Indiana has one of the highest rates of sexual assault against women. Therefore, it is prudent for citizens to be able to defend themselves, if not with a licensed firearm then something non-lethal such as pepper spray. Our police do well responding to crimes, but they usually are called after a crime has been committed, so we must be ready.
In the meantime, some intelligent, well-intentioned people in our community still believe Black Power is an armed struggle.
First, it must be noted that throughout the 20th century many self-described revolutionaries, regardless of ideology and culture, discovered the same harsh truth: their movement doesn’t amount to much if it can’t lift their people out of poverty and debt.
The late great James Brown defined the true definition of Black Power. During a concert in April, 1968, as cities across the country erupted in flames over the senseless murder of Martin Luther King Jr., Brown said, “You can’t accomplish anything by blowing up, burning up, stealing and looting. The real answer to race problems in this country is education, not burning and killing. Be ready. Be qualified. Own something. Be somebody. That’s Black power.”
I’d like to add an updated amendment to the Godfather’s sentiments, “Properly educating our children so that they can qualify for skilled jobs in the new economy … that’s Black Power. Reducing the 25 percent unemployment rate among local Black men so they can provide for their families without turning to crime or predatory loans … that’s Black Power. Reaching out to ex-offenders so that they can stay out of the justice system … that’s Black Power. Educating families on preventative diseases so that health disparities will be reduced … that’s Black Power.
Becoming an entrepreneur so that you can contribute to the development of your community and not be the “last one hired and first one fired” … that’s Black Power.
