There are a lot of issues currently plaguing the Black community nationwide and I’ve found through conversations with various people that many are unsure which advocacy cause they should take up next.
During my group conversation with six people earlier this week, four piercing issues came up:
1. The ever-present disconnect between law-enforcement.
2. This year’s Academy Awards “Black-out” where no people of color were nominated for an Oscar, despite the success of several films featuring minorities in prominent roles – both on-screen or behind the scenes.
3. The deteriorating and unhealthy conditions teachers, administrators and students at Detroit Public Schools (DPS) have been subjected to, resulting in a recent “sickout,” where teachers in 88 of the city’s 100-plus schools refused to report to work in an effort to raise awareness.
4. The poisonous water running through taps in Flint, Michigan where the majority of the population are minorities who live below the poverty rate.
“Ugh,” one colleague passionately said as she subconsciously rubbed her finger through her hair.
Another person said he believed “As Black people, we need to focus on one issue at a time, which will increase our chances of seeing improvements more rapidly.”
Well…I understand the frustration of the first person’s comment and I appreciate the second person’s perspective, but my opinion differs from both of theirs.
Now is not the time for Blacks or minorities in general to get frustrated. Nor should we be narrow in our approach to resolving the issues that are entrenched in our communities. The truth is; we can be mad about more than one thing within a single timeframe. We can advocate on a multitude of levels, because we all represent different perspectives and ideals that can each be effective. The issues are vast, but so are we. And because we are so vast, we can really institute true change relative to the four items previously mentioned, as well the dozens of other major issues affecting our communities.
Time has never really been on our side, so thinking singularly will simply not work. It is not effective.
What is effective, however, is the approach we need to take when trying to right the wrongs. The approach is simple, yet monumental: we must be unified.
DPS teachers are a wonderful example of how unity can expose misdeeds on a national level while also working to resolve the problem. Grassroots group, DPS Teachers Fight Back organized the sickout that left more than 47,000 students home.
“We realized that nobody is coming to save us, so we have to save ourselves,” said Lacetia Walker, a DPS instructional specialist.
Now, the country is aware of the deplorable conditions at the Detroit’s largest school district and positive change is expected to occur much sooner than most expected. The unified effort of DPS teachers is what can be attributed to the exposure and ultimate correction of the problems.
The same sense of unity amongst specific elected officials and the community at-large can be accomplished in Flint, Michigan where 100,000 residents were exposed to lead-laced water for an extended period of time. One Michigan doctor, Mona Hanna-Attisha, said the water was so poisonous the damage can literally affect people for generations.
“If you were to put something in a population to keep them down for generation and generations to come, it would be lead,” Hanna-Attisha said. “It’s a well-known, potent neurotoxin. There’s tons of evidence on what lead does to a child, and it is one of the most damning things that you can do to a population. It drops your IQ, it affects your behavior, it’s been linked to criminality, it has multigenerational impacts. There is no safe level of lead in a child.”
Hanna-Attisha’s words are chilling, but certainly true, which is all the more reason we can’t ignore issues like poisonous water, police brutality, or even “Black-outs” at the Oscars.”
We’ve all heard the old adage, united we stand, divided we fall. Now, more than any other time in recent history, we need to be united as we continuously combat the issues in our communities.
