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photo by steed media service
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W.E.B. DuBois first postulated the theory and hope that
the educated “Talented Tenth” of blacks would lift the
entire race in the early part of the 20th century. To critics
who pointed out that majority of the black race fell into
the “death, disease and crime” subset, DuBois countered,
“Of course they are the rule, because a silly nation made
them the rule: Because for three long centuries this people
lynched Negroes who dared to be brave, raped black
women who dared to be virtuous, crushed dark-hued youth
who dared to be ambitious. But not even this was able to
crush all manhood and chastity and aspiration from black
folk. A saving remnant continually survives and persists,
continually aspires, continually shows itself in thrift and
ability and character . . .”
Today, more of our people than ever before have ascended
out of cyclical poverty, violence, disease and criminality,
thanks in large part to education as DuBois theorized so
long ago. While a small percentage of us have achieved
wealth beyond all imagination and built storied institutions,
the majority of our brothers still occupy the lower rungs of
society in every category. We are still mostly poor and undereducated
with limited access to health care, just like
we were a century ago. In 2008, our young men continue
to have high incarceration rates; a fact that bodes ill for
their futures as well as the silly nation that pretends not to
notice.
Black folks are resilient – that much is common knowledge.
In the Motherland we used drums to communicate
with far-flung kinsman. In the New World we used that same
talent along with songs to gather and guide passengers on
the Underground Railroad. We have always possessed the
ability to adjust our response to a hostile environment, and
it’s well past time for a new millennium tune-up. Our children
think the rapid-fire recitation of rhymes delivered over
a staccato beat is much cooler than reading a classic poem
like Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son.” It’s not that innovations
don’t have merit, but in order to understand what is
happening today, you have to have a firm grasp of history.
We can’t divorce ourselves from who we were because
that is part and parcel of who we are today. We are not a
separate people from our ancient predecessors – we are
the continuation of that lineage. We are the people who
persevere, strive and dare to be – and know that we must
be – not 10 or 25 percent and rising, but 100 percenters.
Peace.
