WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?
HOW ONE MILLION PROPERLY FOCUSED BLACK MEN COULD MOVE HISTORY FORWARD...AGAIN
IGNITING A
"MIGHTY CURRENT OF CHANGE"
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| THE FIRST NIAGARA MOVEMENT IN 1905 IN NAGARA FALLS CANADA "THE MIGHTY CURRENT OF CHANGE" |
It is a rare phenomenon for 1,000,000 Black American men to converge in one place with their focus stolen away from the banalities of the day and redirected toward the critical issues of Civil Rights. We are not the world of 50 years ago when strong communities stood ready to follow-up on the speeches and promises of the day. Those gilded leaders of a century and a half ago have nearly all passed away unfortunately without having a robust peoples to pass the torch of freedom to. That torch has long since gone cold and in many ways black peoples have themselves been responsible for the quenching of its fire. That is why a momentary focus is not enough. These are times of crisis for the black community time is far too valuable for a flash in the pan, we need quantifiable results. Commitments must be made, and with them a robust infrastructure to transform those commitments into tangible outcomes. With 1,000,000 men standing by i'd say that infrastructure was a resource just waiting to be set into action.
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| THE 2ND NIAGARA MOVEMENT AT STORER COLLEGE 1906 |
Black Americans have failed to understand how to transform their muscle, mind and spirit into a cumulative, culturally relevant organism that could pick up the torch of freedom igniting it anew. Such an organism would never sleep, it would see and hear and feel everything around it and be poised for a powerful, effective and peaceful response to every challenge. And there have been millions of challenges to the peaceful freedom of black people in America. That Black Americans have survived slavery, mental, physical, social and economic oppression, the poisoning of their communities with drugs, violence and immorality shows that they are tough victims to kill but what morbid truth does it reveal about their persistent assailant?
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| KKK PROTESTING THE 100TH YEAR ANNAVERSARY OF W.E.B. DUBOIS' HISTORIC NIAGRA MOVEMENT OF 1906 AT HISTORIC HBCU STORER COLLEGE HARPER'S FERRY WVA. |
The racial hatred that has troubled Black Americans for over 300 years is quite real. It has never taken a moments breath, it has bided it's time, planned, contrived and premeditated, the deliberate planting of destructive seeds. The game is more like a twisted hunting spree where the prey is an entire community of people who reel in mortal terror as each cultural bomb eventually fractures the foundation of its long-troubled communities to a point of no return. The black community is at the threshold of no-return, It has been pushed to the brink of cultural destruction so much of which has been inflicted by its own hands, Even so there is still a very simple and clear path of escape that a seed of one million men if properly cultivated could grow into a strong, invincible tree bearing fruit as it grew renewing, redoubling and protecting the strength of the black community in America through the organized development of a cohesive social, economic and cultural network. Not a new idea at all, it has been suggested many times before but no one man has ever had either the vision or ability to pull it off!
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| THE WOMEN OF THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT 1905-1906 |
When 1,000,000 Black American men come together their numbers and resources must be creatively exploited. Each man should be asked to sign to a contract requiring him to make regular financial contributions and donations of his personal time and energy to re-build his community. Each man should be asked to sign a contract requiring him to create, support and recruit other black men in a network of community based businesses that have the ability to build and exert their economic and political influence to effect progressive change in government policy and elect government officials who will act in the interest of the community they serve.
Numbers are power. Numbers alone mean nothing one has to understand how to use those numbers in order to get results even if resources are small on an individual basis, properly tweaked the cumulative effect can be monumental. For example, while it is clear that getting a million men to regularly donate money to a national cause a practical solution to keep these men viable when they are unable to be financial would be require a man who is not able to meet his financial responsibility to substitute by donating time, skills or some other valuable resource. A growing organization always has work to be done but not always the financial resources to do it which makes volunteerism an equally valuable resource to money when properly applied to the model. Such an engine can be used to assist distressed minority businesses and to establish banking and global media networks which will give the black community clean alternatives to mainstream media. It will create corporations businesses that will be ready to employ is community and to receive each new crop of collegiate graduates. Imagine a corporate bank of professionals and businesses that could call in to have minor services it could not afford performed pro-bono or at significantly reduced rates by being contributors to the network which would act like a sort of a business, homeowners and personal insurance institution. The mission of such an organization would not be to prove to the world that given an opportunity Black Americans have the ability to affect the national economy as producers in the highest echelons of corporate management, let the world think what it wants as long as there is a viable working solution to the problems of the black community in America and that solution is given birth and fully managed by the black community. Such an organization would focus the vast potential of one million black men in one place.
What you do not do with 1,000,000 Black American men who have gathered in one place to move human history forward is to bore them with self-righteous, vainglorious speeches that everyone has heard 1,000,000 times from 1,000,000 sources, give them a flyer, sell them a t-shirt, a bottle of water, a copy of your brand of street-corner propaganda and then let them dissipate back into the dark interstices of an increasingly racist America without getting a long-term commitment from them and fictionalizing it on paper as a legally binding contract of community service and business development!
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| THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE 1905-1906 NIAGARA MOVEMENT |
Next time, if there is a next time the black community should take time to select and organize responsible, culturally versatile, community leaders with proven, clean civil rights histories to join forces as economic and political thinkers under a single roof and tasked to coordinate an iron-clad community network. This network will create jobs the first second of its inception and continue to grow itself exponentially as it's reputation and portfolio grows. That network must be one that is focused on the immediate issues of Black Americans but is also poised to assist human all human beings in need incorporating the talents of all the marvelous peoples of this earth. It must also work to regenerate or replace dysfunctional think-tanks and institutions that continue to squander valuable resources. This idea is not revolutionary, it is not even novel.Oddly enough it is something that I know each and every one of you reading this article has thought of at some time in your life. Only one factor could prevent this simple dream from happening and that is apathy. Why bother to come to a million man march if you are gong to be apathetic? When 1,000,000 black men stand in the footprints of men and women of all races who came 50 years ago and changed the course of human history they had better be ready to move mountains!
The 20th year anniversary of the Million Man March was hauntingly similar in scope to the Niagara Movement of 1905-1906 spearheaded by W.E.B Dubois almost as if it's scope had been lifted off the pages of Dubois's speech the link to which I have included at the end of this article. History is nothing if not repetitive. Moving forward it is essential that Black Americans give due credit their historical mentors and take necessary pains to evolve the movements authored by their ancestors to suit the current times. History has not always been kind to Black Americans but they must nevertheless dutifully preserve and teach their historical legacy with accuracy and pride. These historical lessons will prepare the black community to move forward emotionally and that dynamic is such a critical requirement for healthy socioeconomic and political progress.
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| HARPER'S FERRY WAS THE SITE OF ABOLITIONIST JOHN BROWN'S ANTISLAVERY PLOT, IT WAS ALSO THE HOME OF THE HBCU STORER COLLEGE AND THE HOME OF THE SECOND NIAGARA MOVEMENT SPEARHEADED BY W.E.B DUBOIS. |
A man who was not consumed with egotism including disdain and hatred for other races, sexes and sexual orientations would have come before 1,000,000 black men with a well-outlined economically feasible plan of immediate action and not just his ego. It is irresponsible to pull so many people from all across this land without a clear and well thought out plan of action with it's engine already running and ready to take on passengers! Once in Washington we needed those 1,000,000 men to make the ultimate, long term commitment by affirming their brotherhood on paper as quantifiable scheduled financial donations including time and service contracts. We already know the economic potential represented by 1,000,000 black men so by Jove lets stop posturing and lets get some good old-fashioned community building together now!
FIN
WRITTEN BY
BIGDADDY BLUES
RESOURCES:
1. THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT SPEECH:
Link: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/niagara-movement-speech/
2. CENTENNIAL ANNAVERSARY OF THE 1906 2ND NIAGARA MOVEMENT
Link: http://travelministry.blogspot.com/2006/09/niagara-movement-harpers-ferry-wv.html
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