Our Bonds Are Broken: Why Communities of Color Keep Suffering
2. Skanky Issues With “Black Leadership”
PROBLEM: Nowadays, being a “black leader” is like a fad. In our generation, leaders don’t have to rally people who are suffering or do anything to help those in need! All they need to do is polish their teeth and smile for the cable news cameras. Are you sick of it yet? The number of big words in our so-called leaders’ vocabulary and their “analyses-ma-ficationsss” are really great…really great—for them. But, communities of color need people who can say to them directly: we’re going to teach you how to get out of debt for the next 30 days. Then, we’re going to monitor your progress, create benchmarks/milestones, and come back and check in on you every 30 days after. We need voices that say, we’re going to show you how to coalesce and build wealth. We’re going to show you how to speak to children in empowering ways. We’re going to join forces and bring you resources. Who is leading this charge? Who is on the side of the people?!
SOLUTION: Reward our leaders at home, first of all. If there is a man or woman in our very own midst, who is taking better care of us than any skanky politician or pundit ever could, we need to celebrate him or her. On a larger scale, we need to start voicing our needs and allowing only those who are effective to represent us. We need to groom young men and women to not only be great at controlling video games, but even better at controlling the outcomes of their lives. Leadership begins at home. We need to be the foremost leaders of our very own selves.
