That’s good. We just need to keep it up – and get mad enough to change some other things that continue to keep us from not being at our best.
For starters, I’d like to see a number of black folks – especially young black males – get so angry at the fact that for-profit prison companies have found a way to become wealthy by capitalizing on their criminality that they vow to stop becoming loyal customers of the criminal justice system.
I’d like to see them save the anger at the person who slighted or disrespected them for the prison profiteers who are waiting to make money off them the minute they shoot, stab or otherwise assault whoever insulted them.
I’d like to see young black people get ticked off at their peers or anyone else, for that matter, who believe that education is only something that whites can succeed at – an idea that will keep them stuck at the bottom rungs of society either in low-wage jobs or dependency on the system, or worse, in and out of an incarceration system designed to profit off their own low expectations.
I’d also like to see us be bold enough to demand more from the Obama administration. Many black people understood that he couldn’t exactly morph into H. Rap Brown during his first term, but were it not for black voters – especially those in Ohio and the ones who waited until the wee morning hours to vote in Florida – Obama would be headed back to Chicago this month.
So we shouldn’t be timid about pressing him in addressing our issues – namely unemployment and education – and he shouldn’t shy away from addressing them.
It’s been said that one of the enduring lessons of the 2012 presidential election was the changing demographics, especially when it came to the rise of the Latino vote. But another lesson of that election that the Pew research reveals, or for me, at least reinforces, is that black people still wield significant power at the ballot box.
It also tells me that if we can channel our anger to control our political destinies – something that we need to repeat during the 2014 midterm elections – we can also find a way to direct our angst toward controlling our economic and educational destinies, too.
And this year is as good a time as ever to start doing that.
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Tonyaa Weathersbee is an award-winning columnist who is based in Jacksonville, Fla. Follow her at tonyaajw@twitter. Or visit her webpage and blog, “Tonyaa’s Take,” at www.tonyaajweathersbee.com.
Candy and Chris please understand that the president is a politicion and he knows that if his party wants our continued support they will support us politically.
Also, I think whoever wrote this article should be ashamed of themselfs. According to this author you would believe that the election was black against white when that wasn’t the case.
A note to the Author (Tonyaa Weathersbee) you do more damage to the civil rights cause. You make it appear that is was whites against black. It wasn’t.! From your article one may be lead to believe that all whites hate blacks and work deligently against us. They don’t! And you will lead young black men to possibly act our towards whites instead of living peacefully beside our neibhors. Tonyaa you are the one who is racist. You need to realize this and correct yourself. BAW shouldn’t publish trash from you.
How can we call ourselfs students of Dr. Kings work when we are the ones who judge people by the color of their skin ( or lack thereof). How can we expect their to be racial justice in this country and break down the stereotypes when all we do is continually point out that we are different.
We go out their demanding respect when respect in earned not taken. Respect taken is not respect at all but fear. That is prison culture not the culture of good decient people.
This political race wasn’t about heritage but rather about ideals and how to manage a country. Nothing else. I have friends who truley believe that the T-party is a bunch of evil racist. And when I went to their meeting to confront them, to give them another point of view not a single one of them treated me with disrespect. Not a single racist coudle be found in that room.
Tonyaa the racism is a cancer and it is eating away at your soul. Please do some self-reflection before you damage Dr. Kings dream any furthur.
” Obama don’t care about y’all. No matter, he got what he needed from the black community, played you like a fiddle. Blacks won’t be any better off than they were before Obama was elected the first time.”
You got that right!!!! Most Black people wanted a “Black” president and a “symbol.”
I think it’s funny that you think Obama gives a crap about black people while he’s pushing for Planned Parenthood to set up shop in black communities. Obama is a huge supporter of abortion and everybody knows blacks have the highest abortion rates. Additionally, he should be promoting strong families, moms and dads raising their kids together, offering programs to help men and women become strong families. Instead, he promotes gay marriage. Obama don’t care about y’all. No matter, he got what he needed from the black community, played you like a fiddle. Blacks won’t be any better off than they were before Obama was elected the first time.
Just STFU! smh