The Black Community
The Black community. We hear this phrase thrown around to describe all Black people living in America. Black people, regardless of your background are lumped into this pot called “the Black Community”. It is an interesting choice of words given the meaning of community.
With recent racial tensions bubbling back to the surface and the surge of gun violence in our inner cities, many are wondering where is the Black community? I think my question is rather what is the Black Community? When I think of the word community, I think of people and systems working collaboratively towards goals that are set with the intention of improving the conditions and the lives of the people that live within the community. I think about people living together, protecting each other, looking out for one another’s interest. When I think of community, I think of a selfless group of people, working for the whole and not the part. When I hear the phrase Black community, I do not see any of the above-mentioned characteristics.
In order for there to be a true community, people have to be on the same page. We need to have common goals and it cannot be about “you the individual, it has to be about “us” the collective”. In order for “we”, the Black people to be a community we need to learn to put “us” first. Our support needs to be unapologetically black. We need to invest in our businesses. We need to be civically engaged so that we can elect individuals who desire and have the ability to build and strengthen communities. There needs to be a strong focus on education, youth development, assistance for senior citizens etc. We need to invest in “us” so that we can get to a place of community. Without this mindset, we are just a bunch of people who happen to live on the same block.
Right now, young men and women are dying each and every day from gun violence. Our future generation is literally being wiped out. Imagine that. Our future generation is being wiped out before they have even had the chance to reach a fraction of their potential. How does this occur within a community? This goes back to my original statement, that there is no Black community. It’s just a group of people living in close proximity, going about their business, trying to make it from one day to the next.
Many will argue that systemic racism has prevented Black people from organizing and building community. Others will say that it is the divisive nature of Black people that keeps us from connecting and growing as a collective. For example, Caribbean versus American, Jamaican versus Haitian, Dominican versus the entire concept of Black. Then we have the haves and the have nots. Northern Black versus Southern Black. The list goes on and on.
Regardless of the merit to these arguments, at the end of the day, in order for Black people to “win”, we need to be a community. We need to be about each other’s business, and we need to be each other’s support systems. If not for us, then for the future generation that is quickly dying before of our eyes. We cannot be Black and proud, and not be our brothers and sisters keeper. We cannot be unapologetically Black, and yet have nothing to say about the gun violence epidemic that is destroying our cities. We cannot seek justice from “the man”, when we have no grace towards one another. Love thy neighbor as you love thyself. In order to become this “Black community”, we need to do better. We need to do better. We NEED to do better. And if you don’t know how to do better, then let’s figure it out, together.