BLACK FUTURE MONTH

I love a provocative title. We just finished with Black History Month. I already spent my two cents on that subject. Now that it's over, I'm all glowing with... something... Well I'm sure a great time was had by all. For what it's worth, I propose that we dedicate at least another full month on BLACK FUTURE. We do indeed have a glorious history that needs to be celebrated, respected, revered, and learned from, but I shudder to think of a Black Future if we continue along the path we now collectively traverse. More on this soon...

This is just one of the ideas I got after reading some very interesting material on Black leadership, Black Radicalism, and Black Political Movements. Over on Black Agenda Report is a continuation of the discussion on Black leadership, politics, and the State of Black America. Linked to that is an article called Why Black Radical Politics Has Failed, perhaps the most coherent analysis of the rise and fall of the Black Empowerment Era that I have ever heard. I have often tried to grasp exactly where we went wrong, to so thoroughly waste the momentum that culminated in the Civil Rights movement. It seems that we got to a point where we were obviously winning, and now all of a sudden, there is a general consensus that the State of Black America is approaching critical condition, with all of the negative indicators rising to catastrophic levels.

Also this letter regarding the Black Radical Congress from 1998 is well worth a read, as it speaks directly to the failure of leadership and philosophy after the apparent success of the Radical movements and state of mind that peaked in the 60's.