It is my opinion that America is within a state of chaos and will continue into a further chaotic descent until America admits it's racist foundation and denounce those individuals who perpetuated the institution of slavery, rape, warfare, colonization, theft and Genocide against people and nations of color from the time of the inception of this nation to the very present, as illustrated by the industrial prison complex and unjust warfare against nations of color. Chaos clearly manifest itself within the social disorganization that has rendered many of America's inner cities virtually inhabitable. The perpetual state of chaos that has become customary within our day to day living has disproportionately rendered individuals now subscribing to the ascribed status of minority, lacking political and economic power, amongst the poorest, most unhealthy, and lacking funding and access to adequate formal education. This perpetual state of chaos most blatantly manifest itself within the deterioration of the family structure within communities historically victimized by America's racist agenda which has historically been fueled by America's political mandates.
Just as America denounced and fought against the atrocities committed by the likes of Adolph Hitler, standing in solidarity with the global Jewish community and the establishment of a Jewish state, America must stand in opposition to the proliferation of the mythology surrounding her conception and those forefathers who committed atrocities far worst than anything Hitler could have ever conceived. Only when America begins to silence those voices that has historically drowned out the cries, pleas, bargains, negotiations and even threats made by the likes of Fannie Lou Hamer,W.E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, A Phillip Randolph, Elijah Muhammad, Carter G. Woodson, Angela Davis, and any other voice that has fought to extinguish the fire of the lie of white supremacy, may the notion of community then exist.
In preponderance of the notion of chaos, it is vital to express the lens by which I am defining the term. William Julius Wilson often speaks of the levels of social disorganization existing within urban communities, especially African-American communities. For the sake of this paper, I equate chaos to Wilson's notion of social disorganization. Social organization or a lack thereof, refers to the control individuals have over their own community, bringing into fruition common goals and aspirations shared within that community. Wilson argues that there has been a break down in social organization within impoverished areas suffering from a lack of economic opportunity. This chaotic lack of social organization, has fostered a climate giving birth to crime, gang violence, drug trafficking, and an increase in black male incarceration leading to a fundamental breakdown within the family structure. (Wilson,1996).
The chaotic state of our existence is further illustrated by the industrial prison complex, and the number of black men entangled within. In February of 2010, Michelle Alexander wrote an article in the Huffington Post which shares a title with her book, “The New Jim Crow”. In this article Michelle Alexander stated the fact, “There are more African Americans under correctional control today, in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began” (Alexander,2010). Not only does the incarceration of young black men affect the man himself, it also affects his family in so many negative ways. The criminalization of young black men has withered away a vast amount of the potential political and social energy of the last 2 generations. Before we can once again ask our men to stand as the heads of their households, affirming freedom in the face of injustice, we must first ensure our men are free in the most fundamental sense of the term. We must ensure the next generation of young black men are released from the bondage of unjust incarceration and political persecution. In the event incarceration is warranted, we must be willing and able to facilitate proper rehabilitation, confronting criminal elements utilizing a holistic scope, addressing both societal and personal contributing factors leading to deviance. We must demand justice within all of the legal arenas, from the beat on the street to main street where judicial appointees claim their seat. Only after we have stopped the unjust lost of so many black men into the grips of the industrial prison complex, can we begin to address the many pervasive ills that are affecting the community today.
If we are to ever truly achieve such a notion of community as a product of social organization, it is pertinent to define what such a notion would look like if ever manifested in a tangible way. We have all heard Martin Luther King's “I have a dream” speech, King's speech invoked images of children walking hand in hand together without any inhibition caused by racial stratification. Beyond King's simple imagery of child's play, throughout his short life he spoke of the total empowerment of the Negro people. King's speech to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on August 16th, 1967, “where do we go from here”, he spoke of the 40 million poor black people existing within America suffering within the grips of capitalism, demanding a restructuring of America's economic institutions. King spoke beyond Karl Marx and Marx's short sighted understanding of Communism and human nature, which he critiqued for a failure to consider the individual human existing as a product of distinctions or variations amongst individuals. King proclaimed that America must be reborn again. Within the Christian tradition, to be reborn is to be absolved from a sinful nature based upon an admission of guilt and a sincere request for forgiveness. King said we must move beyond myths of white power, and myths of black power and rest upon a bed of human power.
What is this necessary power King spoke of? In the speech known as King on Black Power, King laid out sources of potential power existing within the black community that has been utilized at a very marginal rate. King referenced the African American labor pool, which at the time served as 20% of the total work force, in comparison to African American's at the time being 10% of the total population. King referenced the consumerism of the African-American community, and how powerful the African American choice of where to spend money, or where not to spend money was. We boar witness to this power in the many economic boycotts enacted throughout the south in direct opposition to Jim Crow and Segregation, which was a legally sanctioned method of separation, barring black and white interactions within the public sphere.
King also referenced the homogeneity of the black political consciousness, and the inherent ability African-American's possessed to mobilize against the myth of white supremacy. When such political mobilization is utilized to elect candidates operating out of love, with the best interest of the African American community in mind, the potential power existing within the African-American communities, especially in the urban north, would have displayed it's democratic potential. In no way was king advocating the exaltation of black power, as a product of diminishing the power of other groups, but he felt that increased black power was and an increase of human power as a collective. King warned that these sources of power must be utilized to promote the notion of community within America.
King's Black power speech failed to consider the latent effects of the post industrial era and how this cultural and economic shift would create a culture lag within African American communities, relegating potential black power near null and void. Many of King's suggestions were contingent upon America's moral fortitude, and a willingness to rectify moral wrongs in the face of mounting pressure. In response, King's love filled mind was met by a hate filled bullet, ascending him into the realm of martyrdom.
King's legacy, alongside the philosophy of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam gave birth to the black power movement as embodied by Stokely Carmichael. In a speech delivered at the 1966 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee conference, Carmichael asserted that America is unable to profess and confess her sinful, racist history because such a confession would serve as a condemnation of self, therefore those individuals who have suffered at the hands of America's racist history must profess that condemnation in the most public and blatant way for all to notice. Carmichael explained how the myth of white supremacy has permeated every facets of existence from the church to the schoolyard. The myth of white supremacy can only be defeated by the installation of black power. Carmichael defined Power as the ability to make ones acts legitimate. Black power has historically been diminished because black's have waited for whites to affirm our language and oppress our flesh. If integration is to exist it must be a 2 way street where whites integrate into black culture as blacks simultaneously integrate into white culture.
Unfortunately, America did not adhere to Carmichael's idea of integration. We live within a time where segregated schools are considered the norm and in many instances worst than the rates of segregation that existed during the Jim Crow Era. According to Gary Orfield and his article entitled, “Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge” which was apart ofThe Civil Rights Project commissioned by UCLA in January 2009,
“Schools in the United States are more segregated today than they have been in more than four decades. Millions of non-white students are locked into “dropout factory” high schools, where huge percentages do not graduate, and few are well prepared for college or a future in the US economy”
Although some may be shocked by the levels of segregation existing within the public school system, it is a direct consequence of the failures of integration. To seek further integration into America's so-called majority society, at the expense of African-American culture, without a mutual reciprocation of integration between whites and blacks, the struggle of our ancestors will be in vain, and in direct contradiction to the definition Carmichael laid out for integration.
We must no longer adhere to the unwritten rule, “when in america, do as white people do.” African Americans and all people of color globally, must reject any so-called leader that will denounce a perspective of truth based upon the experiences of people of color. A prime example of such a denouncement occurred in President Obama's pursuit of America's highest office. Obama attended Trinity Church under the direction of the American war hero, Rev. Jeremiah Wright for many years, and as a product of this affiliation President Obama garnered support and relationships that are inherent without the network of black churches. When footage surfaced of Rev. Wright speaking within a biblical context as to America's fate for its unrepentant acts against nations and individuals of color, reserving God's damnation for such wicked acts, in a political move, Obama denounced Rev. Wright, comparing him to Obama's own elderly White grandmother who at times manifest her racist attitudes in a subconscious way. Obama's rejection of Rev. Jeremiah Wright affirmed and justified the conservative assault on the black church. The Obama and Rev. Wright controversy is the greatest example on the largest scale of the cost of non reciprocated integration, and America's inability and unwillingness to profess, confess and repent for her sins against people of color. Obama's success, and his entire body of work came down to his allegiance to America's racist “black people, get over it” mentality over his allegiance to the very institution that paved the way for his nomination, the black church.
The way Obama handled the Rev. Wright issue was a great political move, and it gained him the White House, yet far too often the black middle class is willing to step away from the masses of the black community, in exchange for a mediocre plight within the margins of white society. Marcus Garvey said, “there is no future for a people who deny their past”. Garvey also said, “any leadership that teaches you to depend upon another race is a leadership that will enslave you.” A mutual reciprocation of integration must be the product of a general understanding, without diminishing the significants of the present ramifications of the lie of white supremacy, that an atrocity like no other was systematically committed against people of color in the establishment of western society, and the establishment of capitalism.
Because nothing is born out of spontaneity there must be some regards for historical wrongs and necessary reparations must be instituted to rectify such wrongs. The government, which is comprised of the people, owe it to those persons who were historically considered less than a natural person, adequate infrastructural development, appropriate education, and measures to prevent further blatant discriminatory practices. An investment in infrastructure development will create/ jobs suitable for individuals lacking a post industrial era education, which will also serve to remedy the ill effects of joblessness. If jobs are created in conjunction with a climate instilling pride within community development, as a product of an agenda specifically catering to the needs of such communities, we will see a strengthening of the family bonds which must be the foundation of community.
The article, “The hidden cost of being African American”, clearly lays out the economic devastation that African- American's have endured. So often we hear individuals say “African-American's must get over slavery and Jim Crow”, yet, we rarely hear any condemnation for the generational accumulation of wealth that still exist as a product of the blood, sweat, and tears of our African/American ancestors euro-centric text books often refer to as slaves. As long as America and the western world circulate currency, and pass down resources and acquisitions that were initially acquired as blood money, from the work of African-Americans, the call for reparations is in order and completely justified.
America's ability to profess and confess her sinful nature, dispensing reparations, is dependent upon her ability to operate from a moral perspective. Carmichael understood America lacked the moral conscience and ability to operate out of morality, therefore she will never be able to evolve into a community with respect to all of her individual parts. Although America's ability to exist as a community is unlikely, like Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael and W.E.B. Dubois I feel there is still an opportunity for a greater community to exist beyond the bounds of America. I feel that the displaced African Diaspora, specifically those Africans displaced as a product of slavery from the continent of Africa into the Western World have an opportunity, and must unite as survivors of the Western slave trade. Just as America's Jewish community advocate on behalf of Israel, and invest financially into the further establishment of Israel, African Americans should invest in nations such as Barbados, and the entire Caribbean diaspora, who in many ways are indistinguishable from the African- American community. Such an investment does not have to entail conflict as seen between Jewish settlers and Palestinian inhabitants. If African Americans invest in Caribbean tourism as a spiritual and historical retreat, with complete admiration for the sovereignty of these nations and the commonalities of our shared ancestry, such an investment can occur without resembling european colonization.
Over the course of Dubois' 95 years upon this earth, he left a vast wealth of knowledge and insight into his gatherings and perceptions pertaining to many issues, especially race, class and society. Dubois' struggle was for the advancement of colored people defeating the grips of racism, as described by the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Dubois reached out to individuals suffering within the margins of oppression throughout the globe. In Dubois' Souls of white folk, he wonders aloud, as to the power structure of the white man and his audacity to impose his oppressive and imperialistic will, not solely upon the American Negro, but brutally on the backs of the Japanese, the Chinese, Latin Americans, the West Indies, etc. Dubois understood that beyond the racial restraints existed two classes, the majority nonwhite world and the white world. Dubois understood that the struggle at its most fundamental bases was the struggle between these 2 distinct groups in a clash for power. Through militarization, the white world acquired power through means such as the division of African Soil and enslavement. Dubois became a siren, an advocate for social organization as a product of knowledge and mobilization of those individuals cast aside and oppressed under white male domination.
Dubois' life ended in Ghana with him creating and developing bonds in a Pan-African establishment of community. If only Dubois and Garvey could have found a mutual respect earlier in life, the unification between Africans existing within the Western Diaspora would have created a community beyond the bounds of America. In my travels to Barbados while speaking with a Christ Church local police officer, he said something I will never forget, “Barbados has the fertile soil, but long ago the white man took all of our seeds, you must bring them back.” Until Africans existing within the western Diaspora unite as the moral conscience of the western world, community within America will never exist.
Bibliography
-Wilson, Williams J. 1996. When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor. New
York, NY: Vintage Books.
-Alexander, Michelle,The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (The New Press, New York 2010)
-W.E.B. Dubois, The Souls of Black Folk 3rd edition (Cambridge: University Press, 1903).
-Gary Orfield, “Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge,” The Civil Rights Project, UCLA, January 2009,
-The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Just as America denounced and fought against the atrocities committed by the likes of Adolph Hitler, standing in solidarity with the global Jewish community and the establishment of a Jewish state, America must stand in opposition to the proliferation of the mythology surrounding her conception and those forefathers who committed atrocities far worst than anything Hitler could have ever conceived. Only when America begins to silence those voices that has historically drowned out the cries, pleas, bargains, negotiations and even threats made by the likes of Fannie Lou Hamer,W.E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, A Phillip Randolph, Elijah Muhammad, Carter G. Woodson, Angela Davis, and any other voice that has fought to extinguish the fire of the lie of white supremacy, may the notion of community then exist.
In preponderance of the notion of chaos, it is vital to express the lens by which I am defining the term. William Julius Wilson often speaks of the levels of social disorganization existing within urban communities, especially African-American communities. For the sake of this paper, I equate chaos to Wilson's notion of social disorganization. Social organization or a lack thereof, refers to the control individuals have over their own community, bringing into fruition common goals and aspirations shared within that community. Wilson argues that there has been a break down in social organization within impoverished areas suffering from a lack of economic opportunity. This chaotic lack of social organization, has fostered a climate giving birth to crime, gang violence, drug trafficking, and an increase in black male incarceration leading to a fundamental breakdown within the family structure. (Wilson,1996).
The chaotic state of our existence is further illustrated by the industrial prison complex, and the number of black men entangled within. In February of 2010, Michelle Alexander wrote an article in the Huffington Post which shares a title with her book, “The New Jim Crow”. In this article Michelle Alexander stated the fact, “There are more African Americans under correctional control today, in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began” (Alexander,2010). Not only does the incarceration of young black men affect the man himself, it also affects his family in so many negative ways. The criminalization of young black men has withered away a vast amount of the potential political and social energy of the last 2 generations. Before we can once again ask our men to stand as the heads of their households, affirming freedom in the face of injustice, we must first ensure our men are free in the most fundamental sense of the term. We must ensure the next generation of young black men are released from the bondage of unjust incarceration and political persecution. In the event incarceration is warranted, we must be willing and able to facilitate proper rehabilitation, confronting criminal elements utilizing a holistic scope, addressing both societal and personal contributing factors leading to deviance. We must demand justice within all of the legal arenas, from the beat on the street to main street where judicial appointees claim their seat. Only after we have stopped the unjust lost of so many black men into the grips of the industrial prison complex, can we begin to address the many pervasive ills that are affecting the community today.
If we are to ever truly achieve such a notion of community as a product of social organization, it is pertinent to define what such a notion would look like if ever manifested in a tangible way. We have all heard Martin Luther King's “I have a dream” speech, King's speech invoked images of children walking hand in hand together without any inhibition caused by racial stratification. Beyond King's simple imagery of child's play, throughout his short life he spoke of the total empowerment of the Negro people. King's speech to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on August 16th, 1967, “where do we go from here”, he spoke of the 40 million poor black people existing within America suffering within the grips of capitalism, demanding a restructuring of America's economic institutions. King spoke beyond Karl Marx and Marx's short sighted understanding of Communism and human nature, which he critiqued for a failure to consider the individual human existing as a product of distinctions or variations amongst individuals. King proclaimed that America must be reborn again. Within the Christian tradition, to be reborn is to be absolved from a sinful nature based upon an admission of guilt and a sincere request for forgiveness. King said we must move beyond myths of white power, and myths of black power and rest upon a bed of human power.
What is this necessary power King spoke of? In the speech known as King on Black Power, King laid out sources of potential power existing within the black community that has been utilized at a very marginal rate. King referenced the African American labor pool, which at the time served as 20% of the total work force, in comparison to African American's at the time being 10% of the total population. King referenced the consumerism of the African-American community, and how powerful the African American choice of where to spend money, or where not to spend money was. We boar witness to this power in the many economic boycotts enacted throughout the south in direct opposition to Jim Crow and Segregation, which was a legally sanctioned method of separation, barring black and white interactions within the public sphere.
King also referenced the homogeneity of the black political consciousness, and the inherent ability African-American's possessed to mobilize against the myth of white supremacy. When such political mobilization is utilized to elect candidates operating out of love, with the best interest of the African American community in mind, the potential power existing within the African-American communities, especially in the urban north, would have displayed it's democratic potential. In no way was king advocating the exaltation of black power, as a product of diminishing the power of other groups, but he felt that increased black power was and an increase of human power as a collective. King warned that these sources of power must be utilized to promote the notion of community within America.
King's Black power speech failed to consider the latent effects of the post industrial era and how this cultural and economic shift would create a culture lag within African American communities, relegating potential black power near null and void. Many of King's suggestions were contingent upon America's moral fortitude, and a willingness to rectify moral wrongs in the face of mounting pressure. In response, King's love filled mind was met by a hate filled bullet, ascending him into the realm of martyrdom.
King's legacy, alongside the philosophy of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam gave birth to the black power movement as embodied by Stokely Carmichael. In a speech delivered at the 1966 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee conference, Carmichael asserted that America is unable to profess and confess her sinful, racist history because such a confession would serve as a condemnation of self, therefore those individuals who have suffered at the hands of America's racist history must profess that condemnation in the most public and blatant way for all to notice. Carmichael explained how the myth of white supremacy has permeated every facets of existence from the church to the schoolyard. The myth of white supremacy can only be defeated by the installation of black power. Carmichael defined Power as the ability to make ones acts legitimate. Black power has historically been diminished because black's have waited for whites to affirm our language and oppress our flesh. If integration is to exist it must be a 2 way street where whites integrate into black culture as blacks simultaneously integrate into white culture.
Unfortunately, America did not adhere to Carmichael's idea of integration. We live within a time where segregated schools are considered the norm and in many instances worst than the rates of segregation that existed during the Jim Crow Era. According to Gary Orfield and his article entitled, “Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge” which was apart ofThe Civil Rights Project commissioned by UCLA in January 2009,
“Schools in the United States are more segregated today than they have been in more than four decades. Millions of non-white students are locked into “dropout factory” high schools, where huge percentages do not graduate, and few are well prepared for college or a future in the US economy”
Although some may be shocked by the levels of segregation existing within the public school system, it is a direct consequence of the failures of integration. To seek further integration into America's so-called majority society, at the expense of African-American culture, without a mutual reciprocation of integration between whites and blacks, the struggle of our ancestors will be in vain, and in direct contradiction to the definition Carmichael laid out for integration.
We must no longer adhere to the unwritten rule, “when in america, do as white people do.” African Americans and all people of color globally, must reject any so-called leader that will denounce a perspective of truth based upon the experiences of people of color. A prime example of such a denouncement occurred in President Obama's pursuit of America's highest office. Obama attended Trinity Church under the direction of the American war hero, Rev. Jeremiah Wright for many years, and as a product of this affiliation President Obama garnered support and relationships that are inherent without the network of black churches. When footage surfaced of Rev. Wright speaking within a biblical context as to America's fate for its unrepentant acts against nations and individuals of color, reserving God's damnation for such wicked acts, in a political move, Obama denounced Rev. Wright, comparing him to Obama's own elderly White grandmother who at times manifest her racist attitudes in a subconscious way. Obama's rejection of Rev. Jeremiah Wright affirmed and justified the conservative assault on the black church. The Obama and Rev. Wright controversy is the greatest example on the largest scale of the cost of non reciprocated integration, and America's inability and unwillingness to profess, confess and repent for her sins against people of color. Obama's success, and his entire body of work came down to his allegiance to America's racist “black people, get over it” mentality over his allegiance to the very institution that paved the way for his nomination, the black church.
The way Obama handled the Rev. Wright issue was a great political move, and it gained him the White House, yet far too often the black middle class is willing to step away from the masses of the black community, in exchange for a mediocre plight within the margins of white society. Marcus Garvey said, “there is no future for a people who deny their past”. Garvey also said, “any leadership that teaches you to depend upon another race is a leadership that will enslave you.” A mutual reciprocation of integration must be the product of a general understanding, without diminishing the significants of the present ramifications of the lie of white supremacy, that an atrocity like no other was systematically committed against people of color in the establishment of western society, and the establishment of capitalism.
Because nothing is born out of spontaneity there must be some regards for historical wrongs and necessary reparations must be instituted to rectify such wrongs. The government, which is comprised of the people, owe it to those persons who were historically considered less than a natural person, adequate infrastructural development, appropriate education, and measures to prevent further blatant discriminatory practices. An investment in infrastructure development will create/ jobs suitable for individuals lacking a post industrial era education, which will also serve to remedy the ill effects of joblessness. If jobs are created in conjunction with a climate instilling pride within community development, as a product of an agenda specifically catering to the needs of such communities, we will see a strengthening of the family bonds which must be the foundation of community.
The article, “The hidden cost of being African American”, clearly lays out the economic devastation that African- American's have endured. So often we hear individuals say “African-American's must get over slavery and Jim Crow”, yet, we rarely hear any condemnation for the generational accumulation of wealth that still exist as a product of the blood, sweat, and tears of our African/American ancestors euro-centric text books often refer to as slaves. As long as America and the western world circulate currency, and pass down resources and acquisitions that were initially acquired as blood money, from the work of African-Americans, the call for reparations is in order and completely justified.
America's ability to profess and confess her sinful nature, dispensing reparations, is dependent upon her ability to operate from a moral perspective. Carmichael understood America lacked the moral conscience and ability to operate out of morality, therefore she will never be able to evolve into a community with respect to all of her individual parts. Although America's ability to exist as a community is unlikely, like Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael and W.E.B. Dubois I feel there is still an opportunity for a greater community to exist beyond the bounds of America. I feel that the displaced African Diaspora, specifically those Africans displaced as a product of slavery from the continent of Africa into the Western World have an opportunity, and must unite as survivors of the Western slave trade. Just as America's Jewish community advocate on behalf of Israel, and invest financially into the further establishment of Israel, African Americans should invest in nations such as Barbados, and the entire Caribbean diaspora, who in many ways are indistinguishable from the African- American community. Such an investment does not have to entail conflict as seen between Jewish settlers and Palestinian inhabitants. If African Americans invest in Caribbean tourism as a spiritual and historical retreat, with complete admiration for the sovereignty of these nations and the commonalities of our shared ancestry, such an investment can occur without resembling european colonization.
Over the course of Dubois' 95 years upon this earth, he left a vast wealth of knowledge and insight into his gatherings and perceptions pertaining to many issues, especially race, class and society. Dubois' struggle was for the advancement of colored people defeating the grips of racism, as described by the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Dubois reached out to individuals suffering within the margins of oppression throughout the globe. In Dubois' Souls of white folk, he wonders aloud, as to the power structure of the white man and his audacity to impose his oppressive and imperialistic will, not solely upon the American Negro, but brutally on the backs of the Japanese, the Chinese, Latin Americans, the West Indies, etc. Dubois understood that beyond the racial restraints existed two classes, the majority nonwhite world and the white world. Dubois understood that the struggle at its most fundamental bases was the struggle between these 2 distinct groups in a clash for power. Through militarization, the white world acquired power through means such as the division of African Soil and enslavement. Dubois became a siren, an advocate for social organization as a product of knowledge and mobilization of those individuals cast aside and oppressed under white male domination.
Dubois' life ended in Ghana with him creating and developing bonds in a Pan-African establishment of community. If only Dubois and Garvey could have found a mutual respect earlier in life, the unification between Africans existing within the Western Diaspora would have created a community beyond the bounds of America. In my travels to Barbados while speaking with a Christ Church local police officer, he said something I will never forget, “Barbados has the fertile soil, but long ago the white man took all of our seeds, you must bring them back.” Until Africans existing within the western Diaspora unite as the moral conscience of the western world, community within America will never exist.
Bibliography
-Wilson, Williams J. 1996. When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor. New
York, NY: Vintage Books.
-Alexander, Michelle,The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (The New Press, New York 2010)
-W.E.B. Dubois, The Souls of Black Folk 3rd edition (Cambridge: University Press, 1903).
-Gary Orfield, “Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge,” The Civil Rights Project, UCLA, January 2009,
-The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
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