WHY???????????

[Perry Ealim]

It seems that every year, right about this time or when there is a national up start and finger pointing of something has gone wrong in this country,  Blacks reflect on so many unanswered questions, and most start with why?

Why are our Black families falling apart? Why do we speak negatively about other Blacks and we do not know them?  Why do we try to distance ourselves from certain Blacks that say what we all want to say but can't and don't?  Why is it that we are so quick to call out each other for trying to help, but not the ones that are really the problem?  Why do we still recycle the same old politicians and the same old ideas (same groceries just a different bag)?

Why so many Blacks are going into business but the failure rate of businesses in our communities is at an all time high?  Why does it seem that Blacks accept everybody else’s plans to save our communities, i.e., our businesses, families, schools, and yet do not look to us to save us?
Why do we fear strong Black men or Black women in our communities?

Why, in spite of all the progress we have made, are there so many able-bodied black men who would sooner walk the streets than work?  Why is church attendance up, but so too are the rates of murder, divorce, sexual assault, abortion and a myriad of other social ills?

Why?  

You hear it on the radio. You hear it in the barbershops and beauty shops. You hear it at the dinner table. So many of us are asking: Why?

But do we really want to know the answer? Or, do we just ask the question because the problems are so seemingly insurmountable that we have to make it appear that we are not just sitting idly by while the Black race is going the way of the Dodo Bird?

We’ve asked this question for so long that we’ve actually gotten quite good at not expecting an actual answer.  Now, when we need an actual solution to a problem, we look everywhere else except in our own internal system of power … US.
 
I believe there may be economic reasons why no one is answering the question. It could very well be that answering the question could put a lot of good black men and women out of work, as asking the question could be the second-biggest employer of blacks in the U.S., next to the service industry.
The fact is, many blacks have made a career out of asking why but never giving solutions.  Some of the formerly relevant Black leaders immediately come to mind too many to name, but I know you know who they are.

For years, some have shown an uncanny knack for showing up at different venues at the height of a conflict and speaking on issues concerning racial equality and such, and having the issue be swept under the rug as yet another photo op or media event.  I’ve been listening for the speeches to actually include a proposal for a workable solution to problems that are specific to the Black African American community.  No solutions, but man, do they ever state a problem in the most eloquent, succinct and profound manner.

I think it is high time that we stop asking the question WHY and start answering the question.  I am tired of hearing the question. For once, can we get some answers in here?  Just once I would like to see the truth spoken in more than one circle of people.  Minister Farrakhan stated it very well when he said no one will help us out of our dilemma but us.  For once I would like to see the ministers of our churches reach out and each one teach one, be they be a member of the church or not.  Let’s teach our youth about leadership and respect, honor and put our belief systems back into daily life.

Let’s develop a state wide Black economic agenda.  Let’s stop waiting for someone else to answer the question and start identifying solutions that resonate within our own community.  The solutions can come from those with an understanding of our community, whether they possess a PHD or not.  Working together, collaboration, and understanding will help move us toward to a better solution for US. If the question is why, let me ask why not?

My father once told me tat in order for you to accomplish anything in life,

 “you must first learn to move yourself out of your own way”
   So if you can’t help me get out of my way.