We Have A Charge To Keep
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- Category: Blogs
- Published: Monday, 08 April 2013 20:43
By Tim Adams
RE: The Honorable H. Harris' Suggestion
Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,
While it is a slower economy today than in some past years, there's a more serious problem in America and, particularly, in Florida. There is a need in our community. A need that no one can fulfill except us, we who live in our neighborhoods, shop at our businesses and go to our churches.There are African Americans who say they are leaders yet there are thirty people in one chapter of our own organization who cannot or will not pay to support collective efforts for equality in voter/citizen participation.
Back in the early 1900s, Black people flocked to the newly formed town of Idlewild, Michigan. Slavery had ended just fifty years before and the Black community had no doubt about the need to work together. Idlewild, also known as “The Black Eden” was only one of many successful communities during the turn of the last century. I’m sure a lot of them didn’t even like each other and gossip was probably more than enough. But that didn’t stop them from coming together on issues that mattered, like the importance of their united futures. There was no doubt that they needed one another to make any headway against the racism that was always present around them.
They did this under pressures that most of us can’t imagine today while we shop where we want to, dine in the finest establishments and make sure to have the latest gadgets for our collections of stuff. Racism still exists but is there any doubt that we have it far better than our predecessors did? They did so much with so much less to work with, in terms of “stuff”. What they did have was heart, the commitment that comes from a united struggle and an understanding of the larger world around them. They invested in themselves through investment in each other and built a legacy that remains as a monument today.
Such stories are everywhere, including Florida where Florida A&M attracted the best and brightest African American students from around the country and Black communities flourished.
Surely we, the membership of this organization can stop our bickering about who is and who is not financially able. No one here can honestly say they don’t spend their money on the things they really want. Right? That new cell phone or pair shoes is often something we do not deny ourselves. This nominal fee we’re requesting is a small investment in our future. A continuance of legacies worthy of revival. All of us who are true leaders need to do what Brother Harris has suggested and simply help each other! How can we look at what our ancestors were able to accomplish in spite of great obstacles and have the nerve to say we can’t do it?
We have to be accountable to ourselves, first. If we’re not investing in us then we must not see the value in it. That’s the point to start. Does it matter to you that you come from a powerful heritage that has laid the groundwork for even greater things? Or are you alright with letting it all slip through your fingers, a willing participant in the dismantling of that wonderful legacy? It’s an important question because if you don’t see the value then not much else will matter.
After we check ourselves, we have to hold our leaders in check. Politicians raise and spend our money. It is ours! It comes from their political allies who constantly rip off impoverished neighborhoods with laws, ordinances, and rules that take resources out of the community. They take money and economic opportunities from the poor and reward the wealthy, especially in Florida. Wealthy Attorneys prey upon individual misfortunes. Executives at Wal-Mart, Target, etc., hire few, if any, African Americans for upper management in most locations. But these companies donate to predatory politicians, investing in the policies that use our tax dollars for their selfish purposes.
We have a charge to keep, Ladies and Gentlemen, to help each other. The majority of people whose incomes, jobs, family needs, children's futures are our collective concern. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.
We have a charge to keep. For those whose interests in the Democratic African American Caucus and the Democratic Party -- a party that takes this demographic for granted - you are respected for your votes and your support! Yet, after they get our support and win elections, we are still the “last hired and the first fired”. That can change only with our unified effort.
We have no Democrat in Florida who can hire enough Black people! Republicans control the legislature and we are not even a blip on their agenda. Neither are poor Whites but that is an issue for another day.
We have gone from an all White Democratic primary State in the Fifties to a State where we are not welcome in the alternate parties !
This is why the Democratic African American Caucus of Florida is now the only place where our collective, sincere voices can and should be heard.
Brother Harris had the right answer. Help those who need help, and I offer a few other thoughts:
a.) All members who are able to pay $150.00 you should do so.
b.) Without all of us we are nothing!
c.) Those who cannot pay can be supported by fund raising efforts, scholarships and work exchanges. We encourage those who need money to recruit and train workers. Create a small group of volunteers and advocates to ready African Americans for all levels of elective, appointive and precinct operations of the party.
d.) We all need each other. We can work together to provide assistance where needed and offer an opportunity to grow the Democratic African American Caucus of Florida into a political action committee funded by our dollars and efforts. We are able. There can be no doubt. But are we willing? Can we still see the value in each other as our forebears did? This is the kind of focus we need to support our demands, needs, interests, and our overall future progress.
Dr.T. L. Adams, PhD
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