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Former DC Mayor/Councilman Marion Barry and DC Mayor Adrian Fenty. For over 30 years, the people of Washington, DC have done a magnanimous job of being engaged in black progress.

After all, is President Obama really appreciated otherwise?

By Doni Morton Glover, www.bmorenews.com

(WASHINGTON – June 10, 2009) – Must black folks in the USA actually remember black history in a particularly poignant fashion today? Yes, in 2009, that is a valid question (a very valid question).

Put differently, is black history important enough even that it should be taught to all black children on a constant basis and, for that matter, to all children in America such that the best possible appreciation can be garnered during the administration of America’s first black president?

I say, “charity starts at home.” If blacks aren't mindful of what obstacles have been overcome and what obstacles remain, how else can we assess our progress?

Given the behavior of too many of us, the record must be set straight.

Because our president is black does not mean that all black people understand what that could, should and would mean for black progress in America and beyond.

Assuming that readers of this column understand that BMORENEWS is all about the empowerment of black people beginning in America, a most demonized race in this country’s history, one should know that our mission is to educate, inform and inspire such black progress on all fronts – including the community, the church, the synagogue and the mosque, the businesses, the schools, the political, the prisons, and the health care system.

In a business meeting today, I was reminded that while blacks in America have made some individual successes that are beyond comprehension, there is still the question of whether or not those individual accomplishments translate into progress for most black people.

Too many of us forget that we ‘are’ because so many ‘were’ before us – like the “brothers who played but never got paid.” Hence, we, black people, who are above the poverty line, have an innate responsibility to help black people who are trying to help themselves, i.e. couples, homeowners, small business owners, students, laborers and apprentices.

I am reminded that while many blacks today are at a level like no generation before us financially and politically speaking, so many more of our cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters … and so on … are still fighting a permeating sense of low-expectation, low-aim and poverty. Even with the presence of a black president, no magical wand came with the presidency such that President Barack Obama’s very existence automatically liberates black folks.

Memo: It’s not happening!

Sure, he will do his part; but, the real onus is on us. And for me, that means working together. It means getting the family and the preachers and the imams and the rabbis and the business owners and the politicians and the school-teachers and the parents together and commencing the first conversation.

Black progress in a President Obama era is only going to happen once blacks get better organized, engage the schools, engage the political process, embrace strategic partnerships, and, oh yeah, watch the dollars.

And honestly, it all starts with self-trust. Even more, we cannot afford E.G.O. – ‘Edging God Out!’ Too often, we want to be in-charge and yet have no idea of how to lead ... or where to lead.

Today’s message: Yes, all black people should know their history. Actually, I think it’s a damn shame that so many of us upwardly mobile black people are so uninformed if not clueless as to our history, including our ancestors’ accomplishments. At the same time, we have a litany of social ills disaffecting masses of black people. 

Diabetes, HIV/AIDS, divorce, single-parent households, asthma, and the predominant USA prison population are but a sample of the havoc wreaked on black America in an otherwise historically unloving slave host country.

Images of the damage done by Katrina on the Gulf Coast instantly come to mind.

We have to be smart and do better in all aspects of our lives, including our finances. Too many of us are attempting to live unreasonable lifestyles without ownership and have forgotten the very basics that got us to where we are like focusing on the necessities, sticking together no matter what, and saving some money for a rainy day.

With a black president, black America in particular should be getting on the ball so as to give the President a reason to send some help our way. First, we must do what we can for ourselves.

Ever ask yourself why foreigners continually come to our communities and prosper?

Here we go: Between DC and Baltimore, there is an estimated $45 billion in annual disposable income in the black community alone. Nationally, that figure is about $800 billion.

What that means to me is that black people are keeping Cadillac, Hennessy, Newport, and the corner store in business. Yet, our beauty salons, barbershops, and funeral homes – the last three bastions of black service-industry power in America – are being bombarded from 360 degrees and closing down like never before. Why? Black people are too often spending money with other communities and not supporting our own. Even more, we're forgetting our own history.

For example, as the son of a funeral director - I have seen the graces extended to black people by black funeral directors all my life. Yet, these same black funeral homes are being threatened today by conglomerates that seek to replace them. One good turn deserves another. If somebody helped you, then help somebody else. It's contagious. 

Here's my solution: Educate and organize, beginning at home! Educate one’s family about the contributions of blacks in America and beyond. Teach a sense of history to our children because with a black president, there automatically comes the assumption that black people are all of a sudden going to be okay. Yes, President Obama has an innate understanding of the challenges of being black in America, however, “no pain, no profit” – according to Jay Z.

In other words, we, black people, must raise our game! We must study harder, work smarter and more efficiently, master time management, pray constantly, eat more dinners together, spend quality time with our family, and perpetually watch the pennies. Bottom line: Get back to basics. It's recession-proof!

We must also come to a point of forgiving and accepting our family members and friends, loving our enemies, and embracing an American society so full of promise such that being engaged in the PTA is a pleasure. Our history dictates that being involved in the betterment of the black community is not just a calling; it is imperative for black people.

When I think of Mary McLeod Bethune, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer and when I think of Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley and Martin – I am reminded of a dogged people so intent on greatness who for years sustained the blows of Jim Crow and constant demonization by entities like the Ku Klux Klan such that an effervescent cloud of fear is too often ubiquitous in our thoughts and aims.Low-expectation. Low-aim. Poverty.

Too often we suffer from these things because we have forgotten our greatness. We eye the crumbs when we should eye the loaf and the oven that cooked it. However, these challenges and fears can be overcome by a constant dose of garlic and onion, a glass of water, a pinch of vinegar, a bowl of chicken noodle soup, a fiber muffin, regular prayer, some chewing gum, and a lot of forgiveness and love.

As Franky Beverly sings, “Love is the key!” for black people – and all people - in an Obama era ... as well as knowledge of self.               

Tags: black families, black USA, President Barack Obama, USA