Originally publised on Blogger 18/10/13
In black America today we have many people who are anointed, elected, or recognized as leaders. Many of these people have great resumes, graduate degrees, and even fine pedigrees. We look to these people to lead us in a way that helps us collectively and benefits us individually. Their job is to provide effective leadership and initiate policies that lead to the betterment of the collective.
As a result of our history as a people and the political nature of this age our leaders are good at talking. They talk about fighting the man, they talk about fighting injustice, they talk about what we lack, they talk about how we need the government, they talk about the incarceration rate in the black community…..they talk, talk, and talk. As a result we feel pumped up, empowered, and momentarily connected because we think something is going to happen.
Unfortunately the talk rarely leads to action in the community, and dare I say in the spirit of the people. Too many of our leaders will not act if their reputation or livelihood is at state. They may say they are doing something but when you look deeper the actions they take benefit them or the special interests they represent. Consequently, when the powers that be must be confronted to facilitate change no one stands up, or they do so in such a way that nothing happens to solve the situation.
This is very upsetting because when we lack effective leadership we are cheated in our communities. We somehow elect the same people again and again while not seeing any real changes that empower our people. I suppose some of the blame for this falls on us. We vote for the same people, same party, and same failed policies that leave our people jailed, poor, and oftentimes uneducated. I am not sure how to motivate people but we do need to something to effect change.
To me, it is odd because we complain about our plight as a people but we elect the same type of people. Maybe we rather have people that pimp us ideas and sayings that make us feel good instead of people that back up their words with actions that empower our people. I know our plight does not rest on them alone but if they are leaders they should lead. If not, then let’s remove them from the equation and boot them out of office.
I am afraid that we don’t have the resolve to remove ineffective leadership from our communities. Doing so would mean we have to confront our individual responsibilities, and most people are reticent to do this because we would have to act personally. The lack of effective leadership in the black community is a reflection of our lack of personal responsibility. Our leaders mirror us in this way because they only see the issues they want to see-only want to solve things that don’t need much effort to address.
If we expect our leaders to address the needs of our community we must also be willing to act ourselves on the issues affecting our people. Should we want them to be guided by the Spirit of God we must pray for them, we must elect people who put God’s Word first among all things. If we want them do legislate effective public policy options we must give them input and require them to put forth a good faith effort to solve issues. People should expect leaders to have integrity in the small things in life as much as in the weighty issues of the day, and then require them to walk out that integrity in how they represent their constituents.
As we continue to be the recipients of proper leadership we will see more and more improvements in our community, but if we don't we will continue to struggle as a people. This simply cannot be tolerated because we owe future generations, and we must pay forward for their benefit. I sure hope this happens. I sure do.
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