Bonjour!
It has been an exciting week! The National Urban League really knows how to put together a conference :) Full of great entertainment, but most of all powerful workshops.
The Town Hall Meeting held about the black man crisis was very enlightening. On the panel there were several speakers. Some more known then others i.e Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. However, I am going to address something I think others probably took lightly.
The discussion began with the Moderator (name forgotten) holding up a sign that reads:
I AM
A MAN
Well, I am a woman and when I looked at the sign I saw the many men in prison who have been degraded and striped of their manhood. I took a closer look and I saw a generation of fatherless homes who have no role model of what it means to be a man. I decided to go a little deeper into the sign and saw a black man who once stood tall and fearless now broken and afraid to speak out against the injustice he has endured unable to hold his head high. When I gazed into that sign I saw woman who has lost her place, trying to play(emphasis on play) the role of a man because when she walks down the street there are no men, just figures of what use to be the provider, protector, hero, leader, etc.. After staring at the sign I came to a conclusion... if we do not raise up a generation of Men, then the black community shall perish.
I am going to end with the scripture Jeff Johnson of the Cousin Jeff Chronicles quoted during the discussion:
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1)
~ A black woman praying for the black man~
Troi Russell
1 comment:
Wow! You could not have said it better, Troi. As a young Black woman it frustrates me when Black men are marginalized. They had endured more dehumanization than any other group that I can think of and quite frankly it's unfair. Black men have been stripped of their humanity and sexuality and in the proocess some have begun to resent Black women. It's unfortuntae because so many of them do not understand or realize that Black woman want them to do well. So, I am also praying for Black men.
--Naeema Campbell
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