DC Talks

“Now we demand a chance to do things for ourself.
We're tired of beatin' our head against the wall.
And workin' for someone else.
We're people, we're just like the birds and the bees.
We'd rather die on our feet.
Than be livin' on our knees.
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud …”
In 1969, James Brown rocked America with the song “Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.”
The song reigned as the National Anthem of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s and 1970s, boosting the self-esteem of a generation of African Americans and empowering us to then believe in our own worth, talents, skills and abilities. Despite the volatile civil, racial and social conditions of the 60s, those seeds of wisdom were planted deep in us and encouraged us to do our best, be our best and be proud of who we are as a Black people. The excerpt from the song also reflected the message of a proud people in their struggle for civil rights, self-determination and dreams of freedom without bowing to oppressors whose desires were to keep Blacks from freethinking and independence.
A short time later in Stokley Carmichael’s book, “Black Power,” Carmichael delivered a call for Black people in this country to unite, recognize their heritage and build a sense of community. His definition of Black power called for Black people to begin to define their own goals, lead their own organizations and support those organizations. Before the age of crack cocaine, guns and gang violence, we were indeed a proud people with flourishing communities, businesses, professionals and teachers whose goals were focused on preparing the next generation to be better than the last.
In a recent interview with white media queen Barbara Walters, rapper Kanye West revived hope and faith in the old premise echoing his pride as a Black man when questioned about the first thing that came to his mind when asked, “Kanye West is?”
West responded by stating the word Black. Black was the first word that came from his lips… Black!!! West presented to Walters that despite his fame, fortune, money and influence, He is BLACK and not ashamed of that fact.
How many other African Americans out there in entertainment, politics, business, corporate America and the sports arenas are willing to stand up like Kanye and say it loud? How many of us on a local level in our politics, meetings, jobs and school environments are willing to confess that we are Black and Proud?
So much has been done to water down and erase Black history, culture and heritage in the board rooms, schools and streets of America that many Blacks are just scared to speak out for their Blackness. There is a fear of many African Americans that professing my Blackness means losing my “personal lifestyles and economies.” However, there must be something to our power as a Black nation. White America is not ashamed to make media commercials using Black people to attract the billions of Black dollars from African American coffers to white-owned conglomerates. They like and thrive on Black “Green.”
I admire how the Koreans, Arabs, Indians and Africans that come to this country wear their culture and heritages like a badge of honor and will not change, alter, neglect and refuse to turn their backs on thousands of years of rich history. If you notice, each speaks their own native tongues and even knows how to use and recycle their own money in their own communities and with their own people. That pride gives them life and helps them maintain their culture, heritage and identity in an Anglo-English dominated system.
It is time for African Americans to regain our identity and go back to the principles James Brown, Stokley Carmichael, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Fannie Lou Hamer and others promoted. Following that call will give a huge boost to our people and the kind of economic support that leads to economic freedom and the end to dependence on white-owned corporate markets and structures. It is what the Millions More Movement and agenda is all about, “Being Black and Proud… again!!!!”
Kanye West knows this and I hope that there are many more of us who will stand up and develop some backbone and courage to rise up and shout to White America in this generation that, “BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL AND I’M BLACK AND I AM PROUD.”
We need to think Black, buy Black and support Black businesses. It is the first step to real freedom and bringing our community, people and neighborhoods back and securing our future for generations to come… and you know what I mean.