The Great Black Depression: (“They don’t really care about us”(Black Men))

With all due respect to those who are maintaining through these perilous and turbulent times that we are facing, but has anyone really ever thought about what in the heck happened with this economy for real. I mean during the mid to late 90’s, the economy showed signs of being the most stable and lucrative entity in the U.S. It was being guided by “so-called” top economists, including the chief architect: Alan Greenspan. He could be considered a father of economic theory. We all learned throughout our “wonderful” years of training in the American education system, that as long as the theory of supply and demand was mastered, understanding would yield the absolute. Well, that theory was shattered in the turn of the century. That is when the negligent and unregulated derivative market was exposed. The derivative market is a market where there are all sorts of trading being done with no transparency. That means that there are no ways of keeping accurate records. In fact, some of the top firms in the market advised all shareholders in this market to put the concept of: pens, notepads, computers, and meetings to the side. Investors were essentially putting their money into a make believe world of financial gain. Many banks were the biggest investors into this market. They used their shareholder’s investments to invest into what they thought was a pot of gold. Suffice it to say, when it all came crashing down, we (blacks) have had to suffer the biggest consequences.

The consequences of greater poverty, violence, declining moral values, and community oneness were exposed during this great economic fall of America. I remember during the early years of this turn of the century, we (blacks) were thriving and excelling economically in many different arenas. We were opening up restaurants, clubs, companies, corporations, and even some enterprises. We were beginning to tap into the top of the pyramid and grab a piece of the American pie. At first, we started out with brilliant and noble ideas on how we could pool our resources together and make more American dollars. That was good at first, but of course, the seed of jealousy, envy, and hate crept into the minds and hearts of men and women. Instead of staying united and building an insurmountable economic front that could never fail, we all started separating into our own individual goals and aspirations. That spread our wealth and talent to exhaustion. Remember the saying, “united we stand, divided we fall.” So we all went for self gain and material riches. If we would have had better insight into the future of this error of separating our financial resources, the Great Black Depression could have been averted. In my humble opinion, blacks have really always been in a form of a recession even during these times of prosperity. Although we had more financial resources and assets, there were too many gaps between the ones who have and the ones who do not have. We have higher poverty, disease, crime, imprisonment, and lack of ownership than any other sector of nationalities. So, if white people are now feeling the full effects of their recession in just 18 months, what do you think that means for blacks, who have endured recession mixed with depression for over 400 straight years. We have entered into a Great Black Depression.

You see, a recession for us, is a normal way of life. There was always an opportunity during a recession for us, so we never had to panic. We just had to try harder than everyone else. Those days were easier to stomach and manage. Unfortunately, there is and was no manual on what to do if we went into this state of great depression. First take a look at some of the problems that we are being faced with, as a result of the downfall of the American economy. From the beginning of our journey in North America, the black man has been misunderstood. From the time when he was being defamed as a man, by allowing a foreign person or persons to divide, conquer, and enslave his family; to feeling less than a man for not being able to provide for his family that he was a direct channel for reproduction. Make no mistake, most black men want to be successful and be a productive part in the so-called “American dream”. We apologize for our failures to overcome life’s obstacles and be better fathers, husbands, brothers, role models, mentors, moral and spiritual leaders. We know that we have failed in our duty to protect our black sisters from being affected by our declining moral values towards them and our very own brothers. “How can you love God, whom you have never seen, but hate your brother, whom you see everyday.” So to sum it up, we confess our faults for not “manning up.” But, you must understand the obstacle(s) that keep us falling into this bottomless pit of disaster.

“Excuses are tools of the incompetent, and those who use them build monuments of nothing.” But, there are some very important reasons that have added to our self destruction that one should try and understand. This negative seed of hate that we have for each other was planted many years ago. It has evolved from generation to generation. Unfortunately, it has reached a plateau of dangerous and hazardous levels. We have become the first nationality that may need a terror alert mechanism. The only problem is that the alerts are going from yellow to red hourly. Try following the city’s breaking news and you will see that we are in a small war zone. An alert is something that warns, or brings attention to something that is to come or has already begun. We are at war with each other. In the Middle East, there are certain individuals who terrorize the community with martyr attacks. Violence is so brutal and bloody, that peace has lost its grips in the minds of the younger generation. So it is in our neighborhoods. We have become as terrorists of the community. We started out polluting our own people with drugs. From that social cancer, a domino effect has lead us to this current state. We are no longer soldiers in training, we are on the battlefield. Unfortunately, we are unpaid soldiers fighting for no cause at all. Middle East terrorist, terrorize for reasons, some valid and some not valid. We terrorize for nothing of validity or value.

For instance, there has been a war zone created in the inner-city streets of many cities, especially in Chicago. Derrion Albert was a young, brilliant, spiritual, future scholar that was killed, due to black on black terrorism. This event was so eye shocking, that it received International attention. The world is getting confirmation on why black males in America are always seen in such a negative light. It has confirmed what they were thinking of black males in America, for the longest. We are portraying ourselves to be good for nothing but self hatred and destruction. Thus, we are not deserving of any help from exterior forces to better our plight for success as a people. They look at us as animals. They actually have more respect for the Middle Eastern terrorists, because at least the have reasons for their bestiality. We are synonymous to the beast in the field. A few weeks ago, a young single educated mother sitting at the bus stop, was shot in the back by a stray bullet during a street gun me lee between opposition neighborhoods. The killers later apologized. Yeah right, no need to make apologies to us, your time should be spent 100% trying to atone with our Creator. I wish that we understood that most of the guns on the streets have engineering defects. In other words, the guns are rejects. That is why you can point the gun at your brother to end his life and end up killing an innocent bystander. That is why, when you go to do a drive by, your gun jams or you end up killing someone in your entourage with friendly fire. You are being set up and used for the continued annihilation of the black community, in particular the black men of the community.

The Great Black Depression has bought us to a gloomy period in our history. Why can’t we maintain or get better? Why can’t we learn from our errors and correct them? Why can’t we stand up and be the men that we are suppose to be? Why can’t love vibrate and roar through our hearts for each other? Why can’t we mobilize effectively, and end black on black terrorism? Why can’t we end the terror alert mechanism? The biggest question is, have we lost favor with the Creator for our critical errors? I can’t answer those questions in one subject for thought, but suffice it to say that I understand us. Know that it is not too late to avert this self destruction. We are not in the short-term plans of Congress to help in making this a better nation. Which means that although jobs are being created, we are the forgotten entity in that equation. When it comes to stimulus dollars, we are not even a part of that conversation. When it comes to health care reform, black women are considered, but black men are not of importance. When it comes to community grants and projects, you are not mentioned to head those programs. One thing I do know is that we have always been resilient. It is never too late to avert self destruction. But it can not start and will not start until we do three things: “Love god with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. Love your neighbor, brother, sister, parents, and elders, and finally; love one another just as the Greatest Man to ever live did.” We then can begin the process of putting our brilliant minds together, pooling our resources, and start rebuilding our future. If an NFL team can go from worst to first because of rebuilding, let that be a sign of what we can and will do if we operate as a unit or systems of intelligent beings. Before the Great Black Depression, we were on the right road. Our forefathers paved a powerful foundation that can not be destroyed on how we should evolve into prominent men.

So, although the walls and all the remnants within have been nearly destroyed, the foundation is still holding up strong. In order to build, you sometimes have to destroy it all. When one of us fails, we all fail indirectly. Let’s not wait until another sign like Katrina to come and take the much needed foundation, away from us. Then we will not be able to avert our complete doom. Let’s unite and change the way the world views us. Michael was right when he said: “they don’t really care about us”. But why should they, if we don’t care about each other. We all should ask the final question, what can I do to change this destructive machine from exploding without being a part of the problem and begin to ride with the brilliant wave of constructive solutions. I have some proposed solutions: They are…………………….
Peace.