2-21-64

mx2
Originally uploaded by anniethugs.

I have not been inspired to write for some time now...but after watching Spike Lee's Malcolm X I felt compelled to say something. It's not the first or even the third time that I've watched the life story of the late Malcolm Shabazz. It is the first time however that I've thought about the consequences of his death on the Black experience in the 21st Century. It dawned on me that there is no one today quite like him, or even like his late counterpart, Reverand Martin Luther King. One can only dream that Senator Barak Obama will be that ray of shining hope.

I'm not saying that this "ray" has to be as revolutionary as Brother Shabazz was nor as diplomatic as Reverand King, but he or she should at least have the same passion about the plight of Black Americans and people of color throughtout the world. Sometimes I wonder what ever happened to my revolutionary thoughts. I remember those evenings in my college student union having debates, dreaming about a future where I would be at the forefront of good things to come. All I was looking for was some kind of guidance, some sort of leadership to help cultivate the many ideas that I had. I thought I found it in Stokely Carmichael, but he would soon pass away from prostate cancer. Then I thought that Khalid Mohammad had something profound to offer, but that well would run dry very quickly. Needless to say, the passion and contempt that folk had for leaders like Malcolm did not exist in my younger years, about a decade ago. So, instead I shared my ideas with a select few, friends who had the same passions I had and were proactive in the sense that we had some sort of revolutionary creative expression, but for the most part we had slipped into living our lives like normal Americans. Not to say that anything is wrong with being a "regular American."

But now that I am working with young people of color who are so caught up on violence and gang life, I have come to realize that these organizations have filled a gap that has been vacant forever. And this is dangerous. These precious youths need guidance so they seek whatever is available. Only thing is that the guidance is coming from a bunch of thugs who can only rob, steal and kill each other. There is nothing productive in gang warfare, nothing productive about the language that they use, nothing productive that will happen to this generation of blind followers. And all I can think about is where is this generation's Malcolm? Yes that question is as old as cliches themselves, but I truly believe that these kids need something to live for, someone to believe in, someone to lead them collectively, not just individually. So I pray that as we sit and mourn the decades passing of one of the greatest leader and orator there ever was that a new leader will be born and shaped from his soul. I pray that I too can find someone who speaks my thoughts, whispers my concerns and can show the way out of what has become a rudimentary existence.

This is all for now...

Peace!