“We’re Stronger Together”
I attended a conference about two weeks ago. One of the speakers at the conference (Pastor Tamara Bennett), spoke about the importance of unity and that we, as the Body of Christ, are stronger together. Reflecting on the message, the African American community came to mind.
Throughout my entire scholastic career, the notion was given to my peers and I, of whom are African American, that the "white man" is continuously holding us back, and prohibiting us from reaching any type of success. Although that statement to many maybe true, if you look back over the past thirty to forty years, this is far from the truth. Over the past thirty years or so, our biggest enemy hasn’t been Caucasian people, our giant..is ourselves. If you take the time to look at other ethnic groups in America, they work together to keep their community in tact, and look out for one another because they know all they have is each other.
There are a few areas of the culture that we must organize in order to change our minds, and aid the generations to come...
- The Home.
- The Church.
- The Hip Hop Culture
Many people may feel these may not be the most important, but this is not a debate; this is a challenge to further our thinking.
THE HOME, is where the heart is. Home is where our children learn, watch, listen and imitate what they see. They learn discipline, right from wrong, how to be a family, gain morals, and they are trained and shaped to be who their parents have said and declared they are and will be. A solid home, with a sturdy and wholesome foundation, produces well-balanced and stable children. There are few instances where trouble finds our children even in these ideal homes, but for the most part it is one of the biggest if not THE most essential part gearing towards a better future.
THE CHURCH is where faith and family are combined. Church is primarily a hospital for those who are usually hopeless, discouraged and (emotionally) wounded. From the days of slavery to the days of the Civil rights movement, the church has always been a very prominent place in our culture. It was a place for one to gather to escape the violence of this world, gain strength for tomorrow and hope for the future and gain an extended family. For the last twenty years of my life, the church has been overall a mockery within our community because of a rotten few. Differences within denominations has caused division, lack of transparency from the leaders has built a wall between members and ministers and the misunderstanding of prosperity have many turning their backs away from the church. In order to see change in our community the church must unite as one body, care about the needs of the black community and ultimately truly care about reaching the lost.
The Hip Hop culture is where our voices can truly be heard - the return of conscious rap. This generation grew up in the "beef" era of Hip Hop, which I consider the confused era of Hip Hop. In once instance loyalty and unity was preached but at the same time division was encouraged as well. Artists didn't get along for various reasons, whether it be because of the city which where they were from, down to the clothes and the style of music they chose to do. For years, we witnessed artists attack each other in the public arena all in the name of competition. Little did they realized that if they all came together and joined forces they could have taken over not just the music industry but every other genre in the entertainment world. Fortunately the days of "beefing" are over and artists realize how powerful they are in the entertainment industry. We can take a look today at the culture, and see labels like YMCMB, MMG, Roc Nation, Reach Records, Collision Records,etc who have encouraged artists to come together not only to establish a dynasty but to have a impact on this generation as well. We are suddenly seeing the return of conscious rap, music that sheds light on political,social and economic issues in our culture. If Hip Hop continues to push the idea of unity, demanding change and continue to show how powerful and stronger we are together, we will see a huge change, within our community, our schools, our culture.
There is power in unity, we can further ourselves if we can learn how to work together. No longer can we blame our oppression on anyone else but our selves. If we want to see change within our homes, our churches, our music, our community we have to change our mentality, change the way we operate and change the way we handle one another. We must realize that we're stronger together.
