The Revolution was Televised
2011 was the year of the revolution. Time magazine even named “the protestor” as their person of the year.
From the Occupy Wall Street movement in our beloved country, to the uprisings throughout North Africa and the Middle East, revolutionaries let their voices be heard and change occurred rapidly in places that had fought it for many generations.
Even President Barack Obama was proactive in bringing an end to the Iraq War and an end to Osama bin Laden’s threat of terrorism. But what can Black America learn from theses uprisings in 2011?
The answer is easy. In order to initiate a change in one’s condition, the people suffering have to make a difference themselves and not rely on outsiders to improve their lot in life.
Anyone who reads Regal Magazine regularly knows that I take a new school approach to the Black plight. Although I am the first to admit that racism and oppression will always be prevalent in our society, it is on us, and nobody else, to change our condition and make America a better place for future generations of African Americans.
There is an old saying that we were taught as children to dissuade us from bullying a classmate; adults would always say that once somebody was tired of being bullied they would fight back and become the aggressor.
That same rationale is what led to the revolutions that were televised almost daily in 2011 and that is the same logic the African American community need to adopt if we are to enact change starting in 2012.
It is time that we stop looking to others to make our conditions better and look within ourselves. If we have inadequate schools in our community, then volunteer your time, books or computers to make sure our children are receiving the proper education that they need.
If we have a higher unemployment rate than any other ethnic group in America, then start your own business, support an African American-owned business and/or bring somebody of color with you when you climb that corporate ladder of success.
If there is a problem with crime in our community, quit acting like not-snitching gets you a badge of honor or represents the G-code. To people with commonsense, the G-code mentality only hurts our community, and nobody else’s
If we truly believe that we are free and self-sufficient, we will stop blaming other races of people for our shortcomings. Because like it or not, we have more control of our own actions than other people. Furthermore, it is much easier to change our bad behavior than to force somebody else to change their bad behavior.
So looking ahead to 2012, I am encouraging all Regal readers, and the entire African American community for that matter, to look within themselves before pointing the finger at other people. Figure out what you can do to improve the African American experience and make something happen immediately. Previous generations of African Americans made things happen when they were fed up with their position in society. It is time that our generation does the same.
Smith is publisher of Regal Black Men’s Magazine, a publication dedicated to the African American community.
Magazine Topics:
- Racism
- Trump Wants Police Immunity; But What if the Shoe is on the Other Foot, Racially?
- Society
- Corporal Punishment Needed in American Schools
- Texas Educator: Arming Teachers Will Create More Problems
- Life in Danger Not Excuse For Some Cops Who Kill Unarmed Blacks, We Have Texts to Prove It
- White Girl Wearing AKA Shirt Should’ve Been Learning Experience, Not Another Divisive Episode
- Black College Athletes Should Ban Their Services at PWIs in Florida, Texas Since DEI Banned
- Rachel Dolezal is Caitlyn Jenner and Vice Versa
- Canceling Student Loan Debt Should Happen, Will Make Huge Impact on Racial Wealth Gap
- USC Dancer Endures Online Hate, But Why? HBCUs Great, But Not Only Path for African-Americans
- Death of Tyre Nichols: Those Saying Black Community Giving Black Cops a Pass Don’t Understand Community
- Ja Morant, Please Do Not Hustle Backwards, Do Not Glorify Stupidity
- ‘Carlson vs. Lemon’ Might Be Show Divided States of America Needs
- Cruel, Unusual Punishment Understatement in Describing Surviving Texas Prisons Without Air Conditioning
- Did Jewish People Benefit From Holocaust Because They Made Lifelong Friends in Camp? Florida Probably Thinks So if Blacks Benefitted From Slavery
- Shanquella Robinson Death: Day One Friends Shouldn’t Always Be There on Day You Blow Up
- White H.S. QB Marcus Stokes Losing Scholarship for Rapping N-Word is Cancel Culture Gone Way Too Far
- I Figured Out Reason Behind Fake CRT Argument, Woke Nonsense
- Media, Stop Vilifying Black Murder Victims, Humanizing Accused White Murderers
- Mother’s Day 2023 Special for Regal Media Group
- People Need to Stop Letting their Arrogance Get in Way of Common Sense
- DeSantis Channels Inner Bishop From ‘Juice’ By Appearing at Vigil for Black Hate Crime Victims
- Why Does It Take Natural Disasters, Catastrophes to Bring Americans Together?
- Rep. Nancy Mace Disrespects Black Men, Women By Calling Them Out Their Names