Hello Joe,
I agree with some things. Yes, we definitely need to come together for the betterment of our own people. Nevertheless, while I wholeheartedly understand and support the fight for reparations, at the same time, I know time and time again that Amerikkka is VERY unwilling to help our people. They've shown this time and time again. Katrina was a reminder. You are right..no one is going to solve our problems/issues. We will have to come together to do that. The problem is...how do we come together? Alienation and marginalization are way too prevalent within our own community.

When America established chattel slavery, this institution of slavery was one of the worst forms of slavery this world has seen. Because of it, we are still suffering TODAY in many ways. Therefore, I will not ever be inclined to forget the horrible crime that America inflicted on my African ancestors. I will not ever be inclined to forget that this country was built off the backs, sweat, blood, and tears of my/our African ancestors. Therefore, it is plausible to feel that this nation has a major responsibility to its descendants of enslaved Africans. But, America wishes to fail in this effort. I often hear that Black America should have come together and got our people out of New Orleans rather than waiting on the government. Though this would have been great, was it entirely ignorant for our tax-paying people in New Orleans, as well as the rest of the nation, to expect some type of rescue from the government - a gov't the people in N.O. (and the rest of the nation) have financially assisted through taxes?

I was in a science field for 9 years before I decided to pursue another area outside the field of science and technology. And the reason why I am pursuing my graduate studies in African & African-American Studies is not only because of a passion for the subject, but also a way to help my people in instructing to them WHO THEY ARE...a history that America has purposely kept from "us" since the Middle Passage. Before I entered the program, I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about the history of our people, but soon realized that I was only at the tip of the iceberg. You would not believe the amount of history that has been kept from us and the MANY contributions the children of Africa have made to the development of the world. I see that educating our young sistas and brothas about who they are will help to undo the psychological damage caused by slavery, and we must first change the mentality of a lot of our people, to have self-love. Rather they enter a science and technology field, professional sports, social programs, arts & humanities program, etc., if this cloud of unconscious self-hate continue to hover over us, then the smartest scientists within our community will not make any headway in bettering (is that a word?) the future of our people.

We must come out of this state of individualism that so many of us have. You know, the "I Got Mines You Get Yours" mentality. Someway, somehow, we are going to have to instill in our young generation that we have a history, our contributions to the world have been grand, and if they continue to move forward without having this foundation of who they are, then our future will continue to decline. I often hear from a lot of school teachers say, "Our kids today seem to have no sense of history". That's what we have to change. When we change that, the eyes of our children will be so wide open, that paving a bright future for them and their people will be second nature. Dr. Rick Kittles won't be able to handle the number of people desiring to know some of their African background through DNA!! It's going to take a community effort. We can do this no matter what field our people undertake.

Just My Thoughts,
Mel