Nationwide poll: What is the one most pressing thing that we need to focus on

[cwhurd]

We all have heard most of our lives the many ills that plague us as a people. We have been crying, praying, preaching, marching and complaining. But we as a people still seem to have the same problems from generation to generation. We have opportunities to change our plight but we need to focus on one problem first. Is it economic empowerment, drug abuse, sexual responsibility for males and females, family unity, education, political power or health issues? Take this poll to share what you think is the most pressing. Go to http://www.blackprosperity.net to share your input.






No matter your financial status, religious status, political status, dark skin, light skin, or what region of the country you were born. The one thing we have in common is Our Story.

Originally Posted by cwhurd

We all have heard most of our lives the many ills that plague us as a people. We have been crying, praying, preaching, marching and complaining. But we as a people still seem to have the same problems from generation to generation. We have opportunities to change our plight but we need to focus on one problem first. Is it economic empowerment, drug abuse, sexual responsibility for males and females, family unity, education, political power or health issues? Take this poll to share what you think is the most pressing. Go to http://www.blackprosperity.net to share your input.






No matter your financial status, religious status, political status, dark skin, light skin, or what region of the country you were born. The one thing we have in common is Our Story.

All of the above are critical in making a change but without family unity....without unity period we wont be making any changes anytime soon.

[jacqui]

White supremacy is the one constant that has plagued blacks since we stepped foot on this continent. IMHO, so many of us think if we can just get a better education, or better jobs, or other aspects of this society and our ills will be alleviated.

I know that Neely Fuller was correct when he said, If you don't understand racism white supremacy, everything else will confuse you..

So many of us want to deal with everything except for the problem sitting right in our face.

I feel until we as a whole take the false blinders off and deal with this issue, many more generations will come and have to deal with the same issues.

[Corals]

Originally Posted by XenOcidE

All of the above are critical in making a change but without family unity....without unity period we wont be making any changes anytime soon.

I would have to strongly agree with XenOcidE, because we as a Black family could have economic empowerment, sexual responsibility, education, political power, good health etc, but if there is no unity then we really don't have anything. If what keep a family together (unity) is lacking, sooner or later, the family would split at the seams, and everyone would be going in their own different direction, each looking out for himself. We can look at Rome as an example. isn't that one of the reasons that caused a mighty nation to fall?

[jamesfrmphilly]

ignorance of self, not knowing all the things about ourstory that have been stripped away from our education by the white power system. knowledge of self would relieve the hatred of self that we suffer from.

with self knowledge and self love, the world looks very different.

[serenity]

In order to answer this question you'd have to first agree that black people have had the same problems from generation to generation and then agree that we can only work on one at a time, both of which I can't say that I do agree with. Some of our issues have remained but we've solved certain problems (we can vote, run for office, and use the same public facilities as whites for instance) and have developed new ones (like STD prevalence and gang involvement). Additionally, The Solution for our community needs to be a multi-pronged attack against a number of our problems at once. If you attack only one thing at a time then the remaining issues will still hold us back and may even hinder the progress we could have otherwise made.

That said if I had to choose the problem I believed to be the most damaging to our community I would have to say lack of education. Education would facilitate sustained economic empowerment (rather than just ephemeral money gain), prevent drug abuse, increase sexual responsibility, promote the importance of black unity through cultural awareness, and help eliminate health issues. Additionally, it would improve black political awareness and understanding in a way that could also increase our political power. In a way, all the other topics could be listed under education.

[cwhurd]

[quote=If you attack only one thing at a time then the remaining issues will still hold us back and may even hinder the progress we could have otherwise made.
That said if I had to choose the problem I believed to be the most damaging to our community I would have to say lack of education. Education would facilitate sustained economic empowerment (rather than just ephemeral money gain), prevent drug abuse, increase sexual responsibility, promote the importance of black unity through cultural awareness, and help eliminate health issues. Additionally, it would improve black political awareness and understanding in a way that could also increase our political power. In a way, all the other topics could be listed under education.[/QUOTE]

As you look at our situation from an historical perspective we have been trying to put out too many fires at one time. When we had the civil rights movement everyone was on the same page we had a general idea as a people what we wanted and which direction that we were headed. But because we had many issues we tried to get rid of them all at once and because of this we have gotten to complacent. I am not saying forgetting about all the issues at hand but by focusing our efforts on one, and then we can really truly use the power that is within us. Once we see that we have the ability as a people to get one issue under control then we will have the enthusiasm and the will to control the other issues that we face.

[saraphen]

Originally Posted by serenity

That said if I had to choose the problem I believed to be the most damaging to our community I would have to say lack of education. Education would facilitate sustained economic empowerment (rather than just ephemeral money gain), prevent drug abuse, increase sexual responsibility, promote the importance of black unity through cultural awareness, and help eliminate health issues. Additionally, it would improve black political awareness and understanding in a way that could also increase our political power. In a way, all the other topics could be listed under education.

I agree with you. There are too many people who are graduating from high school or leaving school without basic reading skills. An illiterate population will be uninformed and unaware of all the other problems we face.

[LadyNoir]

Originally Posted by saraphen

I agree with you. There are too many people who are graduating from high school or leaving school without basic reading skills. An illiterate population will be uninformed and unaware of all the other problems we face.

IMHO, illiteracy is crippling us. This is JUST ONE issue, but an issue that I very strongly feel is still a major one. I listen to some of the highly paid sports people (Black) every time a microphone is shoved in their face and how the English language is mangled and abused by many (not all) of them. They have excellent skills in their various fields of sports and their bodies, almost all of them, are in very good condition, low BMI, etc, muscle mass, and all that, but if they suffered serious injuries, how far would some of them go for example, if they would be unable to ever play again and didn't know how to make the money they've earned work for them (I really admire "Magic" Johnson, how he invests and re-invests his money, and especially how he's invested money back into Black neighborhoods).

There is a post added here by someone regarding Mike Tyson, who is very educationally challenged. He seems not to know his right hand from his left, and with all the money he made, the man is now broke. It is impossible to handle one's personal finances if one can't read and understand what is placed before them for their signature. Signing documents while hoping the person(s), such as your agent, manager, wife, mother-in-law, whomever you've placed your trust in will do what is best for you is to ask for trouble.

Mike Tyson earned quite a bit of money in a relatively short period of time but is as broke as he can be. (It's not so much what one earns, but what one keeps). He had a lot of help getting to where he is right now and, as usual, when one goes broke, he usually is abandoned by his "helpers."

With an adequate education and a bit of commonsense, I feel that he may have been able to keep some of what he earned. He also would not have had to totally depend on others to take care of his business for him while expecting them to "do the right thing" by him had he been better equipped educationally. His body grew up but his mind never did. I've read his childhood story as well as his life after he began to box. Sad. Ripe for being taken advantage of.

I am an avid reader, and if I were unable to read it would deny me a great pleasure and pasttime that I very immensely enjoy and appreciate. To try to understand how it must feel to be unable to read, I purchased a publication that was typeset in a foreign language. Frustrating, but reinforced my appreciation of the blessing of being able to read.

[Most_Treasured1]

We as a people need healing from deeply ingrained generational self hatred and low self esteem/self worth caused by slavery and white supremecy in general. If we can begin to love, embrace, accept, and want the best for ourselves then we can begin to love, embrace, accept, and want the best for each other....the best would include a relationship w/ The Creator, loving & supportive family/friend relationships, higher education, satisfying careers and business ownerships, setting our own personal standards of "success", good physical/mental/spiritual health, prosperity/wealth, home ownership, etc.... The best has never been and never will be "bling" jewelry, expensive cars/tennis shoes/clothes,top shelf liquor and the like. I know that there are many "progressive" brutha's and sistahs out here that are working hard to bring this to pass, but there are so many of our folk still held prisoner by the lies that the majority has brainwashed us into believing about ourselves.