For Afrikan Americans, the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality has seen the rise of great men and women of vision. And though there have been many such leaders and their ideologies, in our 400-year battle, no leader or ideology has sustained their impetus long enough to change our reality “enough.”
As each new hope arises, so too rises a counter-force bringing to bear its economic, cultural, and political power. It seems as if no matter how far we travel along the road towards equity and justice, like some great fog, this counterforce rolls in and obscures any light at the end of a long, dark tunnel of racism.
Great men and women, and their visions, have long been the “conductors” of the “freedom trains” upon which we have placed so many of our hopes. If we are ever to mount a long-term liberation offensive, we must acknowledge those forces that have made our “freedom trains” so often derail and rumble to a stop.
Of Leaders …
In all social movements arise men and women whose ability and commitment earmark them for leadership. With their personal charisma, intelligence, and ability to communicate, they capture receptive ears and strike a responsive chord that moves people to think and to act. Leaders, then, are the catalysts that ignite their followers to action.
Often these leaders become almost the physical embodiment of their cause and come to serve as the exemplar and the very symbol of the hoped-for change. Without these leaders, the issues around which movements build are often little more than scattered grumblings, without direction or form, and soon dissipated.
The Trap …
Though there have been many truly great Afrikan American leaders, few ever see the maturing of the movements they foster and lead. Instead, Afrikan American leaders have been neutralized by assassination, harassment, deportation, or bought off. In the cold light of objective inquiry, it’s impossible to dismiss it to outrageous fortune.
It’s time we open our eyes, and we will realize that as long as our struggles for freedom, justice, and equality are counter to the desires of those who jealously hold that power, they will thwart in any way they can any potentially effective attempt to rest, even a little of that power from them. Unfortunately, freedom, justice, and equality appear to be a zero-sum proposition for those in power.
For those who oppose our full empowerment, any advance Afrikan Americans make signals a corresponding retreat of power for them; every job we secure means a job they lose, and for every dollar we control, they see a dollar gone from their control. As a consequence, anyone who champions the uplift and advancement of Afrikan American people is seen as necessarily taking away from Anglo-Americans.
For Anglo-Americans, whose culture and tradition extol individual gain and possession, the threat of losing an inch ignites the fear of losing a mile. This reaction is sadly predictable and easily discerned. In this light, Afrikan American leaders often represent the “head” of a dragon bent upon resting from their hands a portion of the economic, social, and political domination they so jealously guard. Viewed in this way, the reasoning quickly degenerates to; if the head of the dragon or leader can be destroyed, the body of followers will die.
Avoiding the Trap …
If Afrikan Americans are ever to succeed with an agenda of improving our lives, we must avoid the trap of building our hopes and movements around the “cult of personality.” Instead, we must strive to diffuse the tasks and responsibilities of leadership as widely amongst ourselves as possible. Without this diffusion of leadership ability, responsibility, and accountability, the loss of a leader will continue to stop dead the impetus and force of our struggles.
And while there must always be men and women of vision, commitment, and force who rise to lead and symbolize our collective will, leadership cannot be forever concentrated in one person or even one small group of people. Instead, leadership must be developed and extended as a personal responsibility that we each accept.
Just like those pioneers who opened America’s frontiers, each of us must capture a spirit of individual responsibility for accomplishing our collective objectives. We each must view ourselves as a vanguard, a New Afrikan vanguard, acting as the spear-tip in a battle for our cultural redemption, economic development, and political empowerment.
