Thirty years after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King -- We still have a dream!

The implications an the after-effects of slavery, did a lot of damage to both the minds and the economy of colored people even years after slavery. Racism still flourishes in society. Unfortunately, it is one of those predicaments Blacks have to face in their economic struggle. Our yelling reaction to racism has lost its fire. For many years we sang the song, did the dance, walked the march in the process of outcry about the painful effects of racism. Things have changed and times are different, but many Blacks today are suffering from the after-effects of the struggle for justice. They are mentally lost in a time warp!

There was nothing wrong with the struggle, yet it left us mentally crippled due to our behavioral choices and actions. We developed the attitude, "Whites must do something for us, or else." We decided to fold our arms, sit down, and watch: "See what the White folks are going to do now!" This behavior indirectly amounted to a surrender for some, and a life of dependency for others not withstanding the success of many hard-working Blacks. But it did not resolve the serious problems of our inability to develop and orchestrate effective strategies to solve social problems at the community levels. We became so entangled with the struggle that even when lights came back on, we were unable to see. Because we vented energy in yelling our outrage against injustice, we ran out of energy to do anything else for ourselves. We want the government to do everything for us, including coming inside our homes to raise our children and chasing the drug dealers from our communities. Yet nothing the government does ever pleases us. Please my people!!

The sight of some Blacks with poor work ethics on the job leads some employers to swear never to hire fools like that. Their color makes absolutely no difference; wrong is wrong! Some Blacks will fight on the job so loudly over trivial matters you may think they are possessed by demons. They say hypertension is killing Black people; it's probably self-imposed.

Now, our children are in trouble in the streets! We are unable to understand that kids' behavior reflects adults' behavior. We are not satisfied with our political and economic gains, and we can't seem to find ways to mobilize effective forces for corrective changes in order to rebuild the Black families and communities in the inner cities. Who do you blame? Blame the Whites folks?

Looking at our problems and what we have been doing, the solution is simple. We must change our slave mentality to one of thinking we are freed and capable of doing things for ourselves, instead of carrying protest signs in front of White restaurants. Many times we sabotage our own efforts on the job due to inability to resolve our differences with other Blacks.