What do we call ourselves these days?

Are we 'African American?' How about Negro(e) or Colored people or people of color or just plain Black? Afro-American and then African American? Should immigrants from Caribbean countries call themselves 'Caribbean Americans?' What's in a name anyway? In a recent meeting with Julian Bond I suggested that the name NAACP is more relevant than it has ever been. Remember when those of us who attended college in the 60's felt the NAACP name was 'uncle Tom' like and raised our black power salute in protest of National Association for the Advancement of 'colored people?' So call yourself whatever you want others to call you.

Haiti

After four weeks the world seems to have forgotten about the people of Haiti. With the exception of Anderson Cooper and CNN the news organizations no longer even mention Haiti except for a comment in passing. It's as if everyone believes the moment has passed, the crisis has been averted and life goes on. What's wrong with the world? Haiti lacked any real infrastructure and was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere BEFORE the devastating earthquake destroyed the country. The suffering is enormous as people are still living on the street, in tents if they're lucky, outside in the open otherwise.
They are still wanting for the very basic necessities of life. Their hospitals are makeshift and people continue to die each and every day because there aren't enough drugs to go around, not enough basic medical equipment to assist the many doctors who continue to give of themselves to help others. There is no place to care for the large number of new amputees and to help rehabilitate them. The people of Haiti need help from the world now more than ever before. It will take decades before the country is rebuilt but we must keep Haiti top of mind in our conversations. Recovery will otherwise be impossible.

"Yes We Can"

What happened to that refrain that was all too familiar during the Presidential campaign last year? It was a rallying cry that came from the millions of people who sparked to the vision and hope Obama then represented. There was a renewed sense of energy and a fresh vision that provided hope and encouragement to so many people for the first time in years. We were all caught up in the moment and could only chant "yes we can." We need to be caught up in the moment again, challenge the traditional politics of Washington and demand that 'business as usual' is dead. Only then will President Obama have an opportunity to realize his agenda, which really is ours as well. And "yes we can."

Where are they...?

Where are all the people whose overwhelming support of a then visionary candidate helped catapult him to the White House? The young people in whom Obama aroused a passion and fervor not seen since John F. Kennedy ran and for office? The 95% of black voters without whose support Obama would not have been elected President? The liberals who thought in Obama the nation had finally found someone who was going to take on the 'business as usual' mentality in Washington? Where are the GLBT family members who found in Obama someone who embraced and supported their causes. All those groups and so many more had such high hopes and expectations for the President. And they are all frustrated and disappointed in a man who held such promise and instilled such hope in the masses. President Obama has a short window of opportunity to 'right his ship.' As he attempts to right the ship it is incumbent upon those many groups of people who supported him to encourage him to find the right way, demand of him the excellence he is able to bring, tell him he must stand for something. Walk in protest and support and pray that he is able to once again connect emotionally with the people. Be vocal in that support so Obama knows we will expect nothing less from him and his brand than what he promised during the campaign. There will be little hope for his Presidency otherwise.

Mondern Day Harlem

As the life of Percy Sutton, the "Chairman" of Harlem past and the gifted businessman and 'father to many' was being celebrated at his Riverside Church memorial, the headlines in the NY Times were letting us know that "In Harlem, Blacks Are No Longer Majority." That's right, that place that was once home to a renaissance that gave birth to so many brilliant artists, writers, musicians; that place that became home to so many blacks who migrated to the industrial North from the cotton fields of the South; that fertile melting pot that spawned black nationalist and separatist and back-to-Africa movements; the home where minority owned businesses grew on every corner and provided nourishment for every family. Yes, that Harlem is no more. Gentrification has changed the landscape, whites moving uptown looking for more affordable real estate and recent immigrants have painted Harlem a different color than before. But as its new history unfolds let us not forget its rich and storied past. Let us hope it will be shared for generations to come;teachers will teach it in schools, ministers will preach about it in their Sunday sermons, storytellers will sit on the stoops of brownstones and stand on the street corners and share those stories so that the legacy of Harlem will be preserved and remembered for generations to come.