The State Of Disunion

By Raynard Jackson

Last night President Obama gave his first State of the Union address to the nation.  As I was listening to the president I thought if he could do it, why can’t I?  So, below, I will give my first State of the Union address.

The state of the union is thriving!  Not only do we have the first Black president of the country; this is the first time in our nation’s history that the State of the Union was given by a Black.  This is an example of the best of America.

But, unfortunately, there are those who want to throw our country into a state of disunion.  During one part of the president’s speech, he mentioned a specific ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that he disagreed with.  The cameras happened to be panning the audience and zoomed in on Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.  He could be seen shaking his head in disagreement and mouthing the words, “that’s not true.”  What ever happened to people in positions of leadership exhibiting proper decorum and respect not only for the president, but also the office of the presidency?  This footage has been shown all over the world.  I never thought that a sitting member of the Supreme Court would bring shame to their institution.  But, Alito has managed to do so.  The state of Supreme Court etiquette is not courtly.

Listening to a lot of Republicans and right wing talk radio, one could get the impression that they are cheering for America’s demise solely for the purposes of winning an election.  Radio host, Laura Ingraham has been harping all week that the state of the union is in “peril.”  She and many of her guests went on to say that they did not know if president Obama wanted America to remain a strong country or not.  Regardless of your politics, no American president will ever do anything that would diminish the stature of our country.  Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, etc, have all voiced and promoted the opposite notion.  All Americans should be insulted and embarrassed at such rhetoric.  The state of right wing talk radio is out of control.

After one year in office, Obama has been weighed in the balances and has been found wanting.  He ran a near perfect campaign, but seems to have problems with governing.  He promised to televise the health care debates on C-SPAN, then reneged.  He promised to have a more open government, then claimed executive privilege when it came to the party crasher investigation.  He promised to change the culture in Washington, DC, but then became part of it.  The state of the Obama administration is perplexing.

There are plenty of areas to fight and disagree with the Obama administration and the Democrats.  But, the issues should be fought in the marketplace of ideas and debated on the merits.  A poll release by John Zogby showed that 70% of Republicans stated they were “ashamed” that Barak Obama was president (http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.cfm?ID=18040.  That’s right 70%!  I can’t help but to think some of this has a racial subtext to it.  The state of race relations needs vast improvement.

One need look no further than the recent earthquake in Haiti.  The racist, incendiary, heartless comments that came out of Rush Limbaugh’s mouth are unforgivable.  Pat Robertson’s ignorant, asinine comments about Haiti being punished by God because they made a pact with the devil were pathetic.  All the major TV networks except FOX agreed to simulcast a telethon to raise money for Haiti.  I can’t help but think that if this tragedy had happened to a European country that FOX would have made a different decision.  The state of TV is bleak.

The most disheartening thing about the past year is the silence of those of good will.  There is no doubt that there is a large segment of the population that is having a difficult time accepting Obama as president.  Few Republican leaders have publically spoken out and chastised Limbaugh, the birthers, and others who have demeaned the president.  Where are the Black Republican voices?  Are people really that afraid of the likes of Limbaugh?

I learned politics from the Bush Leagues (from a previous column).  The Bush Leagues is how I affectionately refer to from President George H.W. Bush, former Secretary of State, James A. Baker, and former Secretary of Commerce, Robert A. Mosbacher, Sr.

Mosbacher (pictured above) died Sunday.  He was a very, very dear friend and one of the reasons I am where I am today.  To this day, I have struggled to accept his friendship.  How can a kid from the hood of St. Louis, Missouri grow up to be able to have friends like Mosbacher?  A wealthy man for sure, extremely successful, no doubt; but most importantly, a very good man.  I would frequently fly to Houston, Texas to have lunch with him.  We would go to his favorite club.  Of course everyone knew him and we would make our way around the room before being seated.  The thing that touched me most (even to this day) is he would always introduce me to all these other influential, wealthy people as his “good friend!!”  Imagine Michael Jordan taking a young kid into his inner circle and introducing them as his good friend (or Denzel Washington, or the Pope).

These are the people that taught me politics.  They had friends in both parties.  Mosbacher told me many stories of how they would win a fight over legislation with a Democrat, then go out to dinner with them and laugh about it.  That would never happen today.  Losing people from the Bush Leagues generation makes me rethink whether I will continue much longer in the political arena.  I look forward to seeing and talking with President Bush and Secretary Baker today to get their views.  They believed politics was a noble calling.  They didn’t need crises to put the country first.  The state of my mind?   Nostalgic!

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm.  He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com).

The Browning of America

By Raynard Jackson

January 21, 2010

The stunning win of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race Tuesday has sent shock waves throughout the political world.  But, as usual with tectonic shifts like this, everyone is totally misreading what happened.

Republicans have every reason to be crowing today and Democrats have every reason to be depressed.  I would call what happened Tuesday night the “Browning” of America.  The people of Massachusetts spoke with their votes that they are more interested in results, not party labels.

The problems both parties face is not with their bases, but with independent voters.  There are more independent voters than there are Democrats or Republicans.  In Massachusetts, 51% of the electorate is independent.  The “Browning” effect is going to force both parties to come to the political center.  That is the lesson from Tuesday vote.  Any other spin is simply nonsense.

Brown was a little known Republican state senator with an unremarkable voting record.  Conservative columnist, Kathleen Parker, has described him as a moderate New England Republican with socially moderate and fiscally conservative views.  Brown describes himself as, “fiscally conservative and socially conscious.”  Conservatives are going to be shocked to find out that Brown supports Roe v. Wade.

Brown provided Massachusetts voters (and the country by extension) with an empty vessel to channel their total dissatisfaction with Washington and the White House.  Most people have no idea what either Brown or Martha Coakley (his opponent) stood for, other than their respective positions on healthcare.  Republicans are concluding that the election was a repudiation of healthcare and Obama.  Democrats are saying that Coakley ran a horrible campaign (which she did).   While both statements are true in absolute terms, that’s not the message voters were sending.

Yesterday morning on a news show, Brown made it perfectly clear that he is an “independent” Republican.  Ah, this is the message to be taken away from the election!  Brown’s election is a dire warning to all incumbent politicians.  Americans are pissed at the dysfuntionality of our political systems and the seeming inability of politicians to solve problems.

Voters don’t feel like politicians have made air travel any safer than before 9/11, or made government work more efficiently, nor controlled government spending,  to name a few.  With technology, we are travelling at the speed of thought, but governing at the speed of a horse and buggy.  We communicate with emails, BlackBerrys, and instant messages; but our political systems function at the pace of a tortoise.

The problems facing Americans today can not be solved with the pace our political systems are operating under.  Why does it take years for the simplest of legislation to pass?  Why does it take weeks for politicians to organize a town hall meeting?  Why couldn’t our government properly respond to Katrina?

There are a lot of similarities between Brown’s and Obama’s candidacies and ultimate victories.  Neither was given a realistic chance of winning; both were running again a frontrunner who had been all but crowned the victor (Hillary Clinton in Obama’s case); neither had the support of the party establishment.  Their victories both stunned the political world.

But, if Republicans think Brown’s election was a vote for Republicans or conservatism, they are greatly mistaken.  Voters are angry.  They don’t want to abolish government, they want effective government.  This provides a great opportunity for Republicans to have a discussion on what is the role of government in a Republican world.  No more campaign slogans like, small government, low taxes, and more individual freedom.  Voters want to know how these words translate into policies that impact their daily lives!

Democrats missed a golden opportunity to prove to America that they could govern, but as usual, they blew it big time.  Two nights ago, I saw Howard Dean make an amazing statement on TV.  He said if Bush was still in the White House, he would have rammed health care through Congress—it would have already been law.  Voters basically told Democrats and the White House that they don’t believe they can effectively govern; therefore they were willing to vote for a Republican to register their dissatisfaction.

How can you control the White House and super majorities in both houses of Congress and yet, not get anything done.  Obama, by far, is the biggest loser.  He has proven to be a very weak president because he refuses to make people in Congress fear him (especially Democrats).  Why have the Democrats not stripped Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) of his chairmanship?  He actively campaigned for McCain (a Republican) and was almost chosen to be his running-mate.  And he is rewarded with the chairmanship of a major committee?  This would have never happened in the Republican Party.  If Democrats can’t or won’t govern their own caucus, why should they be given the opportunity to govern the country?  That’s the question Democrats must answer immediately.

Even though half of America disagreed with Bush’s policies, they respected how he was willing to fight for what he believed.  No one will ever accuse this White House or Democrats of doing this.

With the high level of frustration across the electorate, people are distancing themselves from party labels and are more focused on who is going to solve the problems that this country is facing.  People know we are facing tremendous challenges and are not looking through rose colored glasses.  Brown’s victory is merely the opening salvo in what surely will be the continuing “Browning” of the American electorate.

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm.  He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com).

We Remember Dr. King

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated.  Given where we (America) were then, and where we are as a nation today, one has to wonder if we have reached the “Promised Land” that Dr. King referenced in his last public speech in Memphis on the night of April 3rd.  Are you using your personal sphere of influence and power to help make Dr. King’s dream a reality?

Learn more about Dr. King and view rare photographs and videos on our Martin Luther King, Jr. page on our main site at www.blackmeninamerica.com/mlk.htm.

Sen. Reid Has A Lott To Learn From

January 14, 2010

Raynard Jackson

In light of the recent revelation of Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) comments about President Obama’s race, I feel compelled to try to add some sanity to the debate.

Sen. Reid is quoted as having said, “Obama could win the White House because he was a “light-skinned African-American with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

This was a stupid comment, but not worthy of all the attention it is receiving.  Does this mean Reid is a racist? Of course not.  We must stop ignoring a public official’s body of work just to score political points when the person makes an ill-advised comment.  We all have said and done things we would not want the public to know about.

I have first hand experience with this type of situation.  I helped former senator Trent Lott (R-MS) when he got caught up in a similar situation as Reid.  Lott was and still is a good friend.  Unlike Lott, Reid has the total support of the White House.  But, Reid should be under no illusion, if they didn’t need him to pass the president’s health care bill, the support from some quarters of the administration might be different.

Reid is about to find out who his true friends are.  I can assure you, that Lott has already reached out to Reid and given his unequivocal support and council.  Lott can provide him with a great deal of insight on how to navigate this situation.  Lott’s resignation as majority leader had little to do with his comments about Strom Thurmond (R-SC) and everything to do with his political enemies seeing an opportunity to dethrone him as senate majority leader.  Bush and Rove later lived to regret pulling the rug from underneath Lott.

What I find more disturbing than what Reid said or even Bill Clinton’s comment about Obama getting him coffee is the feigned shock by those who have no public record of speaking out on racial issues.  These people all of a sudden are filled with “unrighteous” indignation.  People like Liz Cheney (Dick Cheney’s eldest daughter).  I can find no record of her ever criticizing the people carrying signs calling President Obama “communist, fascist, Hitler,” etc.   She has never publically chastised Rush Limbaugh when he makes inflammatory remarks with racial overtones, nor the birthers, who claim Obama is not a U.S. citizen.  With a name like Cheney, she has absolutely no standing to speak on anything racial, especially when it comes to Blacks.

If the issue is race, you can count on white, conservative front groups trotting out their favorite Blacks to attack liberals who cross the lines of race.  Groups like Project 21 have trotted out people like Robert George, Mychal Massie, Bob Parks, Lisa Fritsch, and of course, no list would be complete without the obligatory addition of Ward CONnerly.  He is a Black man that made his money off, then governor of California, Pete Wilson’s affirmative action programs.  Then one day he was told to be against affirmative action and he just couldn’t wait to get in front of a microphone.  So, when white folks need a Black to trot out to speak against affirmative action, CONnerly is conditioned to volunteer without being called on.

When radical liberal groups like the NAACP, or the Congressional Black Caucus say that Lott’s comment were racist and Reid’s were not; what they mean is they agree with how Reid votes, therefore he can’t be racist.  I disagree with most things the Catholic Church stands for, but does that make me anti-Catholic?  Why can’t Lott disagree with Blacks on affirmative action, King’s birthday, or certain government programs without being labeled a racist?

How many of you know that Lott was one of the main sponsors of a bill that allocated over a billion dollars to Black universities to update their technology infrastructure?  Blacks must be more strategic and less emotional.  Just because one disagrees with a person’s voting record does not mean the person is a racist.  This is part of the reason for the push back on a lot of racial issues by whites.  They don’t want to be vilified simply because they have a different view.  Any fair minded person would agree.  That’s why dialogue is very important in matters like these.

I expected Michael Steele to call for Reid’s resignation.  As party chair, that’s what he is supposed to do.  But, I wish he and his director of coalitions, Angela Sailor, would be just as vocal criticizing those within and affiliated with the Republican Party.  Sailor sent out an email this week detailing the democrat’s hypocrisy in defending Reid.  But she never sends out an email criticizing all the race-filled, hateful, insulting statements from Republicans who refuse to accept the fact that we have a duly elected Black president.  Where is her email repudiating the vile comments Limbaugh made yesterday about Obama and the earthquake in Haiti?  And they wonder why they can’t get Blacks to participate in the party (not that this is one of their goals).

For every Republican who makes a racially insensitive remark, I can find a Democrat who has done the same.  So, after we have finished pointing fingers at each other, what have we accomplished? Absolutely nothing.

Reid and Lott are both good men. .  I don’t know Sen. Reid personally, but I will definitely go to war with and for Sen. Lott!

By all accounts, Reid and Lott are decent people and should be viewed through the totality of their lives.  If the senator from Nevada’s life were a book, I would consider it a good Reid!

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm.  He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com).

Gilbert Arenas: One Bad Move After Another

Photo credit:  Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images

January 7, 2010

Gilbert Arenas has made one bad move after another for two consecutive weeks.  His behavior begs the question:  How can one man be so misguided?  They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  For two weeks Gilbert Arenas has been laughing, joking “tweeting” and basically making a mockery of his version of “Bring Your Guns To Work Day.” Gilbert is losing approximately $147,000 per game with no end in sight with an indefinite suspension.  Gilbert is NOT laughing now.  Neither are his teammates.  According to ESPN, one source with knowledge of the Washington Wizards’ thinking said that Arenas’ teammates who participated in the pregame gun simulation against Philadelphia have been told they will be fined.  Other media reports say those fines could range between $20,000 to $25,000 dollars per teammate.

This Gilbert Arenas gun story is not a local story.  How big is it?  All of the late night talk show hosts have talked about Arenas in their monologues.  Even Al Sharpton is in on the act.  Sharpton has already spoken with NBA Commissioner David Stern.   Rev. Al told the NY Daily News, “The NBA needs to stand up and send a strong message by dealing with this situation.”  Sharpton says his concern is a “culture of violence being perpetuated in professional sports.”

Before yesterday’s photo of Gilbert Arenas shown “mock shooting” his teammates before the Philadelphia game on January 5, 2009, Gilbert was probably going to get a 7-10 day suspension for bringing guns into the Verizon Center. (I’m not talking about the allegations of Gilbert drawing a gun on a teammate over a reported unpaid gambling debt.  Arenas denied those allegations and asked some members of the media to issue a “sorry” to him in their publication when this incident is over).

Try and follow me folks.  According to reports and statements from Gilbert himself:

• Arenas brought four firearms to the Wizards’ locker room at Verizon Center at some point last month.
• He has admitted this from the beginning, although he insists they were unloaded.
• Arenas said he brought the guns to work to get them out of his house and away from his three kids.
• He put them in his locker with the intent of turning them over to Wizards security personnel. Then he decided to use them to play a practical joke on a teammate.
• Then, after a number of investigations were launched, Arenas, through an attorney, admitted that he was wrong and said he was very sorry.

The Washington Post reported that according to two first-hand accounts, Gilbert Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton got into a dispute over unpaid gambling debts during a plane ride, and threats were exchanged.  Two days later, Arenas set four unloaded guns in Crittenton’s locker cubicle with a note reading “Pick One.” Crittenton pulled his own piece, loaded it and chambered a round.

Let’s soak this in for a moment.  Can you imagine this sequence of events at your job?

Shortly after the release of “the photo,” Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely.  In a statement Wednesday announcing Arenas’ suspension, NBA Commissioner David Stern said that while he was inclined to let the criminal investigation into the incident go forward before taking action, it was clear to him that Arenas’ behavior made him “not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game.“

Gilbert Arenas has done a lot of good things for this community, but unfortunately, most if not all of those good deeds will be wiped out and forgotten because of his lack of emotional maturity and his blatant disregard for the rule of law.

You see, “the photo” of Gil shooting his teammates with his fingers posing as guns rubbed everyone the wrong way.  People of all races, cultures, gender and economic stations in life think Gilbert Arenas was wrong.

I have talked to people at just about every rung of the economic ladder and no one can defend his actions.  Even guys in the hood who were staunch defenders of Michael Vick could not stand by Arenas on this issue.

This issue is bigger than Arenas, bigger than the Washington Wizards and bigger than the NBA.  “The photo” has severe economic implications for the NBA and that is what led to Gilbert’s “indefinite” suspension.  The image of Gilbert and his teammates making fun of the gun situation has been distributed worldwide.  NBA Commissioner David Stern has a fiduciary responsibility to protect his league.  Gilbert’s conduct has cast a negative light on the NBA and everyone associated with the league.  The league’s revenue stream is at risk.  Corporate sponsors don’t want to be associated with a league where employees people are so brazen that they can make a mockery of gun laws, rules and regulations.

Gilbert Arenas, like many professional athletes is not a thug.  His behavior is stupid and immature and perhaps, “thug like,” but he is not a thug.  Gilbert and guys like him have no clue about what it takes to be a team leader on and off the court.  When you are the star player and have a contract worth over $100 million dollars, this gun incident is not what the team or league meant when they said, “We want you to be the face of the franchise.”

Arenas “tweeted” an apology for the offensive photo, and later released what appears to be a “lawyered up” apology that read as follows:

“I feel very badly that my actions have caused the NBA to suspend me, but I understand why the league took this action. I put the NBA in a negative light and let down my teammates and our fans. I am very sorry for doing that.

While I never intended any harm or disrespect to the NBA or anyone else, my gun possession at the Verizon Center and my attempts at humor showed terrible judgment. I take full responsibility for my conduct.

Earlier today, I called Commissioner Stern to apologize, and I hope we will be able to talk soon. I look forward to the day I can return to basketball. In the meantime, I will focus on dealing responsibly with this serious situation and I will continue to cooperate fully with the investigations by law enforcement and NBA authorities.”

Gilbert’s string of Twitter messages, media interviews and rants has served as a “Plaxico Burris type” of self-inflicted wound.  For the record, I am not comparing what Gilbert did to the Burris situation.  Burris’ behavior was far worse as he brought a loaded and concealed weapon into a crowded nightclub and shot himself in the leg.

The now famous photo of Arenas “mock shooting” his teammates coupled with his string of public statements and Twitter “tweets,” clearly reflect that Gilbert Arenas did not “get it.”  Either he did not understand the seriousness of the situation or he believed that the rules of law don’t apply to him.

If I were Gilbert’s employer (the Washington Wizards), my lawyers would be working around the clock to get out of that $111 million dollar contract with this screwball who has a long history of self-indulgent behavior that suggests that he has made a conscious choice NOT to conform to the reasonable expectations of the league, the team and the fans who purchase the tickets that help pay his salary.  Gilbert’s actions have implications that go far beyond the NBA.  Professional sports will be affected by his behavior for years to come.

Gary Johnson is the Founder & Publisher of Black Men In America.com a popular online magazine on the Internet and the Black Men In America.com Blog. Gary is also the author of the new book“25 Things That Really Matter In Life.”

12 Things The Negro Must Do For Himself by Nannie Helen Burroughs

12 Things The Negro Must Do For Himself by Nannie Helen Burroughs

(Published in the early 1900’s)

1.  The Negro Must Learn To Put First Things First.  The First Things Are:  Education; Development of Character Traits; A Trade and Home Ownership.

• The Negro puts too much of his earning in clothes, in food, in show and in having what he calls “a good time.”  The Dr. Kelly Miller said, “The Negro buys what he WANTS and begs for what he Needs.”  Too true!

2.  The Negro Must Stop Expecting God and White Folk To Do For Him What He Can Do For Himself.

• It is the “Divine Plan” that the strong shall help the weak, but even God does not do for man what man can do for himself.  The Negro will have to do exactly what Jesus told the man (in John 5:8) to do–Carry his own load–“Take up your bed and walk.”

3.  The Negro Must Keep Himself, His Children And His Home Clean And Make The Surroundings In Which He Lives Comfortable and Attractive.

• He must learn to “run his community up”–not down.  We can segregate by law, we integrate only by living.  Civilization is not a matter of race, it is a matter of standards.  Believe it or not–some day, some race is going to outdo the Anglo-Saxon, completely.  It can be the Negro race, if the Negro gets sense enough.  Civilization goes up and down that way.

4.  The Negro Must Learn To Dress More Appropriately For Work And For Leisure.

• Knowing what to wear–how to wear it–when to wear it and where to wear it, are earmarks of common sense, culture and also an index to character.

5.  The Negro Must Make His Religion An Everyday Practice And Not Just A Sunday-Go-To-Meeting Emotional Affair.

6.  The Negro Must Highly Resolve To Wipe Out Mass Ignorance.

• The leaders of the race must teach and inspire the masses to become eager and determined to improve mentally, morally and spiritually, and to meet the basic requirements of good citizenship.
• We should initiate an intensive literacy campaign in America, as well as in Africa.  Ignorance–satisfied ignorance–is a millstone abut the neck of the race.  It is democracy’s greatest burden.
• Social integration is a relationship attained as a result of the cultivation of kindred social ideals, interests and standards.
• It is a blending process that requires time, understanding and kindred purposes to achieve.  Likes alone and not laws can do it.

7.  The Negro Must Stop Charging His Failures Up To His “Color” And To White People’s Attitude.

• The truth of the matter is that good service and conduct will make senseless race prejudice fade like mist before the rising sun.
• God never intended that a man’s color shall be anything other than a badge of distinction.  It is high time that all races were learning that fact.  The Negro must first QUALIFY for whatever position he wants.  Purpose, initiative, ingenuity and industry are the keys that all men use to get what they want.  The Negro will have to do the same.  He must make himself a workman who is too skilled not to be wanted, and too DEPENDABLE not to be on the job, according to promise or plan.  He will never become a vital factor in industry until he learns to put into his work the vitalizing force of initiative, skill and dependability.  He has gone “RIGHTS” mad and “DUTY” dumb.

8.  The Negro Must Overcome His Bad Job Habits.

• He must make a brand new reputation for himself in the world of labor.  His bad job habits are absenteeism, funerals to attend, or a little business to look after.  The Negro runs an off and on business.  He also has a bad reputation for conduct on the job–such as petty quarrelling with other help, incessant loud talking about nothing; loafing, carelessness, due to lack of job pride; insolence, gum chewing and–too often–liquor drinking.  Just plain bad job habits!

9.  He Must Improve His Conduct In Public Places.

• Taken as a whole, he is entirely too loud and too ill-mannered.
• There is much talk about wiping out racial segregation and also much talk about achieving integration.
• Segregation is a physical arrangement by which people are separated in various services.
• It is definitely up to the Negro to wipe out the apparent justification or excuse for segregation.
• The only effective way to do it is to clean up and keep clean.  By practice, cleanliness will become a habit and habit becomes character.

10.  The Negro Must Learn How To Operate Business For People–Not For Negro People, Only.

• To do business, he will have to remove all typical “earmarks,” business principles; measure up to accepted standards and meet stimulating competition, graciously–in fact, he must learn to welcome competition.

11.  The Average So-Called Educated Negro Will Have To Come Down Out Of The Air.  He Is Too Inflated Over Nothing.  He Needs An Experience Similar To The One That Ezekiel Had–(Ezekiel 3:14-19).  And He Must Do What Ezekiel Did

• Otherwise, through indifference, as to the plight of the masses, the Negro, who thinks that he has escaped, will lose his own soul.  It will do all leaders good to read Hebrew 13:3, and the first Thirty-seven Chapters of Ezekiel.
• A race transformation itself through its own leaders and its sensible “common people.”  A race rises on its own wings, or is held down by its own weight.  True leaders are never “things apart from the people.”  They are the masses.  They simply got to the front ahead of them.  Their only business at the front is to inspire to masses by hard work and noble example and challenge them to “Come on!”  Dante stated a fact when he said, “Show the people the light and they will find the way!”
• There must arise within the Negro race a leadership that is not out hunting bargains for itself.  A noble example is found in the men and women of the Negro race, who, in the early days, laid down their lives for the people.  Their invaluable contributions have not been appraised by the “latter-day leaders.”  In many cases, their names would never be recorded, among the unsung heroes of the world, but for the fact that white friends have written them there.

“Lord, God of Hosts, Be with us yet.”

• The Negro of today does not realize that, but, for these exhibits A’s, that certainly show the innate possibilities of members of their own race, white people would not have been moved to make such princely investments in lives and money, as they have made, for the establishment of schools and for the on-going of the race.

12.  The Negro Must Stop Forgetting His Friends.  “Remember.”

• Read Deuteronomy 24:18.  Deuteronomy rings the big bell of gratitude.  Why?  Because an ingrate is an abomination in the sight of God.  God is constantly telling us that “I the Lord thy God delivered you”–through human instrumentalities.
• The American Negro has had and still has friends–in the North and in the South.  These friends not only pray, speak, write, influence others, but make unbelievable, unpublished sacrifices and contributions for the advancement of the race–for their brothers in bonds.
• The noblest thing that the Negro can do is to so live and labor that these benefactors will not have given in vain.  The Negro must make his heart warm with gratitude, his lips sweet with thanks and his heart and mind resolute with purpose to justify the sacrifices and stand on his feet and go forward–“God is no respector of persons.  In every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is” sure to win out.  Get to work!  That’s the answer to everything that hurts us.  We talk too much about nothing instead of redeeming the time by working.

R-E-M-E-M-B-E-R

• In spite of race prejudice, America is brim full of opportunities.  Go after them!

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Find A Job For 2010 Using Our Career Center

Start the new year off find a job or getting a better job to enhance your career.

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