The Quest for Black Power

As a 41 year old African American man, I desperately want to unlock the secret door to Black Power. As a child of the '60's, I see first-hand and live with the results of the Civil Rights movement. Are things "better"? Yes, in that we can go into any restaurant using the front door, we can purchase a home in any area we can afford to, we can use any public restroom, and we can go to the same schools as whites. Those are tangible improvements to the condition of African Americans.

Unfortunately, these tangible improvements do not a better life make, especially in light of such developments as: a 13 year old (unarmed) Black boy can be shot dead by a Los Angeles Police (L.A.P.D.) Officer for driving a car; or, a five year old Black girl can be manhandled and handcuffed by four St Petersburg (FL) Police officers for a temper tantrum in Kindergarten; or, when several L.A.P.D. officers fire at least 120 rounds into the truck of an unarmed Black man wounding him four times.

As if this weren't enough, there has not been any large public outcry by African Americans to these and the other assaults on our human dignity. Yes, there have been some who have marched and picketed, protested and mourned; yes, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have made appearances on behalf of the victims, but beyond that not much. You would think that black folks would be pouring out of office buildings, emptying schools, and abandoning assembly lines to voice their outrage at these modern-day lynchings and overt abuses of authority. Instead, we are strangely silent. What's the cause of this?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his essay "Black Power Defined" , gives us insight into this dilemma:

"The Negro vote at present is only a partially realized strength. It can still be doubled in the South. In the North even where Negroes are registered in equal proportion to whites, they do not vote in the same proportions. Assailed by a sense of futility, Negroes resist participating in empty ritual." [3]

This sense of futility is pervasive among African Americans, and stems from the first chains placed first on the body and subsequently on the minds of the Black man, rendering him powerless. Since that time, we have sought out freedom, justice, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness - yes, Black Power - by having these chains removed from the ones who installed them. True Black Power does not seek to have these bonds removed, but to destroy them with one's own inner strength. Not an inner strength measured in a competition to endure pain and humiliation, but an anxious yearning that will not rest while those bonds are in place.

A reinvestment of trust, confidence, and authority in the Black man shall precede and must accompany the realization of Black Power. Black Power will never be acquired through legislation from the white power structure. It never can come from any outside source like voting, or election of Black politicians, the securing of more and better paying jobs, or the creation of Black businesses. In fact, Black Power creates these elements. It can only be the Black man who holds Black Power, not in his human sense, but in his position relative to the Black Woman and the Black Child.

The Black Man must begin to be seen as an office, a position that demands more than just skin color to occupy, but can never be occupied without that skin color. In other words, only a black man can be a Black Man, but not every black man is capable, depending on his stage in life, to be a Black Man. I believe this is the synthesis that Harold Cruse was talking about.

My goal is to conduct an in-depth examination of our history as Black people in America, to track down this mysterious force called Black Power. This is only the beginning.

[3] 1967, A Testament of Hope, The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., Copyright © 1986 by Coretta Scott King, published by Harper Collins.

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© July 2005 By Dan Hardman

Brother Dan Hardman will be keeping the Black community informed on issues concerning the church and righteous living. Visit regularly for new information that could help you overcome and make the best of your everyday experiences.

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