I must confess I am at a loss as to where, even how to begin this article. Its subject matter is so delicate that I almost tremble as I type these words. Last week I read a book called Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, an African author.

The book tells the story of a man who was a proud, strong warrior and wrestler in his village. He had gained notoriety as being wise and fearless, and all who knew him respected him. His name was Okonkwo. As an elder of his clan, he looked back on his warrior days with a sense of true longing.

I am sure that if given the opportunity, he would jump at the chance to turn back time and be a warrior again. As a warrior, he was charged with protecting the clan against man or beast. At an early age he had killed his first man during battle. He understood the great responsibility of placing himself between any foe and his clan, and he did it willingly without hesitation.

He very much desired to pass this great tradition on to his sons, but his eldest son was not cut from the same cloth as he was. As the story progressed, his son developed a liking for the white Christian missionaries and their way of life. This angered Okonkwo, so much so that he even contemplated killing all the Christians with his machete.

Among the many things I learned about Africa in this book, it showed me one thing that I would like to relay to you and that this: The once proud and cherished warrior tradition shared by all African men has been replaced with the basketball-dunking, football-catching, rapping, singing, dancing, gang-banging, club-hopping, church-going, money-making, hanging-out-on-the-corner, baggy-pants sagging, Masonic lodge-attending, Superbowl watching, street hustling, gat-packing, CD-out-the-trunk selling, Nintendo/X-Box/Play Station 2 playing tradition of America.

African men, especially those of sub-Saharan Africa, have a tradition of being warriors. And as warriors, their first duty was to protect the clan at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing their lives. But today, and for centuries past, Black America has millions of unemployed warriors. All the things I mentioned above have been used to take the place of the real job of the black man - to be a warrior.

The young black men that fill America's prisons are there because they are warriors without a purpose. And since the African warrior has no place in American society, he tries to satisfy this need to be useful by being a good ball player, rapper, singer, dancer, gang member or gangster, popular partier knowing all the latest dances, a rebellious, fashion trend setter, religious socialite, faithful fanatic, street hustler, entrepreneur, or gun wielding, game playing black man.

All these things cannot hide the fact that he is, in spite of it all, an unemployed warrior. In essence, the black man is an empty shell. Once we were vibrant, living beings who knew our purpose in life. When we gave the warrior shout the ground shook. Now we are not even recognizable, a mere shell of our former selves.

This leads to the case of the black boy. Instead of learning from his father, who in turn learned from his father, how to be a warrior that protects the women, children and elderly of his community, the black boy in America learns to do everything but that. In fact, the word "warrior" is not even in his vocabulary. What does it mean to be a warrior? We don't know.

The warrior, who set the standard for defining a black man, was replaced with the nigger because the nigger was the non-threatening form of the black man. The nigger was/is the "anti-warrior". The nigger was everything the warrior is not, and vice-versa, the warrior is everything the nigger is not. The warrior is strong, courageous, intuitive, responsive, agile, finely tuned, and fearless. While the nigger, on the hand, is cowardly, ignorant, weak, clumsy, lethargic, senses numbed, and out of touch with his reality.

Further, black boys are lost before they can even get started. They have no one to initiate them into manhood so they can begin the journey to becoming a warrior. In Africa, most young boys are introduced to manhood be being separated from their mothers at the ripe age of about 10-12 years. They are then made to undergo some ritual that usually involves some cutting of the skin and shedding of blood, typically circumcision. After this, it is no longer acceptable for them to remain around their mothers. They are expected to begin sitting with men and learning men's ways.

Because we have lost these things, our boys never make the transition into manhood, thus our men, although men in age and physical maturity are still boys who do not have the warrior mentality. That is why I call them unemployed warriors. We have no purpose, in white society that is.

Of course our true purpose is to protect our communities, but thanks to all the distractions mentioned above we cannot comprehend this purpose so it may as well not exist. And so the black community goes unprotected. Our men become drug addicts, violent gangsters, profane rappers, and inmates who, in their down time escape their nothingness through playing games. The call must go out for the warrior to return to the village. He must take up his spear and his shield and resume his posts at the gates of his community, ready to defend it at all costs.

Having said all this, it is not enough to merely call for a return, since we don't know what we are to return to. We must figure out how to recapture the spirit of the warrior that has been absent for so long. Since this is not an issue that can be rushed, I must search for an answer and present it next month. See you then. See you next time.

© 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.

To subscribe to Hardman's column join the Afromerica email list to receive new information as it is updated. Or E-mail D Hardman at: essaysfromchurch@edincorporated.com

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