Black America has always taken a back seat to the majority privileged and for years has been stuck at second-rate jobs and careers, regardless of how hard we work or how much education and money we have. The standard rule is that Blacks are not supposed to have as much as their majority-counter parts where it pertains to material possessions, property, education, status or prestige; and certainly not power. This is obvious from America's episode of having a Black president. Most Congress people or people in high positions simply refused to take orders or suggestions from a Black man.

A man they saw as inferior to their own race. So they did everything contrary to whatever the President proposed in a show of defiance against the authority of a Black man. This case of misplaced identity shows up not only in politics but around the country in jobs and fields where a Black man or woman becomes the head of something. Many times, there is always someone of the majority that refuses to accept leadership or instruction from a person of color. Yes, there are Black judges and lawyers and police officers, but we do not write the laws, we only enforce them. We need to write the laws.

So how does a person catch up to and surpass someone who had a head-start in the race? It is almost impossible to do, but can be done by beginning a different race. First, cleanse the mind to see a different finish line than the one that was set before the race. Whatever is at the end of the finish line should be reconsidered as to its value and whether it is worth the run and extra energy spent to get there. Pay attention to the checkpoints and milestones throughout the race and consider whether they will get you to the end on merit alone and not on whom you are or who you know. Throughout the race in life, many times the majority can reach the finish line because of extra help at specific milestones.

Black America does not have as much help when they reach these milestones as do the majority runners, which causes us to work or run twice as hard as the competition. Many times when we reach a certain milestone and are catching up with the opponent, obstacles are laid in our way, left there by our predecessor and we have to jump through hoops and take detours to get back on track. The obstacles are sometimes hard to identify and many times we refuse to admit that they were laid there on purpose, but more often than not, they are traps set specifically for when we reach that certain point.

When You Leave the Room

For example, job applicants are chosen according to the nationality box instead of on merit and whether we know it or not, or want to believe it or not, many studies prove things happen. In education, some children are automatically assumed to be less intelligent than others are and as a result placed in different, less productive classes, while their opponents are catapulted into higher classes of education and taught what matters as opposed to what does not matter. Paychecks read different for certain people doing the same job as others. As a general rule people are not comfortable sharing their weekly salary with others and are discouraged to do so, especially when they know they are making more money than their counterpart. Who knows what goes on behind the office doors of the manager's office after six months of service between a Black employee and a white one? These are things that are hard to prove (because no laws govern people's thoughts) and may even be speculation, but it is not unheard of and not something we should count out as being done right under our noses.

What we must do is know they are and move from that point forward. Who is being treated better while locked behind bars, the white inmate or the Black one? Who is receiving fair sentencing between the two and who is more likely to get arrested? If one thing is true in one area, there is no reason not to believe it is happening in other areas of the race. Black America must acknowledge the truth first before we can rise above feelings of inferiority. We must know that we are, in fact, being discriminated against so we can meet the challenge in a more proactive way than just accepting and believing any and every excuse thrown at us by the majority or allowing them to place unnecessary blame on us instead of where the blame actually belongs. We must cleanse the mind to know the truth; that we are running a race in which the opponent had a huge head start and there are many obstacles in our way placed there to hinder our run for success. Name the area of life, whether it is economically, education, justice, or health, the majority has put into place neutralizing obstacles for Black Americans and unless we understand and recognize them, we will never overcome them.

We are not intellectually inferior. We are not more lazy, unproductive or unwilling anymore than anyone else in this society regardless of race. There are more whites on welfare and who drain the system than there are Blacks but Blacks are the ones profiled and assumed to be when we watch the news or read reports on welfare dependency. These are all lies and are meant to deceive the viewers and readers into thinking Blacks are a problem when in reality it is the majority. We, and the rest of the nation have been brainwashed into believing these lies and we must stop believing them and know what the truth is. Our communities are under-developed not because we neglect them but because our communities are neglected by the governing society. It is not our fault some inner cities are under-funded or lack the resources and jobs needed to keep them afloat. It is not Black people's fault there are liquor stores and fast food restaurants on every corner. This is all by design and we can see that.

The schools in the Black communities, the playgrounds, and the businesses in our neighborhoods are not top-notch because all the good businesses build out in the suburbs where people with more money can purchase their goods and services. It is all common sense and cannot and should not be denied any longer. The police and justice system troll our communities looking for criminal behavior more than they troll the suburbs because we as a people are easier to convict and are a guaranteed source of prison population and government revenue. Stop lying to yourself and stop ignoring the real problem and see the truth for what it really is instead of blaming ourselves for our problem.

Of course, there are those in our communities that refuse to conform to the ways of society but they are few and far between than those who want something out of life. Generalizations are made by the majority and published and broadcasted over the media, which accuses us of being the leaches in this society instead of putting the blame on where it should be; on the shoulders of the majority leadership and the wealthy. All we can really do is live in the environment we are born into and learn how to survive by taking what is available to us. We take advantage of the options giving to us and even if we graduate high school and go to college and graduate college, we still have to face discrimination in the workforce. And when we succeed in the workforce we have to face discrimination in going any further with our own ideas including facing the fact that our ideas may be stolen from us and used by someone in the majority to make them rich and benefit their communities instead of ours. We can rise above any of the obstacles put before us but that does not mean racism is not at work in the Black community.

The point is, stop believing lies about you and face what is real, that Blacks are discriminated against no matter how far you pull yourself out of poverty and make the grade. If you move from the projects to a house on the hill in the suburbs, you will still be discriminated against one way or another. What we need to do is know the truth, face the reality of this society and fight against it by bringing it to the open each and every time and in each and every area of society and stop hiding behind it, excusing it and pretending it is not there. This is what keeps us down; our own ignorance and unwillingness to fight back, not our lack of anything intellectual or motivational, but because of our delusions of what is really happening.

Find your talent or improve your skills and start your own business. Make it your goal to work for yourself even if it is a small business selling food on the corner. Instead of making others rich by working for low wages or going into extreme debt, make sure you have a plan to take care of yourself and your family under your own terms and not under another's terms and at their mercy. Learn to live at a modest means instead of the lifestyle of the rich and famous. In reality, no one needs a ten bedroom house, a swimming pool, and a theater in their homes. That is all a show of vanity and greed and selfishness and if you allow those things to control your mind and dictate your life's goals, you will sell yourself short and disappoint yourself and your family. The basics of life are food, clothing and shelter and your rewards will come after you have fulfilled the basics.

Brand new cars of the latest model year and jewelry and glamour are all vanity and will eventually destroy you either in the process of trying to get them or through the process of having them in a greedy and selfish society. Buy a smaller house, not one that will keep you working for the rest of your life. Buy a car that runs, not one that you are forced to slave for five and ten years. Buy clothes that fit and are reasonably priced instead of having to wear the fashions of other people to show off nothing more than your body. And pass these concepts down to your children so they can learn to rise above poverty, not by working and slaving for someone else, but by living modestly and working for themselves.

The answer to sustaining the strength of the Black community economy-wise is as easy as not feeding the larger one. Greed and vanity is what compels a person to live above their means. Trying to imitate the larger society is why we end up not having anything and not owning anything. Material things are what drains our pockets and spending on unnecessary things are what keeps us broke and never being able to get ahead. A house in the suburbs is not the answer. A new car, fashious clothes or expensive eating is not the answer. Basic and simple things are what keep anyone afloat in today's society.

Understanding that success comes through contentment and not materials possessions will teach us and the following generations that a well-oiled economy can be as small as a neighborhood but at the same time as large as a country. Small efforts lead to bigger things and time is always on our side because no one knows what can happen in a year's time. The Revolution brings business into the Black community through talent and performing; marketing that talent and pulling it away from the mainstream; putting people to work to make the performance happen. Using skills of communications, marketing, technology, food preparation, serving, and catering; clean-up services, construction and prep work all for the purpose of one show for the entertainment of the community.

Over and over and over until the greater society is drained of the real talent and the Black community owns their own. Drama, film, sports, stage, singing, dancing are things we are gifted with and putting those things together and advertising them around the country and world takes skill. To keep clients and the people working, the Revolution will demand the best people at their craft and the best businesses and if they practice unethical business with the Revolution, they can take their asses back to the plantation.

Excerpt from The Quiet Revolution

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