Black History Month. Day 1

 

Today is the first day of Black History Month.

 

This is the year 2013. We have indeed come a long way.

Today, the first bi-racial President has begun to serve his second term with our first African American first lady by his side.

 

Today, men and women of color are serving in places and positions we could not even have dreamt of twenty years ago. Even in my own family, Mixon and Prude men and women who have served in circles of leadership in the military, churches, government and education.

And for all the gains, we still have a long way to go. While more women of colour are attending college, more men of colour are in jail. While we have black doctors and nurses, we also have drug dealers. While we sing the songs of Zion, there are also the vile tunes that spring from the pit of hell.

The doors of education are now wide open to us, but how many of our children are dropping out of high school.  For all the struggles our great-grandparents and grandparents went through, wanting to make a better life for us, many have not taken advance of them. Yes, there are those who would love to see us back in chains, sitting in the back  of the bus once again, the truth is, the ones stopping us from moving forward isn’t from outside the black community, but from within.

I am giving fair warning; my post this month is not going to be easy reading.  There will be those I shall make rather angry. That is fine.
There is a saying I love; the truth shall set you free. First, it shall piss you off.