How sad it is to realize that homicide is the leading cause of death for African-American and Hispanic youths 15-24 years of age. Statistics reveal teenagers and young adults are more likely to become victims of violent crime than older persons. What a heartbreaking and distressing observation. And I believe that we have had the ways, knowledge and methods that could have evaded most of the violence and bloodshed that is prevalent in our society, and we could have eluded and restored respect for women, our elders and our communities. The blueprint was laid years ago.
In the August 27, 1998 edition of The American, I wrote, “After viewing videos on BET, MTV, VH1 and other musical outlets, I wrote several articles condemning ‘gangsta rap’ and the way young, African-American males and females are portrayed. I do not understand the compulsion for beautiful young women to exploit their sexuality and for young men to denigrate and disrespect them. I felt that the next generation of African Americans would be lost. Now I do not feel that way.”
I noted organization taking young people under their wings, such as the Im Hotep Academy; the Frederick Douglass Institute; Jamala Rogers and the Organization for Black Struggle’s Youth Group; Malik and Deborah Ahmed’s Better Family Life’s youth component; Keith Antone and St. Paul Saturday’s; Kateeb Waheed, Veronica Banks, and members of Caring Communities; St. Louis Community Schools; Lov-a-Nary family values; Storman-Stuflin School and Sister Clara Muhammad School. All were devoted to the welfare of African-American children.
So much has changed over the years. The crisis is especially acute now. Everyday we wake up to crimes being committed against families by their own children, or children killing children. Many things have been altered and so many values have been destroy or misplaced since that 1998 column.
During that time we read and discussed Jawanza Kunjufu’s 1982 publication of Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys, in which he analyzes and offers alternatives to the frequent failure of black males in school and in the marketplace. Kunjufu addressed and continues to speak to the genocide of African-American boys and what schools and communities can do to halt the demise.
I spoke with Dr. Kunjufu last week. He said, “Over the past 20 years, we have developed numerous rites of passage and mentoring programs to combat the 68 percent of our children without fathers. We need more men to become involved as we compete against gangs, drug dealers, gansta rappers, and ineffective schools for the minds of our youth.”
In a recent column, I drew attention to the late C. Dolores Tucker who focused a spotlight on rap music in 1993, calling it “pornographic filth” and saying it was demeaning and offensive to black women. She said, “You can’t listen to all that language and filth without it affecting you.”
I personally believe that some, not all, rap music is genocidal. Last week Baba Sanyika Anwisye, co-founder of the Frederick Douglass Institute/Hofi Ni Kwenu Academy/ New African Village, told me, “A community, a race, becomes what it’s entertained by. The purpose of art in the African community is to help teach and reinforce righteous living and the movement to regain and then retain our freedom. If it doesn’t do that, it’s not African art, not African music – no matter what the rhythm and no matter the race of the artist.”
He said, “Positive messages can be given without using profanity or endorsing unmarried sex, misogyny, life irresponsibility or gratuitous violence.”
In my heart, I believe we should get back to the teachings of institutions such as Storman Academy and the organizations that I mentioned earlier, and educate our youths in the ways of our elders and ancestors. As Phil Lane once said, “We need to respect and honor all the different spiritual traditions and sacred teachings of the human family that help us to become more loving, kind, forgiving, gentle and just human beings.”
We must educate the parents so that all will know how to instill in their children the courage, strength and perseverance to meet the challenges of growing up. We have had the design for years, but somehow it got lost. Now my fears have returned, and I am scared as hell.
I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3369 or by email at: berhay@swbell.net.
Hotep!