Black History month is the product of a movement wrought in blood and sacrifice and forged by generations of men and women who were willing and able to do the impossible. We celebrate their achievements and give thanks to their work. If you were to take away their efforts for freedom and change, the very life we have come to know wouldn’t exist.
Our community is no stranger to the struggle, and frankly, all too familiar with the pain. We are caretakers to a great legacy, and the burden remains as great as ever.
Unemployment among African Americans is above 15 percent. Nearly 28 percent of African Americans are in poverty. Nearly one-third of the U.S. prison population is African-American.
We have the capacity and the compassion to give back to our communities and to help those who are helpless. We have the ability and ambition to reach this generation in ways that have never been accessible to our communities before. But do we possess the courage and commitment to answer the complicated problems we face?
We must ask ourselves the fundamental question: “Can we be better today than we were yesterday?” This must be the calling for our work beyond our 9 to 5. We owe it to our forebears and ourselves.
I urge this generation to take up this challenge: Be more than just you. Allow your ambition to take you further than your own goals.
Become a tutor to your classmates or a mentor to those youth at risk. Be a voice against bullying, and rise up against hate and bigotry. Utilize social media to challenge social injustices.
Dr. King once said, “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
We can be more than just mothers, we can be counselors. We can be more than just fathers, we can be caregivers. We can be more than just students, we can be advocates. And we are more than just a community, but tomorrow’s leaders.
We must volunteer, vote and campaign. We can do more than just champion a cause, we can create our own. Now, more than ever, we can be the change we wish to see.
President Obama perhaps said it best, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Let us heed the call of our president. Let us heed the words of our ancestors. Let us heed a calling to lead a cause greater than ourselves.
Courtney Curtis represents Missouri’s 73rd District in the Missouri House of Representatives.
