Community. What does this word mean?
Community, according to the America Heritage dictionary, is defined as a group of people having common interests, similarities or identity. Also, included in the meaning of community is sharing, participation and fellowship; all heavy terms with the power to revive an ailing society.
If you have ever driven through Los Angeles County, it is easy to notice the various different communities. For instance, there is Chinatown, Thai Town, Little Ethiopia, Little Tokyo and Koreatown to name a few. These are societies within the whole that support themselves, have a common goal, and educate their children, which in turn produces many upright citizens to lead our great country.
I’ve noticed that all of these communities have something in common–they all bear “free national names” (that connect them to their country of origin.)
However, we are all Americans, and America is a country made of many nations cooperating for the benefit of all. Each one of these individual communities/nations bring their own unique style and contribution to the table.
Now, we all know that “Black” is not a free national name. With that knowledge, I ask, could there ever be a such thing as a “Black” community. If so, what are our common interests as a “nation/community.” What is our creed? What issues do we fellowship around? Is there a ‘Black town’ somewhere in America?
In a previous article, I mentioned having an identity as being a very important starting point on the road to recovery for our people. Slavery successfully stripped us of this very vital ingredient to unity. Our people went into slavery with a name/identity and came out with a color to define ourselves. This is an extremely important detail that is too often overlooked.
All of the blood, sweat, and tears shed by us will be in vain until we can comprehend the basic meaning of a community/nation. It is our name that gives us prestige in the world. In order to build a strong community, some effort must be made to discover who we were prior to our enslavement and carry on from there. All of the hatred, slander and lewdness that was beaten into our DNA must be eradicated. The Honorable Marcus Garvey understood the meaning of community/nationality when he said …”One God, One Aim, One Destiny.”
We, as a nation of people, must know that in order to sit at the table of nations, we must have a nationality. One that was passed on to us by our forefathers and mothers, not one that was given to us.
As always, peace and love.
