Today, we celebrate Juneteenth, a day commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery on June 19, 1865. Yesterday, after 144 years, the United States Senate apologized for slavery. With a unanimous vote, America has begun her healing process. For our country will never be able to heal itself without atoning for the sins of our past. We have finally recognized that in order for us to move forward as a people in this beautiful nation, we need to acknowledge the pain that we all have suffered because of slavery. The pain has lasted for the past 144 years, and now with our government taking the right step in apologizing, I know that we can begin to heal. The effects of slavery on our communities have been devastating. The devastation does not stop because of the apology; however these are words that we needed to hear. We all needed to hear. This was a day that many of us have dreamed about for our entire lives. This was a day that many who were at the forefront of this struggle could not enjoy because they are no longer with us. And for those heroes, I go to work every day to make sure that they are never forgotten.
With my newly appointed position as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Permanent Memorial to the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, I vow to work on behalf of our young people to make sure that we never have to feel this sort of pain again. As we all know, slavery and human trafficking exist all around the world, at record numbers. We must remember the past, however we also must work to prevent our mistakes from happening again in the future. I will work even harder in my roles as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, and I urge you all to take a moment to recognize the importance of the actions of the United States Senate. Let the healing continue...
WHAT IF DARFUR WAS TELEVISED? WOULD PEOPLE CARE MORE?
Beyond this apology, what else? Sadly, when talking of slavery, the emphasis is often on those people that arrived in America and were put in bondage. Well, rightly so.
But the devastation that slavery caused to Africa was immense. Families were torn apart, communities obliterated, kingdoms taken down. Slavery did not bring to America from Africa fragile old men and women. NO! It was the most powerful, most productive, intelligent African men and women in their prime.
What the slave masters left behind was a trail of destruction that, up to this day, Africa needs to recover. A few years ago, there was a chorus coming out of Africa calling for reparation to be paid for the evil of slavery. Most people were putting forward ridiculous amounts of money.
But that would be a mistake, paying money. With the greed of African leaders and the corruption out there, the money would disappear. Secondly, you can’t really put a figure to the cost of slavery. Perhaps those who are truly sorry should go to Africa to build schools, hospitals, campaign for foreign direct investment. It falls far short, but its much better than mere words of apology uttered in the U.S. Congress.
Today, social work is doing much to support black people, but without a means to vitalize the search for self-determination what was a repose from deprivation creates a league of dependants that have been severed from social strata and the responsibilities that keep self-sufficiency alive. Insufficiency is a heavy burden: inability to find suitable employment, unaffordable housing costs and medical bills, daycare, medication, and grocery expenses. They all remind the individual of his deficiency. “If you tell a man often enough that he is afflicted, he will become afflicted and will adopt the mental and physical attitude befitting that soul-destroying word.” When we talk about empowering people we are talking about helping them come to decisions with a capacity and foresight to choose a decision they can build on not to satisfy some feeling of self-sacrifice or either to undermine their ability to make constructive choices in the future. With purpose and preparedness we can find value in/by knowing what to do next.
revised: I apologize to my ancestors for NOT taking total advantage of the opportunity we now have in this country
An apology does not change everything over night. as I've said, change must come from those who were oppressed. I will say that I apologize to my people for doing nothing about kids dropping out of school. I apologize for allowing my brothers to sell drugs to our beautiful sisters. I apologize for allowing gangs to take a mothers child from her life. I apologize to our women and children for not being fathers. I apologize to my ancestors for taking total advantage of the opportunity we now have in this country. I apologize for allowing ourselves to be divided by those who hates us. if all can offer from this day on is advice to the next generation, I will not let fear stop me, nor will I let myself stop me.
As of now there are many who see black people as govt. beggars and welfare recipients. they either don't know or forget that black people have been in bondage longer than they have been free in this country. the mistake people also make is looking at the success of black people in America. Because no other race would have survived what we've survived, people think that we as black people have always had the opportunity to be successful in this country.
This show shouldn't be used as a crutch. The ability to heal and overcome from trauma and wrong doing comes from the INDIVIDUAL. It does not come from the politically correct and attuned Senate. That is just another form of slavery, letting someone else control what you do or how you act. I know many successful black men and women that I have had the pleasure of working with and they would take offense at this statement that now they can start healing...they started healing the day they said that they wouldn't let the past define them. A past, by the way, that neither them nor their grandparents and great grandparents ever knew (if you're speaking directly about the institution of slavery).
I can't wait for Rome to come out with an apology for what the Romans did to the Christians by the thousands back around 100AD. Live Christian torches for the party tonight, anyone? No thanks, I don't need an apology. I'll go ahead and determine my own success and need for healing.
Slavery and Jim Crow robbed the world of some of the greatest minds. As a country alone we should be at least 100yrs more advanced. But, if one man always has the right to live up to his full potential, it makes him look smarter or superior to the other man. indirectly, this has a negative effect on both. The man who thinks he is superior ends up having a false impression upon himself, and when things don't go his/her way, they can't handle it. for the other man who indirectly thinks he is inferior, he will accept his condition of poverty, low education, and poor housing. Any man regardless of color has a gift to give to this world. If a single ant plays a roll in making this world go around, imagine the roll God gave each man. so before we as black people look for any more apologies, we should look at our brothers and sisters and say.......I'M SORRY!
http://www.blackcommentator.com/165/165_radio_bc/01_05_06_radio_bc_black_on_black_crime.html
Throughout history, people of all skin colors have done unspeakable crimes to people of all skin colors, including their own. There are always reasons, but no matter how complicated it's still inexcusable. Just call it what it is and stop blaming 'the other guy'!
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1366394/why_police_violence_kills_people_like.html
people don't shift from a stance of accommodation and tenament to aggression and retrobution without a cause or catalyst.
when are you going to apologize and make amends for the countless young minds you have brain washed with negative, self-destructive images and beliefs about themselves. I fear you are far more relevant in healing your own karma, with the way made millions... at the expense of many young black youths - poisoning their minds...
About 50,000 women of all races are brought to America each year as sex slaves. They are forced into constant and dangerous prostitution. I'll bet a dollar to a donut that some of you "real men" petitioners crying for freedom and apologies herein would be the first to take advantage of these poor women if given the chance.
These women arrive in the U.S., and they are stripped of their legal papers and identity. They don't speak English. They live in crude and unhealthy rooms. They are helpless. They are usually held as prisoners by armed organized criminals that "own" them. Many of them die and are never heard from again. These criminal slave masters are Asian, black, Latino and white men.
I would like to hear from both our men and women bloggers on this point.
You have a problem with the old dead slave owner analogy. Telling half the story, doesn't make it true. So I ask you, where did the money from their ill-gotten gains go? Surely, it must have evaporated into this ficitious abyss you keep referring to. I'll help you here. The principal benefactor of slavery, in all its variations, was the government. This is the same institution that was suppose to facilitate the black man's FULL intergration into the business world. With that said, let's see how far we have come with this government mandate. Keep in mind, this was done to motivate businesses to "do the right thing" for our people. Take a long hard look at the numbers of black people that are represented in the upper management of the major businesses today. If black people are truly equal, why are they not represented in 2009 business.