In Times of Crisis, The Wise Build Bridges and the Foolish Build Dams

We are living in an interesting time in our history. A time where some of the issues that plague our communities are receiving attention of the public eye due to recent events. With the seeming increase of publicly displayed injustice that has seen in the headlines and featured on social media presences across the globe, there is a great deal of uncertainty resulting from it all. I had a friend of mine ask me how we should deal with these circumstances recently following the non-indictment of Darren Wilson and I didn't really have a clear answer. I don't know if anyone does, or if there is even ONE clear answer, there could be many. A key part the confusion about the next direction stems from the reality that injustice occurs at almost every facet of our existence in this country and that we have been led into believing these incidents (such as Racial Profiling) are isolated.

 The same forces at work that are leading to our black youth being murdered in streets (both by police and by each other) are the same ones that are responsible for failures in our schools, our issues with healthcare, higher incarceration rate, disproportionate amount of single parent households, and the discrimination that occurs in the workplace and housing alike.

 I love the outcry that has been shown at the grassroots level and there is definitely unity in the protests that continue to go on nationwide. However, there has got to be more that can be done than simply laying down in the street, attempting to black highways, walking out of class or tweeting #BlackLivesMatter. Yes, Black lives matter when we are targeted, profiled and even killed by an INSTITUTION such as law enforcement. But they also matter everyday when people are denied basic liberties and guidelines set forth and supposedly protected by the constitution of this country. So how do you navigate through issues with such longstanding historical effects like that of the African American journey in this country?

It is my opinion that you have to connect to your source, who you are and where you have come from. Unfortunately that proves more difficult in this case because of the atrocities that were endured through centuries of discrimination. After earning our freedom from slavery, we were sent out without recompense and expected to compete in a free market economical system without knowledge and awareness of where we come from and where we belong. Kwanzaa is an attempt to do just that.

Kwanzaa offers an opportunity for us as a people to connect with parts of our existence prior to being here in America. Traditions and culture that we can connect to and may offer some ideas of what TANGIBLE things we can do in lieu of all of the social unrest we have been focused on lately. I found inspiration to write this from an article written by Michael W Twitty on some of the history of Kwanzaa and why it should be recognized even more in today's social climate.

Is Kwanzaa the perfect remedy to our issues? maybe not. Is it a relatively newly founded holiday? yes, but with the commercialization of Christmas it is neither all that perfect of a holiday either. There are specific guiding principles in Kwanzaa that can have positive impacts, not only in times of crisis but also on an everyday basis that will help to counteract ALL the negative forces that should call for the necessity to do more than just TELL people that #blacklivesmatter.