Black History Month (BHM) 2020: 15 suggestions for sustainable black empowerment (Part 3 of 3)

BY ERROL A. GIBBS

Part 3 of 3 is a continuation through suggestions 9, 10, 11, and 12. The final 3 suggestions, 13, 14, and 15, will appear in a forthcoming summary article. The 15 suggestions represent thoughts, observations, and experiential knowledge since the inception of BHM 25 years ago (1995-2020). Some readers might query the broad scope, though brief, of each suggestion in the context of what they may consider as local challenges of the black community.

The aim is to propose permanent macro-level (“root cause”) solution perspectives to begin new high-level dialogues regarding black empowerment over the next 30 years (2020-2050). Observably, the three most populous countries that blacks have adopted (post-enslavement) and have become citizens of ―are the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. These countries wrote their constitutions in 1258, 1787, and 1867 respectively. Unfortunately, black people did not have status as human beings during these periods of subjugation, exclusion, and isolation by these nations.

Suggestion Number 9. A Constitutional Perspective: Over the centuries, these nations have penned constitutional amendments, rights, and acts to include black and aboriginal voices into the political process. Yet, inequities abound in the twenty-first century. Scholars and fellows could revisit these constitutions to seek opportunities to address language that is contrary to the sovereign rights of human beings, and “egalitarian societies.” Constitutional amendments may not necessarily change the ideological intent of the original word, consistent with a twenty-first century understanding of humanity.

The human family is the integral building block of society with the needs of the child at the nucleus. This “spiritual doctrine” should be a “constitutional doctrine” of the first order. Paradoxically, children are born “unequal” in traits, and social and economic standing of their parents. Privileged children are born into generational wealth and advantage. The assumption of “born equal” in any aspect than the “spiritual” gives rise to “moral alibis” that inadvertently justify inequities. The statistical probability of being born or born healthy portrays the life of some troubled youths who are the children of disfranchised families.

Suggestion Number 10. A Legal Perspective: Laws are a predicate of a nations’ constitution. Can a just law be other than that which squares with the moral law or the law of God? A just law “improves” the state of humanity. Conversely, an unjust law “worsens” the plight of humanity ―author of Just Mercy ―A Story of Justice and Redemption. Copyright © 2014 by Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the “Equal Justice Initiative,” says, “The opposite of poverty is not wealth. In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.”

Conspicuously, minority communities tend to focus principally on criminal justice laws and policing as their topmost concern. This faculty of legal scholars and fellows could also examine how the execution of the composite of complex human laws influence human lives, in particular, the lives of blacks and indigenous people. Only self-governing (autonomous) legal clinics could help to establish the essential legal building blocks to tackle other inequities such as endemic in healthcare, housing, and financing lending.

Suggestion Number 11. A Theological and Technological Perspective: The assumption of separation of Church and State is an enigma as both bodies attempt to order human life (a house with two masters). Can the clergy or the political leaders manage God’s creation and His created beings without a “Theological” (Spiritual) and “Technological” (Physical) perspective of the universal needs of humankind? The constitution of nations ought to have explicit language that acknowledges this highest order of leadership, lest the rule of countries degrades into a state of constitutional instability.

Political leaders face insurmountable challenges to manage countries that are becoming increasingly diverse. Paradoxically, the clergy pontificates that God appoints leaders. Herein lies an opportunity to include this great appointment and accountability to constitutional stewardship. This new leadership approach will help to create a “moral” and “philosophical” framework to deal better with the challenges of the postmodern era of great cultural diversity.

Suggestion Number 12. A Black Entrepreneurial Perspective: Black entrepreneurs can be a formidable frontier for creating black wealth and empowerment. The challenge, though, is to develop a “blueprint” to bolster the requisite level of professionalism and “business intelligence” to penetrate markets in other minority and mainstream communities. Black entrepreneurs are missing an “economic boon” by not having access to these untapped marketplaces. Similarly, significant business opportunity losses are occurring within the native black community.

This faculty should create a “think tank” of multi-disciplinary black professionals as an agency to collaborate in a public-private partnership. Likewise, to pen a governance infrastructure and standards to heighten the capacity for the administration of black businesses. The new model should incorporate “Ten Knowledge Areas of Black Business Administration,” as a basis for professional certification. A college and university network with a strong focus on Project and Business Management Analysis could pilot an accreditation program that could ultimately extend through the Diaspora, the Caribbean, and Continental Africa.

The last 3 suggestions, 13, 14, and 15, will appear in a forthcoming summary article.