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 Let's Talk
Denise Rolark Barnes
Columnist Page
Friday, January 21, 2005; Page 20
Can A Million Men Stop the Pain?
We’ve talked often in this column about growing up back in the day, being a part of the Baby Boomer generation and the pride that came with growing up in the 60s. Many of us were very young then and it was through the conversations we overheard between our parents and other adults that we became aware of the Civil Rights Movement from their firsthand experiences.
It was an exciting period because our parents struggle later became ours that we learned to fight and express through our clothes, our hair and our music. Oh, the message in the music. It meant something because it gave us pride in who and what we were.
That’s what makes the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday so significant. That day and the whole month of February allow us a chance to bask in our blackness and not feel compelled to show tolerance for those who insist that they are what they are and “just happen to be black.” Many of us from the 60s generation are black first and just happen to be whatever else we are and, hopefully, that something is preceded by successful.
And so it was, as well, to sit for nearly two and a half hours to listen Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam, last Saturday, at Union Temple Baptist Church and hear him talk about the things black people need to know and the what we need to do. It was also a special moment to see and hear the remarks of Reverend Walter Fauntroy, a lieutenant in Dr. King’s Army, who we are still so blessed to have here in our midst and to be able to hear first hand about the weapons of mass destruction they fought against over the years.
I know I am not alone when I say that it does the spirit good to have days like this to be reminded that the struggle is not over and for those who have the energy, resources and talents to give, much is still expected.
Yet, romanticizing about a period that has made a 180 degree turn is a true waste of time. And it is even sadder when you look into a mother’s eyes, who has to struggle with the fact that the “White Man” is no longer the enemy he once was but he has been replaced by a black youth who carries hate, not love for his brothers and sisters.
Minister Farrakhan could not escape the reality of the pain that so many Black mothers feel today as they declare that Dr. King’s dream has faded away. There was no way he could dismiss the hurt expressed by his sister in the faith, Valencia Muhammed, who shared her loss of not one, but two sons, to the violence occurring on the streets in Washington, D.C., the sane violence that occurs all too often in his home of Chicago, and in urban, suburban and rural cities across this country.
“What good will a Million Man March be if it can’t reach the hearts of the men it claims it will,” she asked. The enemy is now our young black men who take sport in killing others who look, dress, walk and talk just like them. Her sons can never be returned to her, but what must we do to save the rest?
Minister Farrakhan, the father of nine children, seemed to feel her pain and addressed her concerns in ways that he must have thought would help to dry up her tears, as well. Honestly, though, there is probably nothing he or anyone else could say that would bring some closure to her pain and the mothers of thousands of young black men, except the persons who took took their sons’ lives. Most, unfortunately, are still roaming the streets free because the criminal justice system has not caught up with them yet.
It was heartwarming to see one million men on the mall 10 years ago, and to see some of the good that came out of it. This time, Minister Farrakhan will be calling on 10 million men to join in the commemoration this fall. The true value of such an occasion will best be told by the women – the mothers – who will be watching to see what will happen next.
For Denise Rolark Barnes send email to drbarnes@washingtoninformer.com |
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