W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: Tha Artivist: It’s Time For Us To Take The Torch!

Photo by Matthew Craig

Tha Artivist: It’s Time For Us To Take The Torch!

“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans…”

~John F. Kennedy

The passing of Civil Rights Icons Dr. Ben Hooks & Dr. Dorothy Height in the past couple of weeks has got me really thinking that it is the next generation’s turn to really take it there…To the next level that is…

Although both individuals left pretty incredible legacies and records of achievements, the mission still hasn’t been accomplished…There is so much work to be done that there literally should be no unemployment because everyone should be too busy fulfilling their calling if they are willing to answer the call…

Every generation must answer the call for freedom and to do so in their own fashion no less…Dr. Hooks’ & Dr. Dorothy Height’s generation was all about fighting for whether it be the voting booths, restaurants, libraries, military, colleges/universities and media…Our generation now has the coveted access, from the internet to the white house, but what are we as a people and individuals doing with it??? Leadership without vision is not leadership at all, but the blind leading the blind…

I have had the pleasure of recently talking with the great Rev. C.T. Vivian, master theoretician of the non-violent-direct action philosophy of the American Civil Rights Movement and one of MLK’s most trusted lieutenants…He stated that one of the biggest mistakes they made during the movement years was not teaching Black history to the many Black activists and participants involved in the struggle…It was taken for granted…But how can the people act in the desired manner if they do not know??? How could they keep their eyes on the prize if they cannot define the prize or know what the prize looks like???

I work with kids on a regular basis…Many of them do not know of Dr. Ben Hooks or Dr. Dorothy Height nor of their immense contributions to improving their quality of life that they now take for granted…Is it their fault that they do not know the contributions of their elders and ancestors??? I think not.

Some of the elders and grownups I know are always calling the younger generations “lost”…Hell how can they be lost if they haven’t been given anything to lose??? Shame on us grownups who know better, but don’t do better to better serve our young people…We are doing them a grave disservice when we cripple their potential with words and further handicap them by denying them “knowledge of self”…

We all need to double down and amplify our efforts because time is not on our side…Contrary to popular belief youth is not wasted on the young…It is a rather a time of exploration and discovery of self and one’s relationship with the world…The fact that many of us have learned knowledge through trial and error while we are young and don’t apply the lessons learned as we grow older should be considered a crime of negligence against humanity…Your knowledge and gifts are for the enrichment/empowerment of the world and not for you alone…You are the messenger/conduit used to deliver the message…However, many of us go to our graves without learning our routes of delivery or what we were carrying in the first place…

I remember hearing the great Civil Rights Icon Julian Bond speak during my junior year at Wash U. in St. Louis…He told us that he and the other young guns at SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) had to take the torch from the older leadership because they did not want to give up or share power…As Bro. Fred Douglass said, “power concedes nothing without a demand”…If we want power and respect we must take it without apology or hesitation…

It is a rather sad state of affairs when I can go to numerous Civil Rights Movement oriented museums, seminars, lectures, events and book signings and witness folks my age and older looking dumbfounded, perplexed and bewildered by their role in what must be done in order to create true positive and everlasting change…You can hear them asking questions that should have been answered in their young exploratory mode…However, they were too afraid to explore then and they are still too afraid to discover now !!! They want no true knowledge because they really don’t want any responsibility nor accountability…

This is what made Dr. Hooks’ & Dr. Height’s generation of leadership so impressive and invaluable: they realized that great leaders are made through great service….They were willing to do what was needed to be done without permission from the powers that be nor hesitation and with clarity in thought and action…This is why they are our pioneers and trail blazers because they did not hesitate to make a way for others to benefit more so than themselves…And that is the true definition of a living legacy, which should always be remembered, celebrated and added on to…

Bro. Ron/