FROM the CURSE of WILLIE LYNCH to the NEW AFRICAN AMERICAN GENERATION

April 1968 the death of Dr. Martin Luther King started black folk in America on a journey to find the Promise Land. After 300 years of slavery and all the misery, indignation, and deprivation that supported slavery, we embarked on that forty year journey that Martin L. King had promised. Some understood that there would be long hard days ahead. They understood that there were behaviors, mental programming, and deficient educational preparation that would have to be eliminated before we entered the Promise Land. And so we wandered. During that time; we fought with the idol (drugs) worshipers; the propagandists (media); and the power structure (money and politics) to prepare to begin building a productive society once we entered. Very few people realized that the basic infrastructure was in place to build a society of which to be proud. The first notable change is the emergence of the new Elders (new young leadership) to take on the responsibility for developing the next generations. The recent election of Barack Obama as President of the United States signaled an awakening of black folk in America. The African American voting population, until the recent election for president, was ignored by republicans, and courted only in a close election by democrats. This was a tactic designed by politicians to control black voters for their vote, while minimizing their influence or rewards after an election. The recent threat of a Blackout (blacks refusing to vote en mass) in the general election sent shock waves throughout the Democratic Party before the presidential election of 2008. The election of Barack Obama was important to black America’s pride, but far more important was the message: that the Democrats can not elect a president without the black vote. From this day forward, African Americans should understand the value and power of their vote. They must have a well thought-out agenda to improve their lives through their vote. Blacks now know that they have true political value; the challenge is to use it wisely. Forty years of wandering in the political wilderness was required to get to this level in our quest to find the Promise Land that Martin L. King promised.