BLACK LEADERS?

White people, I have to ask you not to read this post. If you must read it, please keep what you read to yourself. (What happens in the fields, stays in the fields)

I am afraid I am going to say somethings that might piss off allot of folks. I sure hate to put our (black folks) dirty laundry out there, but right about now I am sick of our so called black leaders and their trifling ass ways. And you know me, I can't bite my tongue; I just have to call it like I see it.

So let's talk about the latest elected black leader to let us down. William Jefferson was indicted today on 16 counts of obstruction of justice, money laundering, and racketeering. Homeboy is looking at over 230 years in prison if convicted of all the charges. By putting himself in this position he has embarrassed his race, his family, and the fine people of the state of Louisiana. For the record, I have never liked Jefferson. Like so many so called black leaders, I have always thought of him as a phony, and somewhat of a self promoting charlatan. A man who puts his own needs and selfish pursuits over those of the people that he was elected to serve. So I was not surprised when he was caught cold (no pun intended) with ninety thousand dollars in his refrigerator. I know you just can't trust banks these days. My question to the good folks of New Orleans would be this: Why did you re-elect this man? Wasn't his disgusting actions during the peak of the Katrina tragedy enough to make you realize how selfish he is? Included in these charges is an allegation that he bribed a Nigerian elected official no less. How sad is that?

But Jefferson isn't alone. There are a host of other black elected officials who have let us down over the years. I mean where do I start? Marion (the smoker) Berry; no explanation needed there. Bill Campbell, the former Mayor of Atlanta, who was indicted on bribery and racketeering charges, and was convicted on three counts of tax evasion. There is the head of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, John Bowman, who was indicted for bank and credit card fraud. There is poor state senator Roscoe Dixon, from Tennessee, who did 63 months in a Louisiana jail for, you guessed it, birbery and fraud. Hey, how about Mel Reynolds from Illinois? My man was convicted and served time for criminal sexual assault and bank fraud. And it's not always the politicians. Our preachers are not immune from this type of dastardly behavior. Think of the good Reverend Henry J. Lyons, who while leading one of our largest church groups, was charged with defrauding corporations out of millions. What about our educators? Yes, them too. Remember Doloros Cross, the President of Morris Brown College, who allegedly used her school as her own personal piggy bank by defrauding that poor financially strapped college out of millions?

I could go on, but I will spare you. "But field white folks do it too, why are you focusing on the black leaders?" Because I don't care about what white people do. I care about us. We need to stop worrying about what white folks do, and stop trying to do every thing that they do. That's what many of these so call black leaders failed to realize. Their mission is not the same as their white colleagues or other white people in their perspective fields. They (Black leaders) have a higher calling, and they have a much more serious responsibility. The mission, that they chose to accept, is to do everything in their powers to uplift their race, and to act as true public servants. They have to realize that they are not in the positions they are in to line their pockets for themselves and their families.

So what do we do? Do we keep electing these disingenuous people to positions of power? Or do we start paying attention when they come around with their lies and promises? I would suggest that the reason many black folks are apathetic and turned off by the electoral process is because of the lack of real leadership on our behalf. We see the type of people who are supposed to be leading us, and we shrug and say; "what's the point of even voting, things won't change." Many of us think it's business as usual, and we are fed up. If you have been reading this blog, you will see how frustrated I have been with he CBC leadership of late. My frustrations stem from all the things that I mentioned above, as well as that organizations failure to reach out to grass roots organizations in our community. (So you want to team with FOX NOISE, wait until you see how they treat your fellow member-Mr. Jefferson now) But I guess reaching out is not an option if you are lining your pockets thanks to the status quo.

Things are tough enough out here for us as it is without having to put up with the sorry leadership that we have grown used to. But at the end of the day, we are responsible for putting them there, and ultimately we will have to hold them accountable or we will have to live with the consequences.