social and political operation
(poverty, police brutality, and nega
tive portrayal of Blacks in the
media to name a few.) Who knows
what the future will hold for
Blacks in America?
As Blacks in America, we should
question the past and present day
situations and ask ourselves, are
things supposed to be this way?
Should we accept this? As we
study the past and live in the pre
sent, we should contemplate the
future and decide for ourselves, do
we need a revolution in the new
millermium? Some may ask, what
is a revolution exactly? In order to
make wise decisions, we must first
be educated about our options and
the matters at hand. So, let us first
define revolution. According to
the Random House Webster’s
College Dictionary, a revolution is
1.) “A complete and forcible over
throw and replacement of an estab
lished government or political sys
tem by the people governed.” 2.)
“A sudden, complete, or radical
change in something.” We have a
choice in our future, so as you con
tinue reading the rest of this arti
cle, make your choice, revolution
or not?
There are many issues within poli
tics, economics and socialism that
will directly affect Blacks in the
new millennium. Let us begin
with
politics. Though some of us may
not know it. Congress has to
reconsider the Voting Rights Act of
1965 by the year 2007. This could
greatly affect Black-voting rights
as we know it. According to an
article written by Richard Valelly, a
professor of political science at
Swarthmore College, in the
September issue of “The American
Prospect” we have a choice
between two futures: “[In] One
future what we might go back to is
something like the gradual diminu
tion of minority office-holding that
happened in the 1880s and 1890s.
[In] The other fiature toward which
we can go back to the rich experi
ment in representation and office-
holding which this country pio
neered during Reconstruction.”
You have now been informed.
Revolution or not?
The social issue of racism also ties
into economic problems in the
Black community. According to
an article written by Chido
Makunike in the September issue
of the Financial Gazette distributed
via Africa
News Service, “We [blacks] are
disproportionately victims of
racism as much because of rem
nants of white racism as because
of Black economic weakness. The
Black person’s power to fight this
racism is limited where it is inflict
ed on him by a person he is depen
dent on for livelihood.” People
should not have to be victims of
racism just because the person on
whom they depend to support their
families is inflicting the racism no
matter what race.
Racism and discrimination is a fac
tor that contributes to the econom
ic imbalance in American society.
In order to exhaust this imbalance.
Blacks must stand up and resist.
There is a need for more Black
owners and entrepreneurs not only
to reduce this type of racism, but
also to help equalize the economic
imbalance. This type of treatment
is not acceptable. Issues like this
must be changed, but we must
make a choice. Revolution or not?
What do some students think about
a revolution? One student,
Mayowa Obasaju, a sophomore
psychology and religious studies
major from Long Island, New York
stated, “I think blacks need a total
revolution regarding how we think
and how we react to other people.
We also need to appreciate what
we have — we used to be segregat
ed and not be able to vote. I am
guilty of not doing this.”
Whatever your view, we as Black
Americans must think about what
the coming of the new milleimium
could bring forth, the bad as well
as the good. In order for Blacks to
accomplish anything, we must first
unite and love each other (united
we stand, divided we fall.) We
should make sure we are the deci-
sion-makers in our future and not
just whispers in the background of
a lot of confiision. As we face
day-to- day problems and those
uncertainties concerning blacks
and the coming of the new millen
nium, you must remember to “stick
your chest out, keep ya head up,
and handle it.” (Tupac Shakur
“Me Against the World”)
Black Ink
13