By Mr. Roy Douglas Malonson
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. once rendered these most prolific words.
I thought on his words of wisdom as I pondered over the outcome of the most recent mid-term elections which heavily impacted our nation. I paralleled what I saw in several of the electoral races to one thought: Good versus Evil. There is one thing about evil, it has the tendency to prevail for a little while. But, if goodwill and intentions continue to resonate and remain consistent, the good will win in the end. That is my encouragement to the likes of those genuine-hearted leaders such as Andrew Gillum (Florida) and Beto O’Rourke (Texas).
Although these candidates were not victorious in their election good still overshadowed the election as Democrats regained control over the house. Nevertheless, all these things impact the African-American community. We MUST Understand the perilous time we, Africans living in America are experiencing is nothing new to our culture.
I felt the need to elaborate on the subject after a great outpouring from the community. Our community was once surrounded by people, organizations and leaders who were seriously concerned about the issues that plague those from our communities the most. But, these days our people are suffering and have nowhere to go. They have nowhere to turn to. In fact, African-American News & Issues has become a place of refuge for members from our communities who want to be heard; because they feel there is no place who advocates on the Civil right issues we are dealing with in 2018. We are constantly losing our young Black men and women to the systematic design that was implemented for to be overtaken by. Something has to be done.
With that being stated, I must admit that there is a way to do anything. I always say, “Success without a successor is failure.” To that regard, I presented a feature not too long ago entitled, “WANTED: Black Leadership”. The sentiments that I conveyed in that piece still remain the same. We need young vibrant, motivated and dedicated leaders from within our communities. If the new-age Civil Rights movements are to gain any type of momentum it has to start amongst those that it affects the most. With the same token, while it is true that our young people need to take an active role and step up to the plate. They must understand that it is a different ball game out there. If our youth are to be successful in combatting the issues that have continued to invade our fortress, it can only be done by direction and guidance from those who came before you. There is a cost of leadership, as we are witnessing daily throughout this country. So, while I encourage our young people to step, I would also like to admonish them to be swift to understanding, seeking and adhering to the advice and guidance of the current leadership. Because time has shown that what is happening in real-time is history repeating itself of past transgressions against our people.
