As a African American how can I Elevate life for all black Americans?

Hello Issac,

Great question indeed! Really touched seeing your pain for black community in USA. Really this is intriguing that despite being most powerful and developed nation with stable democracy, wealth distribution is not equitable. In fact, it is difficult to make it equitable as we have seen USSR collapsed by following Marxian philanthropy. Being a conflict management scholar, I see that there is a possibility of conflict in this regard across the globe wherever 'Haves' and 'Have Nots' are co-located and system/society/government does not do anything for decades and centuries and leaves the cleavages open to be exploited.

Your question can be answered Best is by Mr. Obama, ex President of USA. He also would have thought and tried to change the millions of lives while being in power. I am sure if you want to do something for the black community ( or for that matter all those who are 'Have Nots' irrespective of colour, creed, race etc.) you have to be the change agent yourself. MK Gandhi said: " If you want to bring in the Change, Be the Change yourself".

In other words, you can only bring about a change, then first be your self that icon of change. I would like to quote another great youth icon from India named Swami Vivekananda, the ochre robed young saint from India who founded "Ramkrishna Math & Mission" worldwide, said : "Be & Make" which I also follow till date. If you want to make others empowered, be empowered yourself. Don't you think Nelson Mandela couldn't have brought the change in millions of lives (read : black South Africans) had he not become what he was: 'The Nelson Mandela', the icon against apartheid!

So to close my answer, you have to be like those greats like Abraham Linkon, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela or Mr. Obama, to say the least. You have to be a voice for them and to be that you have to be a Leader in all respects. First educate yourself to the maximum in many things like politics, social sciences, economics , law etc. Prepare yourself to be a natural choice to lead, unite them and push for change. Be part of the democratic system and mobilise the world opinion in your favour, surely you will be able to bring in the Change which you envisage!

Lastly why limit yourself to the black community, there are many ( in other skin colours as well) who needs help. Think about it, is it only colour that makes us human beings? certainly NO, then why only for black Africans?

Think BIG, Grow Bigger and then you will be able bring in Biggest Change!

All the Best!

Hi Isaac W.

I apologize that it took a while before I gave you an answer. I am sometimes busy.

But truly this is an important question to ask and has to have a good and thorough answer.

I myself had to think about it a bit. Hang on, it's a long answer. I wanted to give you my full view.

First of all. Before you can make things better for others, you, yourself have to be in a good position yourself. Because you cannot help others, if you are in a difficult situation.

So my first advice, is to make sure that YOU are O.K.

How do you do that, by making sure that you complete your studies, so that you are seen as a valuable and contributing member of society who deserves every chance in the world, just like any other person.

How are you in a good position?

When you are financially, economically and socially well and stable and comfortable.

This means that you are confident about who you are and do not feel less deserving then others (nor more)

You honor who you are, and nothing that anyone else says or does, can make you feel any less worth than the full and good person that you are.

Then. You are in a good position when you have personal, emotional, spiritual and mental well-being.

You feel good about the world around you and have hope in something powerful and good that guides human conscience and deep inside you know what is right and what is wrong. You look forward to the future with hope and desire, and not with fear and never with hatred. People who act in anger or fear, often make the wrong decisions.

Now, you are a person of quality, a person of character and a person of excellence.

Believe me, it takes a lifetime to do this. The earlier you start, the more practice you get and the better you become at it.

Having this much covered, let us explore the issue of making things better for others.

You have used as tag, passion, dream, social-activism, race, community, equality, pan-African.

I take it that you are African-American and this is the reason you feel so strongly about some issues mentioned in the tags and here in this country.

I will not deny you your feelings about these things, because I am sad that I must admit, that this country has a history of injustice towards some groups of people. So your views about these things are correct. I think that maybe your feel this situation in your own life or you see it on TV, or know someone who is a victim of inequality or racism. Seeing that this all is very unfair, you want to bring about a change that will make things better for others, and in especially Black Americans.

Many have seen the same thing you see, and have decided to do the same thing you are doing.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. being one of the most famous ones in the US. But also in other countries. Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and Mahatma Ghandi in India. But they were not only a few, there were many others, more than hundreds of thousand and for hundreds of years. It's just that they are the most famous ones.

You too can one day make a big change and make things better for others, not only black people, but all people who are good, who work hard and who are fair and kind to others. First you have to grow up to become the beautiful young man that you are, And study history so that you understand what the problem really is so that together we can find a way to make things right for all people, black and white, and Chinese, and Indian, and Hispanic and from any place, as long as these people are good.

You must be an excellent person, so you can be the right example to others and so that you yourself do not have anything bad that others can say about you, And you know what? They will anyways. That is why you must be well, financially, personally, academically, socially and be confident about who you are.

This is a very very deep question that you have asked.

The shortest answer I can give, is that people, human beings are fallible creatures.

This means that they can make mistakes, all sorts of mistakes. But the gravest and most serious mistake any person can make, is in his own mind, and in what he thinks. If his thinking is wrong.

That is the cause of injustices of all kinds, and this causes other people to suffer because of it.

There is hope for the future. You are not alone.

The United States has a population of more than 315 million people, and not all of them are racists.

Many know deep down inside that this is wrong and that this is a problem. But you cannot fix it alone, no one can, we all need each other to make things right for all black people, and all people, for that matter, not just blacks.

Racism is still a problem here, because it is not just one person who is racist but there are still many left.

we must support each other, and always tell the truth about things, always. But you must also be careful and take care of yourself and make sure that you are safe, because God forbid, if you find yourself in trouble, this could be really, really serious. Take care of yourself, and then in the future you will be able to take care of others.

If social activism is your passion, I advise you to study the law and study history, because to best weapon you have to defend yourself is knowledge. This knowledge must not be based on anger, but the truth. It must not be based on part truth and part falsehood, but the full and unaltered truth.

When you have these two things under the belt, maybe in the future you may want to study political science.

If you have it in your heart, that you have a dream for better communities and for equality in all communities and societies, than you must find out if you are willing to serve others. Not to be a servant TO others, but to be of service to others. This is called a public servant, they serve the entire nation, or states, or cities and make things better there. For these things to happen people must trust you and for them to trust you they must believe you that you WILL make things better for them, black and white and any other race.

You elevate life for all black Americans when you give them a chance to make life better for themselves.

You cannot work for them, nor give them all your money, but you must give everybody who wants to elevate their life a chance to do so. They will find opportunity, through education, employment, training, and fair justice system that will not judge them only by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

That is excellence and you have it in you, first you must discover it in yourself and want it and want to be excellent. And when you are, you can be a good example to others.

Racism or Equality is a matter of conscience and not everybody has a good one. It is said that everyone has two advisers, one good and the other one bad. Whichever one, one listens to, wins.

Make sure that you only follow your good conscience when it speaks to you, and obey this voice, that tells you to do good or tells you when you are wrong.

I hope this answers your question, at least in part. It is a very important issue, and has all to do with conscience. Find online or ask other grown ups what this is if you do not understand the word. THIS is the key to right and wrong, and some people do not follow it.

If you have any other questions, remember I am always here for you. And so is everyone else.

Together we can make a better world.

Now go out there, because there is a wonderful life waiting for you.

Do not believe anything else.

Hi Isaac,

Be great. There are those coming behind you that you are the example for.