Exciting new events that point to connections between past and present proliferate. They include a lecture at Lincoln University on "The Ties That Bind: African American Consciousness of Africa"; a lecture and performance on music and the civil rights movement at Atlantic Community College, and a talk on economic parity in the black community by A. Bruce Crawley, senior vice president of First Pennsylvania Bank and chairman of the Urban League, at Germantown Community Presbyterian Church.
By looking to Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, Marian Anderson and other august names; by renewing acquaintance with the rituals and customs of the motherland; by touching base with our spiritual foundation, community leaders say, we return to the struggle replenished and focused on today's very real issues of survival.
These days, a black baby is three times as likely as a white baby to be born without prenatal care. That same baby is twice as likely to die in the first year. A black male teenager is six times as likely as a white teen to become a victim of homicide. One-third of all black teens are out of work. White families' annual income is 78 percent higher than that of black families - and the black families' income has dropped almost $1,000 since 1978 (to $18,098).
"We are in very deep trouble in a lot of dimensions," said Bernard Watson, head of the William Penn Foundation.
Despite this appalling state of affairs, some of us have broken ground in politics, law, entertainment, education, media, business and science - including space.
Amid the dust and noise and sweat of the daily struggle for existence, men and women of color continue to make history. And more and more seek accurate knowledge of the past and demand active participation in the present to move our people forward.
