After the passing of Prop 2, many African Americans will be left standing in the cold. How long will that last? It will last as long as African Americans maintain the slave mentality in which everyone looks out for their own interests. When adversity comes, we must seek the opportunity to gain strength, knowledge and wisdom through whatever trials we encounter. We as an African American community must not seek the shelters of white compassion, instead galvanizing the interest of the youth and equipping them by “any means necessary” to compete in a tumultuous American society. Let us first assess the challenges we face before moving on to the competitive phase of our advancement.

We endure widening disparities among minorities in education. This is the most pervasive challenge for us because education is paramount when it comes to mobility in the socio-economic stratum of America. If our school systems have failed us then we must circumvent their inadequacies by creating strong support networks outside of the school system that advance learning by using creative, innovative, and stimulating techniques.

We are currently in an age where media dominates our daily lives, whether we like it or not. We must not ignore this when it comes to our youth. Technological interaction has the ability to reach children by using a familiar interface. We must realize that sitting a child in a seat for eight hours staring at a chalkboard may no longer be the most effective means of connecting them with new information.

Civic engagement programs should also be incorporated into the curriculum. They will equip our youth with the political skills to navigate the changes they see necessary for their advancement, rather than being subject to the policies of partisan politics in today’s political culture. Democracy cannot survive without such civic engagement from all its partakers. I would issue this challenge to every black man in our community: step up! If you are a father, a husband or even a single black male, take a more active leadership role in your community. Recognize the significance and impact of your involvement in the lives of those around you.

We must not ignore our strengths. We are a very creative and resourceful people coming from a strong heritage, stemming back to the mother continent of Africa. Despite an ongoing perception to the contrary, there exists a thriving African American business community. This potential has been underdeveloped, and one reason for the trend is that blacks have not been spending money in our own communities. Black businesses must engage the community, partaking in fair and equitable business practices in order to build trust and create a mutually beneficial relationship.

We must realize the nature of capitalism and not become the victims of its stifling greed, materialism, lust for power, and mindless consumption. It is up to the black business community to educate its own people about how the system works and how it is currently used against the black community because of their lack of knowledge. It is not overt racism that hinders our progress; it is an intricate system that thrives through a small minority owning the majority of the capital that is holding us back.

We are not competing against whites as we once thought. We are competing against the influence of global capitalism. We must band together not only as an African American community, but as a network with other minorities and whites who see the issues of social justice as being the most important advancements for the creation of a better society.

There are many holistic changes needed within the black community in order for us to successfully utilize this expansive network of social justice alliances. Through education, technology, civic engagement and social responsibility, we should have the ability to accomplish this divinely appointed task, but we must move quickly in order to survive this barrage of attacks on our human dignity.

R.L. Harris is the editor of Hush Your Mouth, a community newspaper that focuses on metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan youth.