(Name-mce) ListServ Drum Majors for the 21st Century's Civil Rights Movement needed

[bill@billhowe.org]

Louisiana Weekly – Aug. 14, 2006

Drum Majors for the 21st Century's Civil Rights Movement needed
By Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League

August 14, 2006   

With the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us, who can forget how
that disaster made poverty real in American again? How it underscored our
nation's need to erase the economic disparities that exist between whites
and minorities? 

For some Americans, it was pictures on a television screen. For me, it was
family members and neighbors stranded on roofs in makeshift floating
devices, turned-over refrigerators. 
I could rattle off tomes of statistics about disparity. I could talk about
the wealth gap, the job gap, the wage gap and the health gap. I could speak
in erudite and intellectual terms about income, health and equality in
America. But I don't have to: Katrina did that for me through images of
people suffering. It was through reality's lens that Americans witnessed the
tragedy not through a full-length movie or cheap sound byte. 

But the images seen on most Americans' television sets nearly a year ago
were not just pictures of my hometown. They represented people in poverty in
urban areas all over the nation. And while they are mostly people of color,
they are not exclusively people of color. One of every 10 white Americans
and one of four black Americans live in poverty. 
That's why it is important to discuss and define the future of civil rights
in the United States because the idea of expanding the American dream and
table to everyone is as relevant in 2006 as it was 40 years ago. 

The fight to sit at a lunch counter was an important fight. The fight to be
able to afford what was served at the lunch counter is an even more
important fight today. And the fight to own the lunch counter is the civil
rights struggle of the 21st century. 

We in the African-American community must focus anew on income and equality
and poverty. It is indeed the calling of our generation of Americans -
black, white, brown, yellow. We must build a new America, new cities, a new
frontier and a new society. We cannot afford another Katrina to expose our
nation's dirty little secret - poverty. 

Dr. Martin Luther King's dream still inspires our work but it is painful to
see this abyss dividing people. Since 2000, the relative wages and earnings
of middle- and lower- income Americans have simply not gotten better. You
may believe that you've arrived. You may have a job and a car and still be
struggling with your bills or that mortgage for your American dream home.
This is the face of America in 2006. 

I am not one to believe that the glass is half empty. Because ever since Dr.
King eloquently preached profound ideas that inspired a generation to
action, our community has made important progress. But Dr. King always said
problems do not solve themselves. It takes action, a plan and leadership to
make things happen. 

In his last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Dr. King referenced the
gospel of St. Mark in saying whoever wants to become great must be a
servant. He spoke of the drum major instinct - or the capacity, desire, DNA
that we all possess to be at the front of the parade and not behind it. But
he also warned it could be very destructive. It could lead to a search for
status. It could lead to a selfish notion that what we need is for us. It
could lead to the idea that we are better than others. 

Dr. King advocated harnessing the drum major instinct to serve and to do
something good. But in the 21st century, this means more than programs. It
means public policy. It means building new partnerships. It means that we
must become stronger and more visible community leaders. It means that we
must be drum majors in the suites and on the streets. 
I'm going to ask you to join me in a new campaign to end poverty and build
wealth in America. This fall, the National Urban League will launch an
economic empowerment tour. We are going to bring our message of jobs and
housing, business development and financial literacy to communities across
the nation. We're going to hold town hall meetings and have workshops. 

We also want to drive home the message that closing the economic divide is
not simply about what someone else will do for us. It is what we do for
ourselves. In 1975, the National Urban League released policy proposals on
issues - ranging from transportation to workforce development to housing and
community development-at its annual conference in Atlanta, the same city
that hosted our 2006 conference last month. 

This is what we must do in the 21st century if we hope to have a lasting and
substantial impact on the public policy debate. We're going to seek new
thoughts, new ideas and new ways to achieve financial equality. Now is the
time to close the economic divide. Now is the time to ensure that affordable
housing is not a notion or emotion but a reality for everyone. Now is the
time to ensure that every child gets a good education in a safe classroom.
Now is the time for all of us to understand that to be full participants in
the free enterprise system we must: not only be consumers but producers; not
only be renters but owners; and not only be stockholders but people with
estate plans. We must be prepared to leave something for the next
generation. 
You don't need your Ph.D. You don't need your J.D. You don't need a stock
portfolio. You don't need a safe and secure job. All you need is a good
heart and a good attitude. Will you be the drum major of the 21st century? 



Bill Howe 
http://www.billhowe.org - Multicultural Educators to South Africa 2006 -
Join Me on this Exciting Trip
 
Past-President 
National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)
http://www.nameorg.org