BLACK MUSIC MONTH - PART I: Our Future Is Now

As we celebrate June being Black Music Month 2008, we recognize that in a new age. America 2008 is not the same America of the '70's, '80s or '90s. In those years and decades, we experimented, we learned and grew.

This growth process continues in 2008. More than ever, we find that our future is now. During these next four weeks, we will examine the reasons and the changes -- in music, formats, research, attitude and opportunity. We plan to take a special look at the progress that has been made in the gospel world.

While some progress is being made, for the most part, little is happening other than lip service from the government and the corporations involved who seem to believe that somehow the covenants we've asked for will be implemented eventually and that we should continue to be patient. But America has been known to make promises along that line - first to the Native Americans and then to black slaves ... and history bears out how those promises have been kept, modified and broken.

For some African-American leaders whose power depends on appealing to white guilt of the large inner-city ghetto with its population of poor blacks, this can be very useful as a symbol of continuing injustice. The suffering of the poorest African-Americans creates a fund of political capitol upon which all members of the group can draw when pressing racially-based claims, such as those following Katrina and including affirmative action preferences that some say go mainly to a growing segment of middle-class blacks.

On the other hand, do we really want to tell a striving middle-class businessman who has barely managed to escape the ghetto that he has a special moral obligation to go back and tutor poor black children solely because his skin color is the same as theirs? The answer is "yes."

The New Problems

There are new problems, many of which deal with old issues ... issues which directly affect many of our listeners in 2008. Issues such as deteriorating housing, employing thousands of social workers, guards, correctional officers, nurses and physicians at huge costs. They may become even costlier in their contribution to dependency, illness, delinquency and waste. As much as they are defined by what they do, they are also defined by what they lack. The so-called "war on poverty," whose goal was to uplift the poor, has been re-designed to contain the poor and simply keep them alive.

New Problems, Old Issues

America today, just ahead of this year's national elections, is still for the most part a conservative land, and its people are preoccupied with Iraq, jobs, education, soaring gas and food prices and other economic issues - perhaps more selfishly than at any time since the 1960s.

It is important that at this time in American history, that the African-American community put aside any philosophical differences and network together economically if we are to have any hope of continuing to progress in this new America.

As we celebrate another Black Music Month, we must keep in mind that while Black America may have the power within itself to save ourselves, the real way to resolve America's race problem is to find a solution for its underclass. And we have got to be willing to make an enemy and an example of anyone who stands in the way of that solution.

We must discontinue practicing the exhibitionism of non-achievement. We have got to look forward to tomorrow, next year and beyond. We will have only ourselves to blame for not dealing with "the inherited nightmare." Iif we remove the nightmare and replace it with more pleasant dreams, we then make America a better place for ourselves and we automatically make it a better place for our children.

For those of us in radio, June is a summer month when many of our listeners are out of school, on vacation and have more time to listen. It's also a time when we must recognize our obligation. We have a purpose that extends beyond the ratings and between the hits. We must encourage the young people who are attracted to our formats, to step up, register and vote. It's true that African-American students with the least money often have the most ambition and potential. We must continue to encourage these young people and keep them motivated, so that one day they will contribute to a society that will understand them better, accept their differences and welcome their ideas.

Word.

(Next week Part II of our Black Music Month series.)