Mark Braboy
Associate Editor
It seems like fate that I would find myself listening to two important people on extreme opposite sides of the spectrum within the past five days about leadership. One of the being GOP former governor Haley Barbour and the other being Ilyasah Shabazz.
“As the future leaders of this new world, sitting back and waiting for someone else to do for us is no longer an option. With our talents, skills, and access, we must rely on ourselves to get the job done,” said Shabazz.
This statement means a lot to me because it represents something that is true when it comes to my generation of young people. The time has come for us take the initiative to become the new leaders of our culture.
I am tired of this old guard of leadership. And I say this with the utmost respect to my elders who are actively representing us as African-American leaders, but some of these same figureheads appear to be out of touch and would rather condemn us than understand us. And it is not all of them, but some of the most prominent ones appear to have other agendas besides elevating the young black youth.
With every new generation comes a new group of people with brilliant minds and new ideas on how to push society forward. We have so much untapped potential that we have yet to realize.
For example, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale were 24 and 30 respectively when they founded the Black Panther Party, including members such as Fred Hampton (21). Even leaders such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Tupac Shakur were fairly young men when they became leaders we have grown to admire.
Former Mississippi governor, Haley Barbour, stated at the Scholars in Residence series this past Thursday, “Somebody’s got to be in charge. The leaders in a mega disaster have to be present, active, and then truthful. Your chances of success are limited by people’s trust in you.”
To be a great leader however, there are a lot of important character attributes a person needs to have.
A leader, to me, must be willing to question everything and ask as many questions as possible. Not only that, but to challenge the answers at every turn.
A leader must be present in the call of duty, whether physically or vocally. They must be a person that is willing to stand with the people and not be arrogant towards them.
And a leader also should be willing to face responsibility and keep moving forward, even in the darkest of moments. It is a very hard lesson that I have learned, among many others, as a leader within the Blue & White Flash.
And keep in mind; I am not saying that there are not any at all. There are plenty of new emerging leaders that will revolutionize the culture when guys like Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton pass away. We have come to a point where we have to stop depending on them and his contemporaries to stand up for us.
These are dark times we are living in today. It is almost as if the world is steadily moving backwards. These are chaotic times where people are so concerned about what someone else is not doing, rather than taking the initiative to act for themselves.
At this point, we have the wheel of change on our side. We all have the power to change this world however we see fit, starting with its leadership. And it is up to us, to grab the opportunity by the horns.
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