America on the Brink

black culture - artistic and athletic skill - while hating us at the same time. Black communities and people are left in survival mode while global change and innovation moves at a frantic pace leaving us even further behind. In this storm, black political and community leaders strive to give their best energies and intelligence to helping us navigate these incredible challenges. My purpose for this month’s article is twofold. I want to share a resource that can deepen their understanding of crisis moment we are in. Please get a copy of the book The American Crisis: What Went Wrong How We Recover by the writers of The Atlantic . I also want readers to understand unique challenges for black America because leading in a cultural windstorm requires an awareness of what’s swirling, their impact on you as a leader and our communities. Winds are blowing and too many of us are caught up into reactionary impulses and attitudes instead of providing visionary and strategic leadership. I want to begin by applauding black leaders in congress, our historic black colleges and universities, the NAACP and the National Urban League, The Rainbow Push Coalition, National Action Network, National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), presiding bishops, convention presidents, and congregational pastors, educators and healthcare professionals, state and local government, business men and women, public intellectuals, socially-conscious entertainers, athletes, and media members, emergent groups like the American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS), Black Lives Matter, Black Politics Today, and our former president Barack Obama for the dauting task of fighting to make the lives of black folk a little better each day. We do not express our appreciation to them enough for the ways they try to serve and give leadership to organizations, institutions, and communities. In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. warned the country about the forces of reaction during times of war. I believe his thoughts here apply to times of intense national conflict like we are witnessing today. He said, “It is really much more difficult to arouse the conscience during a time of war. There is something about a war like this that makes people insensitive. It dulls the conscience . It strengthens the forces of reaction and it brings into being bitterness and hatred and violence” (NBC News Interview). As always, Dr. King was correct in his analysis. During times of conflict, emotions run hot and deep. We identify enemies and mobilize to destroy them. More dangerously, during these times, we require family and friends to choose sides. “Are you for us or against us?” Antagonism, contention, and strife fills the air we breathe and foundation for social engagement. This gives meaning to what he meant by the statement “war…makes people insensitive.” In stormy period of controversy, people will do all sorts of things against others because they are caught up by the forces of reaction. Today, our political and community leaders have a profound responsibility to be aware of these forces because they will invariably impair our ability to address the monumental challenges and promises before us. I want to share three forces for our consideration. 1. The Winds of Cultural Deconstructionists A part of the complexity of the current historical moment is our inability to

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