Why Should Young African Americans Be Afraid to Lead? This Ain't Little Rock.

I keep reflecting on Cornel West's words, "Our people and our country need more statesmen (and stateswomen), as statesmanship is qualitatively different than the garden-variety leadership that we’re experiencing." There is a critical need for the kind of courageous leadership that we saw during the Civil Rights movement. We know that back in the Civil Rights days, Black folks had to fight to be heard, and the integrity and courage to speak out was held as a prerequisite for leading the movement. So what happened?

Is it still hard to lead today? Sure, but it's much easier when you don't have White people spitting on you and burning crosses on your lawn. (Yeah, I said it. Let's keep it real with our past, even as we move forward.) Racism still exists in this country, but times are much better for young people who want to make a difference in the world. I was struck today by a Newsweek article about the 50th anniversary of school integration in Little Rock, Arkansas. The nine Black schoolchildren endured horrific conditions just for trying to get an education in 1957. These days, signing up for somebody's school is as easy as the click of a mouse button, but for some reason we are not seeing the same kind of transformational leadership result from contemporary education that we saw during the Civil Rights movement. What's up with that? Statistics show that about 40% of Black high school graduates are enrolling in college each year, presumably leaving universities as well-prepared civic contributors to society. So where are all of these young African Americans within the social sector? Are young people really aspiring to create the kind of widespread change that the generations before us fought for?

By now, everyone in America has heard of the Jena Six and the disheartening state of race relations unfolding in Jena, Louisiana. Black folks everywhere are mad as hell. But are we mad enough to lead? Look, I admire Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and the other celebrities at the helm of the protests, but they should not be the only African American leaders in this country speaking out for these issues. In every city, there are unsung heroes doing critical work to keep our communities flourishing, however most leaders today seem to be of the "garden variety" that Cornel West warns us about.

I think young nonprofit leaders in this country have an opportunity to take a stand and speak out with courage and passion on the issues that matter to us, as many of our current leaders are not taking up that torch. I heard Pablo Eisenberg and Eddy Morales from the Center for Community Change speak recently at Georgetown, and they taked about passing the torch of leadership to the younger generation. Pablo reminded us that leadership and challenge go hand in hand, that real leadership is passionate, courageous, and zealous. Looking through this lens, Pablo talked about how ironic it is that so many of our current leaders:

• don't speak out on controversial issues
  
• don't go on the record with press or the media
• don't criticize their colleagues or other sectors for unethical behavior

Eddy Morales also talked about issues concerning young leaders involved in social change. He asserted that young people need to act when we see something that's injust or unfair in our communities. Our work in life should be deeper than a paycheck; it should revolve around a passion to change something. I keep wondering what it is it that's holding us back? This ain't 1957, and this ain't Little Rock. There's no reason for us to sit back and let injustice plague our communities.

This week, I also met a sister named Tambra Stevenson, a young Black woman leading the Next Wave Action Summit in DC April 4-6, 2008. The motto of the summit is "lead, ride, or be left behind". I heard that! Please check her out and join the movement. We all should be striving to be the next wave.