First of all, allow me to thank you, the readers of this column, for writing, calling, and e-mailing your comments, suggestions and other information to me.
Your kind words are encouraging and they strengthen my resolve to keep doing what I do. Although I cannot respond to each of you, I deeply appreciate your taking the time to do so. Thank you for your words of inspiration. I will continue to act upon them.
Speaking of acting upon words, I often quote famous Black people, as I am sure most of us do. We refer to their writings and their speeches, citing their words of wisdom and deriving inspiration from their knowledge. I recently thought about how we often recite the words of famous Black people after they have passed away. It's sad to think that so many of our forebears said so many important and enlightening things that we failed to heed or even repeat until long after they died.
I hope my words are not merely quoted and used to simply stir the emotions - now or after I have left this earth. Too often we let opportunity slip away because we fail to act upon information when we receive it; we'd rather wait and use the words to temporarily satisfy and soothe our pains.
Let's look at some examples. In the past two or three decades, the phrase "by any means necessary" has been used millions of times by our brothers and sisters. Had we followed some of Malcolm's words at the time he was saying them, imagine where we would be today. Still, many Black men and women quote him and use his words to stir the emotions, but few are willing to incorporate the words into their daily fives. How many of us are willing to have economic empowerment by any means necessary?
Marcus Garvey is another brother who is quoted quite often. How many of us actually live by his words? How about Mary McLeod Bethune? She told us what to do economically before she died, and we just love to hear her words today. Have we turned her words into action? Martin Delany, T. Thomas Fortune, William Wells Brown, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells and many more have told us what we must do for ourselves in order to have a strong economic foundation. Are we following the principles they espoused?
Let us not forget about Booker T. Washington, who practiced what he preached and demonstrated the results of his words. And probably the most quoted of them all, Frederick Douglass, who told us what to do and how to do it more than 100 years ago. We love to talk about "power" and how it "concedes nothing," and we rejoice in his notion of "agitation."
Are we merely interested in feeling good about economic empowerment? Do we just like to hear the words of these and more famous Black men and women? Or, are we willing to act upon those words as well? Speakers can recite the words of famous people and bring the audience to a fever pitch; but if the audience goes home and does not act upon those words, they become, as another famous writer and activist said, "Sounding brass and tinkling cymbals."
As we face our collective economic future, we can look at it in one of two ways: As a speeding train about to run over us or as a train we are about to board and take a nice long trip. What's it going to be? If we had followed a few of the words our mothers and fathers uttered when they walked this earth, I shudder to think how powerful we would be, how together we would be, how truly rich we would be, not only financially, but in most other ways as well. Additionally, since we are talking, about that train, we certainly would not have to worry about it running us down - we'd own it!
The thousands of you who will read this column and those who have read other columns I have written, please don't sit back after reading them and simply say, "Man, that was right on the money," or something to that effect. If these words make you "feel good," then allow them to make you "do good" as well.
These words are not new words; I have borrowed them from many great Black brothers and sisters. They have been recycled more times than we'd like to count. So when are we going to heed them? When are we going to act? Some say information is power - but I say information is only power if it is acted upon. If you have been reading this column, you have the information. If this is the first time you have seen it, you will get more information in future articles.
The key word is ACT. Please do not allow the words of our predecessors to go unheeded.
[Author Affiliation]
James Clingman is the nation's most prolific writer on economic empowerment.
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