While I pondered what this title meant to me, there were a variety of angles that came to mind. However, I wanted to discuss it in the context of restoring our humanity.
When I was a child we lived in an apartment complex in SE Washington, DC, where we were one of the first Black families on the block. The grounds were beautiful and there were playgrounds and many park-like areas for picnics or games of football.
By the time I was in junior high school, the neighborhood was mostly Black and you knew everybody in your section of the neighborhood and were familiar with the surrounding blocks. In fact, we had a special whistle if there was someone in the neighborhood we didn’t know which meant everyone would keep an eye out to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Most of the families had both parents and if a Dad lost his job, the other Dads would find them employment. During that transition all the families chipped in to make sure the affected family had food and gas and it was not uncommon for us to give clothing as well. No one gave the kids a hard time for wearing “hand me downs” because we all went through it at one time or another.
As a neighborhood we celebrated good fortunes of others from kids graduating school to people getting promotions. I remember when the Food Giant in our neighborhood hired a Black General Manager. Everyone went to the store to meet him and welcome he and his family into the neighborhood, even though they did not live in our complex.
The local Boys & Girls Club was run by the police, and we went there everyday after school to learn everything from boxing to playing chess. When a police car road up in our neighborhood, everyone ran to it instead of away from it. The officers knew us by name and our parents, so during times when we were misbehaving, they would call us by name or call our parents if we were really out of line.
Most problems were resolved through relationships, which sometimes led to physical altercations, but at the end of the day everyone went home.
When I became old enough to ride the bus to other parts of town, I used to get out and walk around to see how different the people and surroundings were, but I found the same level of warm welcoming people as I did in my own neighborhood.
Sure, there was the occasional group of boys who wanted to know who I was and why I was walking through their neighborhood, but it was usually resolved though conversations of sports or music. And when It went wrong, a lot of running, but again at the end of the day everyone went home alive.
Looking at our country today, every city that I know of personally and have watched and read about in the news is being plagued with record levels of violence. Especially among youths from 12-19. I firmly believe this is a symptom of a loss of the value of human life. We forgot to teach these children the true meaning of life past the material gains of money and fame.
This lack of perspective causes people to cling to everything they value and will use deadly force to protect it. Not considering the other person as anything more than someone who is challenging their possessions, pride, or way of life and need to be dealt with once and for all.
Gangs and other groups take these impressionable minds and mold them into their way of Modern Darwinism and not to be concerned with the method if the goals are achieved. This has led to record incarceration levels, lower graduation levels, and generations of people who have lost hope.
Fortunately, there are many organizations and individuals who strive everyday to change these perspectives and help people improve their lives every day, but the movement needs to grow.
We need to have a collective sense of pride as a country and bring back the same amount of unity and brotherhood we saw in America in the months following September 11, 2001. That was the last time I can remember people having a sincere concern for the well being of neighbors and an appreciation of the value of life.
For me “together we stand” is a battle cry for the willingness to make tough decisions to get our country back on track. To understand that our system of government is broken and the “democratic republic” we began is dying on the vine. We know it will have to change into another system in the next decade, but we must begin those hard conversations now.
How do we reverse the loss of hope and possibility that fuels the violence among our youth? How do we reposition our educational system to address nontraditional employment options such as gig work and social media? How do we get business owners to view employees as tools for growth and not just an expense on the P&L statement? How do we address the basic needs of food, housing, and medical care for those who have fallen through the cracks?
These are just a few questions of the many that must be resolved for us to be able to stand as a nation. But no solutions will work if we don’t go back to being “human”. To vewing every individual as worthwhile and of value. We must understand that we are our brother’s keeper, and it does matter if your neighbor is struggling.
It is undoubtedly an uphill battle and may not have significant change in my lifetime, but we are a resilient nation who has lost our will to fight. We have challenges from global adversaries as well as modern culture, but we the people have risen from everything from the Great Depression to a Global Pandemic and are still here. Now is not the time to run to our respective corners and only worry about “me and mine”. Instead, we must view every life as one that can contribute to the solution, embrace our differences, argue our points of view, and build a stronger nation.