Kamau, Raynell Morgan :"it's time to Stand up!"

"IT'S TIME TO STAND UP!"

Dedicated to Kamua
TZ.Damali(little brother) who is
near death after fourteen years in
solitary confinement

The current crisis in the Black community is absolutely horrifying; 45.2% of incarcerated people in Amerika are of Alkebulanian (African) descent. 94.5%of Black homicide victims are murdered by fellow Blacks. What these statistics illustrate is that too many people of Alkebulanian descent, particularly Black men, are in prison, and too many, particularly Black men, are dying/killing each other.

The Black community needs to seriously ask itself how many more of its people have to perish before it realizes it's in a crisis and do something about the terrible reality of Black on Black homicide and incarceration, which is taking a catastrophic toll on it socially, politically,' educationally, economically, emotionally, and spiritually.

When we were being lynched and brutalized by racist sectors of white Amenka aforetime we marched, protested, resisted and demanded to be treated like human beings Someof us even took up arms to combat the oppression. Now that we are lynching each other the energy pf protest, resistance and struggle appears to have withered drastically. Why is it that when others oppress us we become outraged and demand for it to stop, but when we oppress each other its seemingly accepted with open arms? The passive attitude we seem to have when it comes to black on black homicide is not only hypocritical; its also cowardly, embarrassing and morally inexcusable. This attitude needs to be obliterated outright.

I understand that most of the social evils and causes behind the dysfunction in the Black community ar a result of poverty, unemployment, institutional racism and a failed educational system However, we have minds of our own and we need to cease blaming white Amerika for our short comings, mishaps and laziness We need to start blaming ourselves and being accountable for our actions Once we accomplish that, we'll be able to move to the next stage, which is togetherness. Togetherness (unity) for all intents and purposes, will enable us to work on and address the critical issues tearing at the core of our peoples existence It (togetherness) will also enable us to merge our ideas to create incentives that cure poverty, unemployment and a failed education system For instance, we fight/cure poverty by establishing committees that organize community clean up drives and educates the community about the importance of a clean and safe community, and how trash and pollution tragically impacts the health and welfare of the community. If a member of the community is old or disabled and cannot clean their own yard or house, then we must be willing to do it for them.

As for unemployment, the steps needed to solve it are to pool our resources together and invest in businesses that will create employment for us and the community collectively Indeed, it will require a lot of-research time-and-devotion-to  achieve this goal, but if we are sincere about being self-reliant and

self-sufficient, the hard work will be well worth it As for the failed education system, this problem can't be solved overnight, because it's a century old problem. However, one of the best ways to remedy it is home schooling and formulating an educational system of our own. This can take place in the local churches, community centers and in the comfort of our own homes. We are responsible for our children's education and learning abilities. Acquiring former teachers as well as present ones is paramount. Resolving most of the issues in our community will be, without question, a massive task, but very possible.

We need to start being positive examples for our children and we need to reclaim our communities and rescue them from its current destruction, so that our young men and women can be successful members of society instead of murder victims and captives in every prison throughout Amerika.

Simply put: IT'S TIME TO STAND UP Respectfully Submitted

Mr. KarnauT.Z Damali #279380 Wisconsin Secure Program Facility 1101 Morrison Drive

P.O. Box 9900

Boscobel, Wisconsin 53805