Appeal To Duty 101

It's a sad state of affairs in the black community on or off this campus. Our history tells us that we came from a people who loved helping each other. Our African presence has been felt all around the world like ancient China and Mexico and Egypt. Everyone heard of the world trade center, well at our glorious height Africa was the trade center. What caused our fall from a major financial and cultural greatness is the same thing that haunts us today within our race down to this campus (Alabama A&M University) environment. This thing is infighting but when things get out of hand, infighting will arise to combat extremist. A leader must have the courage to step up and debate the issues. In less than 100 years we were broken down mainly by the , "House Negro Syndrome" since then certain blacks have had it in their hearts and minds that in order to be someone you have to step on someone else or hold them back or not help them break this black glass ceiling. We owe it to our ancestors to try and to restore Africa and it starts with people being and fostering strong leaders here in America. We all know that William Hooper Councill was a former slave so we must ask ourselves, what would Councill do concerning the African continent if he were alive today? We must compare ourselves to other black colleges in terms of political activism. We must end the glorifying of our positions and using them to hurt each other and actually the struggle. The way we act now is a farcical but the joke is on us. To talk about real issues one must have courage and an open mind. It's 2007 and it still can be seen that our people dislike someone(Marcus Echols) or a group(UHURU Movement) when they speak their mind or examine their actions. When you are elected, you will be questioned and not everyone will agree with you. As a leader, you should know that you can't please all the people all the time. The sign of a good leader is one who is able to see both sides and not close out the other due to special interests or the generation gap. When you close out the true frustrations of the people and in some cases students you lose credibility and respect. You're not a leader when you only think about yourself and disregard the aspirations of the people who elected you. Yes, your reward will be great if you bow to special interests but current and future leaders and students will refer to you as they have referred to past elected leaders (ineffective). This is an Appeal To Duty, To Do What Leaders Are Supposed To Do.