Martin Luther King III was here last Monday at my Uni. First time I saw him in person. My friend Miski Noor, UofM Black Student Union president opened the speech for him, and welcomed him to the U. He just speaks like his father, and meeting with him in person, and shaking his hands was a day to remember.

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/02/28/67366

He said his mission was to continue his father's mission.He talked about many issues,racism,Iraq war,the legend that were his father and mother.

I wonder, what's the most important issue that's facing us today. Watching him give the speech didn't give me any direction to what its.

So,

What's the number one issue, that's universal to all blacks ever where?

Racism...

Black VsBlack....

Education......

,,,,,,,,

I would say that the world is moving at such a fast pace that I fear it is the survival of the fittest (race), we are so fragmented and divided can we ever come together, merge as a people, power in numbers and all that? .... As fast as we are becoming conscious is it a case of too little too late?
Self hatred as said above is another big factor, far too many, infact the majority of us don't truly love ourselves (who we are as a race)
We are quick to turn on each other and fight with each other while outsiders look on.
Our race is last on the list of priorities to many of us, when asked to place life's big three in order of importance to us, race always features somewhere near the bottom.


That said.... Our positives out weigh the negatives, we were the first on the planet and we will be the last.
Our foreseeable future is not too rosy, but we are getting there.
I wouldn’t want to be part of any other race!!!! Our struggle is what makes us unique, strong and feared!!!

What do we need today....put simply a STRONG Africa..by that I mean an economically Strong Africa.....included as a legitimate part of the G8 power block..

A strong Africa..will lead to the respect for Africans whereever they are on the globe...

The challenge is building a STRONG Africa from where we stand...

Our biggest problem is mass confusion. Where we have names we have no identity, where we have identity we have no culture, where we have culture we have no roots.

Collectively we don't know whether we are coming or going and speaking to native Africans who are strong in their heritage, what we in the diaspora may see as an issue does not penetrate their cultural walls.

Where are we going? where the powers that be want us to go, their way or the highway and if you choose the highway don't expect too many to be there with you - liken it to Blacknet and Ligali.

What I'd say is definitely in need are more umbrella bodies unifying us along common streams. Blacknet and Ligali may stand for different things but both are populated with Africans who can donate to African charities and contribute to African communities - all it needs is the umbrella group to tie the two ends together.

Where we have those trying to make a difference, the same people they are trying to help are trying to shoot them down. Got a friend of a friend on one particular battlefield where he has setup a car mechanics garage to help teach the deprived youths in the area a trade. The same youths are turning up in BMW's and convertible Audi's and others are coming along juggling goods with other students and threatening the owner with being shot if he doesn't watch himself.

We are missing some serious values which means there is no discipline. The first obstacle in any challenge is that you have to want to do it first, the want should not have to come looking for you.

K, slight disagreements are kool....think we need a symbol that unites us but also respects our differences. Whre I do agree with you is that a prosperous Africa would provide that but we are waiting for Africa to make us feel proud instead of feeling proud about Africa.

Kunjufu wrote: Doesn't a strong Africa require a unified Africa first? Unified being the operative word here? Don't we have too stop pointing the gun at each other first before we can effectively sit at the table of the G8 and be respected??? At present Africa is seen as a charity case.... not good for the reputation.

Kunjufu wrote: