Thanksgiving and Christmas are gone and now it’s time to celebrate a new year–2015. Wow, 2015. Time sure flies.
I try to tell every young person I come in contact with to enjoy their youth because it only comes once and is gone so fast.
Youth is when you can eat anything, drink anything and do just about anything without it coming back on you.
Well, not really.
When I think back on my youth, I remember all the dumb mistakes and, boy, what I wouldn’t do to know then what I know now. If only I had listened to some of my elders. I said some, because a lot if not most elders can give some terrible advice.
It’s odd because I really thought my mom and dad were crazy, when I was young. But the older I got the wiser they got. But they really hadn’t gotten any wiser I just realized that I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was.
One of the biggest problems I see in today’s youth is that many don’t listen. And today’s adults think they know it all. I try to tell young people that you are never too old or too young to learn. Always listen then decide if it’s good for you or can you use it to benefit your life.
There appears to be so many more opportunities out there for young Black people, but are there? There are so many more Black professionals today, as we can testify with the 700 or more 50 Women and 50 Men of Excellence we have honored. But are these Blacks making sure the doors are open to younger Blacks to follow through by working with and making sure there are opportunities for Blacks? Or are they simply taking advantage of the doors that were opened to them by the Alma Foxes, Katie Johnsons, the Johnson brothers, the Springers and thinking that they are where they are because of talent alone.
If it wasn’t for the trailblazers ahead of them the doors would not have been opened and no matter how brilliant they were, their color and gender would have automatically closed the door in their face.
President Obama wasn’t able to get a lot of his programs through Congress and can just about forget about any of his programs getting passed because the Republicans are set to block anything he suggests. Which means 2015 will be more of the same.
The biggest 2014 accomplishment just may be the establishment of the Affordable Care Act, which allows everyone to have health care. Yes some of it still needs fixing or improving, but it’s far better than what we had. Good health is the most important thing in our life. And that includes money.
This year also saw a big rise in the violence in the Middle East, if that’s possible. It may be telling us to get the hell out of there and only supply weapons, medical care and food to the area. If the politicians are really concerned about stopping terrorism in the U.S. the best way is to just stop supplying military aid to different governments in the Middle East. Because the U.S. has a history of supporting governments that always end up not having the best interest of the people at heart. When that happens you get revolutions, and people not liking the country that put them in power.
This year also saw street marches, rallies, protests come back. Most were geared around stopping the violence in the streets, homes, with the more popular ones geared around the killings of unarmed Blacks by White police officers. These marchers are younger, with a high mixture of Whites.
As for the condition of the country, the economy is what really matters, and it was far better in 2014 than when President Obama took office, and things have been getting progressively better. Yet this has been the best kept secret in the country. For some reason the President doesn’t seem to be pushing it nor do the Democrats. Hopefully Blacks can hold on to the gains we have received now that the Republicans are in power for the next two years.
The shooting of the two police officers in New York City recently was tragic and absolutely inexcusable. But why are people, the Right Wing and New York City police union head, trying to say it was caused by the marches against police brutality is also inexcusable. The shooter was a sick individual who tried to kill a civilian first before he killed the two officers and then himself.
The protests should continue to keep the nation’s attention focused on violence of all kinds in this country. Street violence, domestic violence and police violence on Black males is wrong and all police departments throughout the country should be supporting this movement 100 percent.
For the Fraternal Order of Police to keep trying to link these killings to the marches says something about where they stand. They should be pro marchers to make it clear that they are against violence against all citizens and that police should be trained to apprehend violent unarmed people without killing them.
My hat goes off to Rashad Byrdsong, president of Community Empowerment Association, for his work in the construction field. He’s not just talking, he’s doing. And not just in construction, but multiple areas such as his Kwanzaa program, his summer stop the violence Family Reunion and his after school program. There are a lot of people who bad mouth him, but I say to them, who’s doing more for the East End community?
(Ulish Carter is the managing editor of the New Pittsburgh Courier.)
