If there’s anything missing in Black men’s group advancement in society it’s creating a culture of empowerment that serves our needs.
Black men at large have adopted and internalized a substandard view of themselves.
One powerful that remedy can work in the favor of Black men is creating a culture of empowerment. What does that mean? Creating a culture of empowerment for Black men means that a critical mass of Black men live with confidence and faith that they can control their general quality of life with the help of their network.
In order to help re-shape a culture among Black men, the practices must resonate among us and be sustainable. Overall, our strengths have to be exemplified, promoted and supported, along with other complimentary attributes that are carried out with some customary practices.
Now let’s look at some of the benefits on an empowerment culture for Black men.
An empowerment culture gives Black men a sense of duty. Some people don’t subscribe to the idea of being in the military, being a part of a religious community or being in a fraternity, but one thing that all of these entities have been able to do successfully is to provide Black men with a sense of duty.
A lot of Black men are going through the motions of life without a real sense of having a personal responsibility towards a community of people besides their own households. Staying out of trouble, going to work, paying bills and taking care of our families are all noble but those things alone are not enough for Black men to move forward with force to change the narrative and landscape of culture among Black men. An empowerment culture can give Black men an additional occupation in life and it creates a basis for establishing group accountability which enables Black men to hold each other responsible. Every Black man should inculcate an attitude within himself and among his peers that in some capacity, he needs to be engaged in some type of activity that helps to build the Black man up, economically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, socially or physically.
An empowerment culture also allows for black men to rise together in developing each active member of the culture while migrating into banding together for initiatives that are in the best interest of the group’s overall needs, desires and purposes.
All of these ideas can be built upon, but they need tools to construct them – they need intangibles.
Some of these intangibles are: personal responsibility towards one’s self-development, sincerity towards enriching one’s group image and interests and having a belief that members within the should collectively adopt the mentality of “a win for one is a win for all,” which connects each member to the intentions of helping everyone within the group to succeed in the capacity that is appropriate. Black men should strive to be to economically self-sufficient, forward thinking, upwardly mobile, self-educated, hard-workers and influential connectors of people.
In developing an empowerment culture for Black men, as mentioned, the pieces to that culture must resonate with the men of that group. There are (3) things that I believe can serve as the catalyst for a myriad of advances in Black men reshaping themselves and they are: resourcefulness, collaboration and edification. Those 3 elements can spearhead the goals of Black men nationally as a group.
Let’s examine the first element – Resourcefulness.
Resourcefulness means that each Black man looks at increasing what he knows, who he knows and what he can do in order to share something of value with his group. Like going to a picnic where everybody brings a good dish, participating in an empowerment culture for Black men would mean that a Black man should feel embarrassed to show up to the feast empty-handed.
Throughout the course of a year, a Black man should be showing some progress within a field of study that he’s already familiar with and/or take on a degree of new knowledge within a field of study to help him to help his brothers to be equipped with what they need in life to thrive. Each Black man should strengthen current and establish new relationships and associations with other people that can help Black men get to where they want to go in life.
Through his experiences, lessons and trials, every Black man should be able to evaluate what he has learned in order to enrich himself in future undertakings and to share his wisdom with other Black men.
Black men should look at themselves as part of a universal mind where each cell works together to operate functionally as a whole.
The second element of an empowerment culture for Black men is – Collaboration.
Collaboration gives Black men the opportunity to pool their resources and to work together while still maintaining their own unique individuality. This is important because when developing a culture, it’s imperative to start where most of the people are at in order to make it sustainable. Collaboration is semi-formal. It doesn’t glue one into dealing with another party as much as a formal partnership would, but neither is it as casual as periodically staying in touch.
Collaboration is action with a purpose and it takes a degree of dedication.
Collaboration is like two or more brands cooperating on a project or for a cause. Sometimes the collaboration works because where one brand is deficient the other is more proficient and sometimes it can work simply when the creative energy and similar values systems are aligned to create compound effects to affect a market.
Black men must look at themselves as individual powerhouses of resources, skills, talents, abilities and knowledgebase that when coming together with one or more black men that fit the same mold can make something that’s greater than what they could have done individually. Collaboration by default makes Black men see each other’s strengths which enables a spirit of recognition, respect and appreciation.
Collaboration enables Black men to work with each other where there is a god fit while at the same time keeping each party accountable directly, because each person must bring something of value in a collaborative effort and it must be evident. You can’t hide your efforts in a collaboration.
In basketball you have 5 primary positions playing on the court: a center, a power forward, a small forward, a shooting guard and a point guard. If you’re a shooting guard and your shots are 0 for 8, you’re going to stand out for shooting bricks and will probably get benched. If you’re a center but you’re getting dominated in the paint by much smaller players, you’re not doing your job.
Collaboration allows Black men to experience the makings of a mastermind alliance where two or more minds are joined together with each party involved bringing their best to attain a specific goal. Collaboration helps to relinquish the Black man of selfishness because you work with other Black men to help him reach his goals and vice versa and you also can come together on new efforts that require you to be selfless in working with others. Collaboration allows Black men to compromise with each other and to be flexible with each other because Black men will work with each other to help the next man reach his goals.
Some examples of collaboration at work could include working on business projects, community-based projects, creative projects, volunteerism, and brainstorming. Are there one or two other black men that you can collaborate on something with? Maybe it’s a colleague, family member, your barber, etc. Who in your present circle do you know that you can link up with and work on something with and if you don’t know anyone, who can you go and meet and where?
Now on to the third element – Edification.
Edification means that Black men build up each other’s spirit. We can do this through the recognition of each other’s strengths through mutual encouragement and empathy and in celebrating our champions and leaders within the community of Black men.
Edification enables every Black man to be the man. As mentioned, culture is supposed to contain values that resonate with the people within that culture. Edification plays right into the Black man’s social desire for validation among his male peers. A lot of people say that they don’t want validation from anyone but validation at its core really just means that you’re viewed as being credible by one or more parties. Every Black man knows the importance of having a solid reputation in whatever circle he’s in. Every Black man knows the power and the necessity to be known as being a stand-up man.
Sincere edification for each other based on the positive relationships in place with other Black men and your knowledge of their character, work ethic and principles, keeps Black men focused on each other’s positives, gives each other a set of standards to maintain and minimizes the cancerous effects of jealousy among members of that group.
Black men must celebrate our heroes within the group. We don’t have to turn on a TV or to search for a book on Black history to celebrate our Black male heroes. Sometimes our peers can be our heroes. Black men that have reached a certain level of achievement in their pursuits, Black men who have conquered weaknesses that many brothers are susceptible to and Black men who are working towards the progressive realization of worthy ideas are all heroic.
We should be honored to entertain and serve our brothers.
3 Places to Develop Your Empowerment Culture
Your Current Network.
You don’t have to start around the block to develop an empowerment culture with other Black men. First start with the relationships that are already in place. Take inventory of who you already know and have a rapport with. Your barber, your uncles, your cousins, your father, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers and other brothers that you already have decent to good relationships with.
The Internet.
The internet allows Black men to connect with other Black brothers whom they wouldn’t normally have access to and may have never ran across in life. The internet allows us to build from with mobility afar.
Your Local Community.
The city in which you live gives you an opportunity to demonstrate a physical manifestation of Black men building each other up. Make it a goal to have brothers put on some sports coats, blazers or suits every month and have lunch at a moderately priced restaurant. People are going to ask where you’re going and what you’re doing. Other Black men are going to ask what you’re doing. This is an opportunity to market yourself as a group.
By Waymon Brown