A plea to the African American individual to arise and be victorious

To: The African Diaspora in America
From: An Engrafted One

My People,

I salute you black America, because your struggles in the past have made it easier for me to be engrafted into the blessed land called United States of America. The new foundation of opportunity to ascend into purpose and destiny, upon which I now stand, has been built mixed with your blood, sweat and tears; but my heart is troubled at the statistics which, at times, make you look like an inferior people. Coming from a land where the African Diaspora are the majority, I struggled with being classified a minority. "What does that mean?" I asked. Is it simply about numbers? Or does it mean more, because statistics continually tell us that we are more disease proned, uneducated and poverty stricken? Our children are reported to perform the worst in schools, they are more at risk for committing crime and being imprisoned compared to the majority, so maybe there’s something else to it. You see, my people, I am not used to the comparison against a majority in my past land because we could only compare ourselves against ourselves, so those statistics of black, white, Asian and Hispanic are rare. I can only ask the questions, are we that bad, are there statistics that show we excel in something… anything? If so, my heart hungers for it to be made public, so we can be encouraged in who we are. In my nation we have developed the mentality that we are victors over the evils of slavery. We were slaves, but we fought the beast of slavery and won. I find it troubling and frightening that it seems we cannot triumph over the oppression of the past and not to stay bound by its tentacles that seem to stretch beyond the corridors of times past and now hang like a cursed shroud over our present and future. As I now join in your issues, please know that I am not boasting of the heritage of my land, but my heart is grieved for you to show to the world the strength and abilities that lies within you. You are a people whose character has been proven through the fires of slavery's hell. So won’t you now arise and live beyond the expectations that society has of you? You are not who men say you are, but are who YOU say you are. You and your descendants can arise beyond poverty, drugs and violence; beyond ignorance and illiteracy; beyond being the most unhealthy; beyond hopelessness and a fatalistic mindset. Remember, we are those who know how to overcome and use our obstacles as stepping stones to greatness; not stumbling blocks that keep us imprisoned in a less-than-our-true -potential purposeless living. My people, I am a single parent with a teenager, and I have determined that with help from above, we will not walk according to society's expectations of failure. We refuse to fulfill the condemning voice of “statistics.” So once again, let us therefore arise and add to Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream by living new dreams of being a blessed and chosen generation, not a seemingly cursed one. We are not inferior – no indeed! We are no longer slaves - most certainly not! Let us cast aside the mentality of slavery and live out the opportunities afforded by the victories of the civil rights struggle. Let not the struggles be proven vain in your life -fulfill its intent! Arise my brother, black man; arise my sister, black woman. Black is not the color of curse and destruction, but of elegance, nobility and beauty. We must defy the stigma attached to that color. My fellow mothers and fathers, in your arising, lift up your offsprings and show them we can and have truly overcome.

An Engrafted African Diaspora in America