Blackfolk, we love us some Frankie Beverly and Maze, and love, love, love singing along with their classics whenever we get together.
After Beverly’s passing, social media clips abound with concert halls and stadiums full of brothers and sisters singing in one accord the lyrics of “Happy Feelin’s,” “Joy and Pain,” and other Maze classics. But the clips that got the most traction were those of Frankie Beverly and Maze fans singing “We Are One.”
Those impromptu choirs weren’t just heartwarming to watch; they also gave us a powerful lesson on how we need to move as a people in these perilous political times—as one.
I’m not talking about Black people being robotic carbon copies of one another. But rather unity without uniformity… being able to be your beautiful, unique self, yet having the sense to know we need to, in the words of the Hard Rhymer Chuck D, “Move as a team, never move alone.”
There are thousands of reasons why we need to operate as a group rather than as individual solo acts. Here are two.
2024 Presidential Election
While Blackfolk fell for the okey-doke, with millions convinced voting doesn’t matter, and huge chucks of our people voting for the KKK and Nazi-endorsed candidate, white people and the white-identifying sycophants voted in lockstep for the person who promised to rain down hellfire on anyone and everyone who didn’t bow down at the altar of white maleness.
Failing to move as a team in our votes has already cost us dearly in terms of rights being rolled back. And the new president hasn’t even been in office for a month. His first move was an attempt to end birthright citizenship, an issue the media frames as anti-immigrant. But birthright citizenship as a rule of constitutional law came about to grant Black people citizenship. Ending that puts us all in the deportation crosshairs.
Million Man March
The 1995 event was called for and organized by Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam had brothers from across the country leaving whatever beefs and issues at the crib and coming together to move forward as one. The objective was to atone for anything done previously to hurt our people and move forward with actions to unify and uplift.
The gathering saw Black men, women and children of all faiths, organizations, ages, etc., moving toward that end. And the work didn’t stop there in D.C. From that event, hundreds of new organizations were birthed (i.e. 100 Black Men) to provide this goal with organization and direction in various cities nationally. The number of lives that have been positively impacted by Blackfolk, on that October 1995 day and beyond deciding to move and work as one is incalculable.
Tribes
In 1992, Joel Kotkin authored a book that has served as a blueprint for other communities but has gone almost unnoticed by Blackfolk. The book, Tribes, profiles various ethnic, racial and religious groups and follows their path from public outcasts to national and global powers. It then breaks down a list of things any group of people needs to be successful in the present and future.
Kotkin said Blackfolk possesses everything needed to become powerful global players… except one thing. We lacked the mindset to choose to live, work, and move as one.
Singing, “We Are One” is cool, and fills us with happy feelings. But moving as one can give us the power we need to live self-determining lives such that the quality of our existence is not determined by some other group or political party or White House occupant.
Ways to live as one
Buy Black – Supporting Black-owned businesses and service providers gives us more control over our economics.
Commit to lifelong learning – We must step up our reading and research the game. We have, for too long, in the words of thought leader Lurie Daniel Favors, been “Jews who let the Nazis control our education.” And surely, we are not in a position to have our children do a mass exodus out of the K-12 school system. But we can step up our supplemental education game (I’m looking at you, faith institutions, community centers, civic and social organizations, and companies that profit off Black dollars).
And sure, so much of our story and other stories and histories aren’t taught in traditional institutions. And sure, you can learn some great things via social media. But let social media be a mere starting point for deeper research, reading, questioning and learning.
Such knowledge will move us closer to a collectivist, communal mindset.
Engage in Radical Self-Care – The healthier you are mentally and emotionally, the better you will treat yourself and others. When you can see your value and worth, when you can see the God in yourself, you’re better able to see it in other people. And because Black people have been conditioned not to see the best in ourselves and each other, this step right here is huge in allowing us to get our minds right so that we can be open to working together and moving as one.
