In 1973, when I migrated to New York City from the island of Trinidad, I was lucky enough to have caught the tail end of the civil-rights activism era. Ostensibly, back then, political activism/community involvement in most black areas of the city was something of a norm; ordinary people were much more civic-minded than they are today; parents were much more involved in their PTAs, school boards and police precinct councils. Back then, block associations and tenant associations flourished; there were vibrant members perpetually trying to hold things together within their communities/organizations. That was a time when people routinely attended community planning board meetings and also worked in local political campaigns for no money.
Then something changed; don’t ask me why, it just did. By the time we got to the nineteen-eighties, many of us who continued to be politically active within our communities concluded that there was a conspicuous decline in civic participation. We used to joke about it at meetings when only a handful of people would show up. We used to get frustrated when we couldn’t get a quorum in order to address pressing issues within various community organizations. Trying to find members to fill positions on certain boards was akin to pulling wisdom teeth.
By the time the nineteen-nineties came, many of us hoped that this was only a temporary downturn to civic-responsibility. We truly felt that a renewed spirit of community involvement was going to return with the new millennium; we were wrong.
Today, voter participation in elections is at an all time low. Today, fewer parents are involved with the public school system. Today, block associations, neighborhood organizations and tenant groups are relative shells, where a few committed individuals do the brunt of the work. The membership is usually dormant, with intermittent outbursts of soporific splendor. Sure enough there are many block parties during the summer months, but beyond that, try to ascertain what actually gets done year in, year out and year round. Apathy and cynicism abound in many black communities of this city; to some extent there appears to be a level of hopelessness in many quarters. In some buildings people live amongst rats and roaches like they are siblings.
What is really depressing about all this is the fact that over the last thirty-four years, we have seen in proportion, a steady growth in the black prison population city wide-reflective of a national trend. We have also failed to graduate more than half of our black high school students over the same period. Presently, only nine percent of our black high school students receive a regent’s diploma upon graduation. At the same time the rate of joblessness amongst black males in the city is around forty-eight per cent, according to Citizens Service Society.
Within the demographics of NYC, the highest AIDS/HIV cases are recorded amongst blacks; homelessness amongst black families is on the rise, and also the highest within all groups. The black male in city colleges is a rare specimen. Of every three black babies born in this city, two are born out of wedlock; in a period where many studies show that out of wedlock kids are at a distinct disadvantage when compared to those born within marriages. Studies also show that they are also at a higher risk for social deviancy. I could go on and on with this, but I am sure you get the point.
In their hearts and heads, most committed activists know that government cannot solve all of society’s problems; as such the slack must be picked up by those in the community willing to organize around issues and community needs. The more the ills of the black community metastasizes, the more the need for political/community activism of the highest order. What we need in NYC is another round of commitments to activism from ordinary folks wanting to make a difference. We need it: like yesterday.
Stay tuned-in folks.