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Reinvention of a People

An essay by Barbara Anne Teer

Long-story short: Dr. Teer calls African Americans Creators to renew commitments to our collective progression.

The Civil Rights Movement is dead, but is death the end or just a transition leading us into a new reality? Will the cultural experience of “Blackness” become obsolete? Is it possible that the Black Power movement has become a phenomenon of the past, quickly fading into the darkness of the night and rapidly disappearing like the dinosaur? Have we Black people accepted this death in America as though this resigned mental condition is easier to maintain than restoring a new commitment to life? What is the not yet forseeable future for Black youth in America? Has the promise of our African ancestors been fulfilled? Have we “freedom fighters” reaped all the benefits from their birth visions, their commitments, labor and love? Our ancestor’s labor and love provided the very building blocks for the economic viability of this great superpower called America. So, who are we as a people? Why has this debt never been paid? What form of payment, if any, are we asking toreceive? Perhaps the answer lies in ancient Africa…

Our African ancestors were the originators of creative expression. They brought the fine arts to this planet. They were wise sourceful beings, deeply committed and devoted to everyone realizing their full creative potential. So perhaps, these white-faced strangers from a sun scorched foreign land appeared to be spiritual babies who possessed very little knowledge about the power of the creative process, the true nature of spirit or the joiy and celebration of the oneness of life… As apprentices of technology, their vision was to have complete mastery in a world where material well-being was king. Yes these spiritual giants left their motherland and came across the ocean as a collective messiah to awaken the creative power latent in Western man. Our forefathers fortified them with a courage and compassion to start their lives anew and the world has never been the same. The great vision and masterful decision made it necessary for them to restructure their language, culture and history. It required them to toally redesign who they were. …

A new enthusiasm was generated which gave us the guts to keep on redefining, re-educating, and restructuring our lives. An intense mood of self-determination and self-reliance was initiated. This overhwlming creative force affected the density of our lives. Around the world a global shift took place and music and dance was still the language of our gods. … The time has come for us to take our rightful place… Yes, now is the time for us to move toward One Love.