Helping “Our” People?

I have always been engaged in community service. I think it was somehow built in my genes. My mother said she wanted to be a nurse because she wanted to help people. In addition, she always pushed me to be active. Whether it was in elementary through high school being a Girl Scout and Girl Scout leader, volunteering at a nearby hospital, and assisting in creating entertainment activities in a nursing home. Or in undergrad being on the executive board for the NAACP chapter, my sorority (the one and only SKEE-WEE! I had to…) or volunteer for the Special Olympics etc etc. I’ve always had a mind to give back. That feeling of advocacy only grew when I came to graduate school. But it wasn’t just the desire to help people in general; it was to focus my energy on my people. Black people. But recently I have hit I brick wall. A wall seemingly built by…my people. I have had plenty of conversations with my people who have been working with and for African Americans and have more than enough battle wounds and stories of frustration. In listening to these stories I have said to myself, “Well my friend, you just gotta work harder! Keep up the good fight!” I’m not even 30, yet my stories of frustration are starting to compile.


My leadership style goes something like “vision, preparation, delegation (pass the baton), execution.” I have great ideas. Or people come to me the great ideas. I then figure out how to get it done, find people who are interested, delegate tasks and get it done. For example, I wanted to create an after school program focused on the arts and political advocacy. I found people, wrote the grant, got the grant, found a seemingly progressive African American school and began to work. Only to find out that because the school didn’t do what it said it was going to do, the program fell through and I ultimately returned the money to the grantor. I was involved with a leadership program where I was excited about joining a group of like-minded people (my people) ready to make a change. Only to find many were there for resume building. I was in a mostly black academic department that was grounded in advocacy, but the leadership of such progressive efforts left and the fire seemed to be waning. I presented ways for African American and other minority students to get involved in representing themselves and other minorities by having a direct connection to leaders of the university in order to get their voices heard…few responded. The list goes on…

So, somehow by accident, I stumbled into many different efforts working to help women and people of color. Over the summer I worked with a professor who focused her efforts on getting fresh fruits and vegetables in black low-income communities. I worked and studied with two professors who work in African and African American communities regarding identity construction, introspection, and social justice. I got a job where I am able to advocate for women on campus with the support of leadership and donors. Another professor created a school in an African American community focused on art and social justice. When I volunteered for almost two months in Ghana, West Africa I saw many volunteers working in the country. Students, in my current department, discuss their work overseas or in the Columbus area in addition to their studies. What is the difference? They are all white.
Whether it be in the past or present, the idea of whites helping blacks has been a bit of a mixed bag for me for different reasons. One of them being the “oh poor you little African and/or ‘urban’ youth, have no fear, I am here to save you!” sentiments. I’ve seen it all. Whether its the suburban white teacher confessing to me her challenges with these children and how she just wants to make them into “better people” or the white volunteers in Africa (and other places) bestowing their “superior” American knowledge upon the supposedly ignorant brown/black people.

But my people…some of my people…too many I have come across… who are in positions to help, positions to have some serious influence, seem to only want to influence change in their own time. As if someone else will do it or it can wait until a time when they feel like it. But when I come to them and say “Look, I have everything set up! Everything is ready to go! I’m passing the baton I just need you to take it! You said you were about empowering people. You said you want to help our people, well, here is your chance! And in reality, if you’re worried, I don’t plan on leaving you. I’m passing the baton but I’m always here. Hey, you can take the credit. It doesn't matter. But I also have other visions to set up for those at the starting block ready to take off.” My frustration is, maybe those who have been asking, begging for me to pass the baton, more often than not, don’t look like me. It breaks my heart. I’ve definitely shed a few tears. But work has to get done and it may not matter who actually does the running.