Many of us don't realize it but the Black Man is fighting a war on several different fronts. The Black Man is fighting a war against injustice, discrimination, and racism (what else is new). He's fighting a war against law enforcement and the justice system. The Black Man is also fighting a war against those of other races and nationalities who succumb to the propaganda that states all Blacks are lazy and criminals. The Black Man is fighting a war against his Black female counterpart who has been forced to bear the brunt of his shortcomings when it comes to being the head of single parent households. Can you blame her for her anger, hurt and frustration? Painfully and regretfully, this even applies to my own personal situation. Are we as a race still suffering the psychological scars and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that Slavery inflicted even after 145 years of freedom? But the most destructive war that the Black Man is fighting brothers and sisters is the war he fights against himself. This is called the war of “self-hatred” and it is one of the most destructive and catastrophic wars that can be fought because it destroys his community and his family. Instead we “hate” on one another. In many areas of the country a wrong look or a wrong stare can literally cost you your life. Crack cocaine and the easy availability of firearms have literally ruined our neighborhoods. Young brothers are being hauled off to jail by literally the hundreds and thousands every day! For every brother that gets killed there's another brother that gets charged with murder and another brother that gets charged with being an accessory to murder. So that's three brothers off the street for one incident. Now you multiply that situation with the hundred of instances that take place in our neighborhoods every day in America and you can see why I say Brother's are being taken off the streets by the thousands every day! They're building jail cells, beds, and prisons specifically for YOU Black man and you don't even realize it. A family member told me a chilling statistic one night. He said he saw a news report which stated that they are building jails according to our population growth. In other words for every Black male being born they are building a bed and jail cell for. If this isn't cause for alarm I don't know what is! You have become expendable Black Man! Do you not see that the Hispanic population in every state has grown by 5 fold in the last 10 years??? As G-Money said in the movie “New Jack Ciy” (paraphrasing) ‘Black Man, I'm here to tell you (that the White man says) your services are no longer needed'. That is, unless of course you can play ball, rap, dance or make the White man laugh. The most disappointing thing is that many of our young people could care less. Gone is the spirit of solidarity displayed during the civil-rights marches, sit- in's, and Black Power rallies of the 60's. Gone is the spirit of unity displayed by our Pastors and spiritual leaders who served as the cornerstone for courage and social justice. (I'm sorry but Rev. Al Sharpton getting on TV and condemning a White Man because he called a group of Basketball players a bunch of “nappy headed hoes” does not equate courage and social justice with me). As a community we are all accountable in answering for our shortcomings and lack of action. There are all things that you and me could be doing to uplift and better the condition of our people. Even though many in our community are still trapped in poverty and ignorance there are many who are educated and have made it out of the “neighborhood”. With all our bright, educated, and articulate Black men and women graduating from Colleges and Universities, how come we fail to manifest the next Dr. King, Thurgood Marshall, Shirley Chisolm, Angela Davis and Huey P. Newton on the horizon? Black America needs a strong leader and we need him or her now! Not some one who caters to “mainstream America” and makes White folk feel at ease because that leader is a “non-threatening Negro”. Finally we must get our own house in order people. Black People talk about the White man did this and the White man did that, and that's true, he has done some horrible and despicable things to our people. But what about what we do to ourselves??!! Were you not outraged when you saw the Video of the two guys making a three year old smoke weed?? Or when you saw the video of the guy punching and mugging a 100 year old lady in the lobby of her apartment? What about the two kids in Philly who broke a teacher's neck because he took away their I-pods in class? You cannot blame your enemy for your own misfortunes when your own hand is doing the evil! Jesus said “how can you point out the speck of dirt in your brothers eye, when you have a plank in your eye?” Let's get it together people as the sun sets on Western- civilization as we know it.