Black in America...So Now What?

So I spent some quality time with Soledad O'Brien and CNN for the first time in close to a year. I had anticipated CNN's "Black in America," because I had a feeling that the documentary would be done fairly well. I didn't know what would be done fairly well, but I knew it would be worth watching. Well, it was. However, it recited the problem very well but didn't have much in terms of solutions.

I thought it was more useful, to non-Americans (by culture, I mean). A friend of my wife was here from Nigeria and he found it very interesting. Although like me, he wished more time had been spent on talking about the solutions to the issues.

It reminded me of how far I had come in America as a Nigeria-American, personally, and especially professionally over the last two decades. Change has occurred, but not as much as the mainstream media may believe. I've yet to work in a department where a person of color was in charge. For all the talk of Barack Obama, the media can conveniently forget that his mother is white. That has got to count for something. Also, whenever I've seen a person of color in a position of power outside
Human Resources (what we used to call "Personnel"), they've been of a fairer complexion. I think only Eric Dyson spoke to this. Particularly its role "within" the Black American community. Well, other black non-American communities too, in my experience.

So solutions? Education, check. Personal responsibility, check. Role models worthy of emulation, check. Environment conducive to success, check? Getting out of our comfort zones, check.