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May
30, 2005
 Today,
we will participate in another student forum at the
University of Western Cape. I was anxious to have
another forum because the students seem to be more
passionate about the crisis at hand—meaning
the HIV/AIDS pandemic and overall moral degradation—than
many of the members of church councils and nongovernmental
organizations that we have met. I believe this may
be because as students and future leaders, we have
the advantage of not yet having had our values compromised
by our occupational responsibilities.
Before
the forum, we went to a museum on the Western Cape
campus about the struggles of apartheid. This museum,
though small, intrigued me because it emphasized the
role of women in the liberation struggle—a subject
that other museums have touched on briefly, but never
displayed as being integral to the anti-apartheid
struggle.
I've heard a saying that goes something like, "You
can tell the advancement of a society by the role
of women in that society." Since I've been in
South Africa, I've seen at the grassroots level that
South Africans and Americans have a lot of work to
do in that area.
The part of the museum that affected me most was a
film titled "Any Child is My Child." My
heart hurt at the injustices against young children
at the hands of the apartheid government and police
officers. The title was inspired by the sentiments
of a man spoken during an interview about a "riot,"
in which children were gassed and subsequently jailed.
The man attempted to bail the children, ages 7 to15,
out of jail, but was refused because he was not a
biological parent. Enraged, he told the reporter that
in the African culture any child in the community
is his child. This statement is so simplistic, yet
so powerful in its connotation and ramifications.
In the American culture, we have been conditioned
to be very individualistic in our community. I believe
most places, especially low-income African-American
neighborhoods, have lost that sense of community and
see their neighbors as people who live next to them.
This lack of concern for our other-selves, this lack
of community, and humanity, is what facilitates the
negative behaviors in our children, and subsequently,
the crime in our communities.
If
our children knew that someone else other than their
parents were watching them with CONCERN and not SUSPICION,
they would not be so quick to stand in front of their
neighborhoods selling drugs, using drugs, or fulfilling
the statistical prophecies placed on their young lives.
Of course, in the United States and South Africa,
there are other factors that contribute to the criminal
behaviors and lack of productivity of black youth,
but I believe it starts at home.
At the student forum, we asked many of the same questions
we asked at the last one. I see a pattern developing.
When we ask the South African students what issues
they believe are prevalent in their society, and then
we compare lists, we get almost the exact same list.
I don't fully understand how two societies –
with so much distance between them -- can be impacted
by the same issues.
The
major issues we identified are HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy,
drug addiction, and poverty. There were many different
reasons students said the problems exist; one having
to do with religious institutions not having an answer
to the problem, which drives youth away from those
institutions.
Others stated the problems were due to a breakdown
in communication between parents and children. Parents,
they said, don't want to face the reality of what
is going on, and believe if they don't discuss the
problems with their children, their children will
not be affected. Others said the problem was the government's
lack of responsibility and concern for its constituents.
The
most intriguing part of the discussion was about solutions.
One sister, who was very outspoken in her smaller
group but became a little shy in the open discussion,
raised her hand after a little motivation from Brian
Buchanan '07, another Morehouse student. In response
to a question about the government’s role in
curbing these problems, she said, with great passion,
"We cannot wait on the government to stop the
problems. The problems are spreading because of a
lack of personal responsibility."
I agree. A lot of our youth have the idea they can
do anything that feels good, then wait for someone
else to clean up the problems they have created for
themselves. I love this sister for that statement.
I think a lot of the people in the room, especially
the brothers, needed to hear that.
Now, I take it upon myself to spread the word to my
brothers at Morehouse, in Atlanta, in Detroit—everywhere.
Think BEFORE you act. I understand it's difficult,
but use your head. It saves your body, mind and soul
from a lot of pain and anxiety.
Take
care of yourselves, and as Dr. Walter Fluker would
say, "STAY AWAKE!"
Nashid
Sharrief '06 is a business administration major from
Detroit, Mich.
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