Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

( The curing of the Detroit’s African-American community )

Many Hands, One Pocket

Having noted that both the Arab store-keeper and his sister were able to attend college and drive late-model cars while only working short shifts in their family store, an African-American youth, who sometimes did odd jobs for them, asked how they managed to do, and have, so much. The young Arab answered, “in my family we are many hands, but only one pocket. You all are many hands with many pockets.”

A profound observance and statement. He went on to further illustrate that while we African-American families pay our separate monthly mortgages and rents, “thousands of dollars each month on separate households. We, first, move into one apartment building, our collective monthly money going to purchase the ‘building’ for ourselves. Then, if we wish, we may go to separate households. But the rents from the building will cover much of our mortgages. See, all the money going into one pocket, is much better . . . “

That one illustration says much about the health and wealth of other communities, and the sickness and poverty of our community; of African Americans at large.

The Sickness and the Symptoms

The disease we are discussing here is the disease of group distrust, leading to group self-destruct, and finally self and group disgust. An awesomely awful disease self perpetuating itself from generation to generation.

” . . . I shall assure you that distrust is stronger than trust, and envy is stronger than adulation, respect or admiration. The slave after receiving this indoctrination will carry it one and become self refueling and self generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands. You must pitch the old black slaves against the young black male; the young black male versus the old black male. … Use the dark skin slaves versus the light skin slaves … the females versus the males, the males versus the females … But it is necessary that our slaves love and depend on use. They must love, respect and trust only us . . . “

The above is not we of this committee talking; or, something from a movie or a fictional story. No, this is from the actual infamous letter of one Mr. Willie Lynch, advising a group of slave holders. He ends: The good thing about this plan is that if used intensely for one year, the slaves themselves will remain perpetually distrustful.

This distrust and disgust so cruelly and consciously planted and cultivated for hundreds of years, making it nearly impossible for us to unify in the name of group power, is a major part of the disease we are about addressing at this time.

Deadly Paradigm

Let’s look at our black community in the three parts of the human organism: the mind, the body, the spirit. Mentally, physically and spiritually. The analysis goes: the body internalizes the societal injustice, institutional rejection and devaluation, subtle and overt projections of inferiority, all creating a sense of self/group impotence, self/group disgust and smoldering rage. Sends this impotence, disgust and rage to the mind which seeks to assuage this self/group disgust/distrust, this sense of importance and rage, with symbols of ‘individual’ attainment and achievement, i.e. degrees and his-profile clothes and automobiles, etc.; which being individual achievements does little for group strength and health; thus often leading to insular individual protection, fantasies or destructive escapism, (i.e drugs, mental shut-downs). Then the spirit, that buoyant, affirming instrument of energy, and consciousness, meant to lift us and affirm our connection to all creation, all positiveness, move us beyond fear, to faith – – saddled with such a sickness of body and mind can produce no more than an [anesthetic] lullaby of how wonderful things will be in the hereafter, so, shhh, child don’t worry about all this living stuff going on around here; or, just burn the right candles or know your horoscope – – whatever gets you through the day.

We are presenting extreme examples, but sadly they are not far from what is happening. What has been happening since as Vincent Harding put it in his seminal piece, There is a River: “They came to us on (ships name) Brotherhood, and John the Baptist, on Justice and Integrity; on Gift of God and Liberty. On the good ship, Jesus . . . Thus it was on the edges of our continent where some of us gulped down handfuls of sand in the last effort to hold the reality of the land – – that the long struggle for black freedom began.

Call to Action

With lulls and heightened moments this struggle has continued from that day to this. And as the heroic Fannie Lout Hamer of Mississippi put it; We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired!

Many of us in Detroit at this moment are sick and tired of this continuing sickness. And to further quote Fannie Lou Hamer, “Whether you have a PhD, a DD or no D, graduated from Morehouse or no house, we’re still in this bag together.” So we of [Hood Research] have decided to approach this body-mind-spirit. Taking a page from the many hands one pocket truth we will get into our minds that we are going to remove our bodies from other folks’ gas-stations and go to only our own.

This was originally written in the summer of 2000 by Dr. Creigs Beverly, Distinguished Professor – Wayne State University School of Social Work – to support a group interested in improving conditions within the city of Detroit.

The work we engaged in was in support of Black owned gas stations. The same concept can be extrapolated to other areas.

The group was convened to address Detroit’s African American Community. Those included – Ron Milner, Phil Townsend, Karen Dumas, Darren Nichols, Dr. Robert Bland, Henry Teutsch and Dr. Creigs Beverly.