1. Why is it important for Black Americans to re-build a sense of community that transcends socio-economic boundaries?
2. What can be done to connect the fragmentations we have allowed to divide our race?
3. What are some of the characteristics of a growing and thriving community?
3. How can on-line social networking platforms such as HBCU Connect, Facebook and My Space best serve to aid in establishing the community that closely mimics the natural communities to which we were accustomed to growing up? “The more the merrier!” This is a saying that all of us have heard before but what does it actually mean? To me, it means that more you have, the stronger you’ll be. The more you have, the louder you’ll be. The more you have, the more that can and will be done. The more you have, the happier our world will be. When people work together for a good, common cause, many great things get accomplished. This is why I feel it is important for the African Americans to re-build a sense of community, because when you have more, it is easier to bulldoze socio-economic boundaries. In order to get everyone together, you need to organize a cause that will benefit all now and in the future. People are less likely to help each other if it’s just going to bog them down. If the African American communities can see that the change they are pushing for WILL have a good outcome, then others will join. And the more that will join, the more that will get done. Characteristic of a growing and thriving community are love and trust. If you cannot love and trust your neighbor, then there is you’re not going to work side by side, making this world a better place for you and your children. I am an avid Facebook user, and I have found that when an important issue is raised and people, especially young ones see how negatively it effects us, and when they see that they can help bring awareness to the issue, it‘s not soon after that this idea catches on to some, then more and more until you have hundred of thousands of people on Facebook wanting to help out. Getting young people on Facebook to help out will have a ripple effect. But you need to make sure that these ideas will reach the youth and you have to make sure that you let it be known that they can help and it will make an impact.
