Interview with AAMLI President, Richard Rowe

Richard, you often speak of accountability, or the lack thereof, when discussing the challenges of the African American Community. Why does this issue hold such importance to you?

I speak a lot about accountability because it is a word that is widely used in many conversations related to leadership, parenting, schooling, policing and a plethora of other subjects that speak to the absence of responsible behavior and actions within and without the African American community. It is my belief that we could not have the level of social pathologies, Black educational underachievement, economic underdevelopment, political disenfranchisement, and black on black crime if we truly understood what accountability truly meant and if we were truly accountable to each other. Quite simply, accountability for me is the self/group adherence to a set of principles and standards that are based on the highest levels of Black/human development. It is the total rejection of everything that hinders and or impedes self/group progress, and it encourages – to paraphrase Haki Madhubuti,

--a call to serve rather than take, a call to help rather than reject, a call to save rather than buy,

--a call to conserve rather than shop, a call to contribute rather than consume,

--a call to produce rather than beg, a call to build rather than destroy, a call to create, rather than marvel in other’s creations,

--a call to study rather than stand by and watch, a call to love than hate, a call to return to the center in you.

Given our present state as a community, it is evident, by my definition, that we are not accountable to one another and to the group.

To put it bluntly, we have not demonstrated an adherence to the practice of accountability that is needed to move ourselves and our community to high levels of self/group functioning. We have stood by and reacted to a myriad of self/group destructive behaviors and actions that have proven to be deleterious to the elevation, validation and salvation of Black peoplehood. We have been negligent in our response to the vagaries of racism, materialism, the development of the prison-industrial complex, the pharmaceutical-industrial complex, teen pregnancies, fatherlessness, attacks against our children, our women and our elderly and a host of other life-defeating activities. Thus, we now appear to be on a collision course and the proverbial “Black” house is on fire. While there is much to blame on White supremacy, slavery and capitalism, we must be held accountable for those actions that we have adopted, and continue to adopt that preclude optimal self/group functioning.  We cannot continue to make excuses for black failure and we cannot continue to adopt a victim’s mentality. We must act and behave as if everything depends on our ability to create the necessary life-affirming institutions that are required to save a people. Finally, the “operative” accountability question each of us must ask ourselves each and every day is…does my action / behavior serve the best interest of Black people? If we cannot answer yes to that question, then we must avoid that action / behavior at all cost.

The ingredients needed to eradicate many of the problems facing Black men have been captured in so many excellent books that should be on every Black man’s “must read” list. There are so many great books in circulation that address the issues of black male dysfunctionality and black male problem solving. Dr. Na’im Akbar’s Visions for Black Men, Haki Madhubuti’s, Black Men, Single, Obsolete, Dangerous, Jawanza Kunjufu, State of Emergency, Michael Porter’s, Kill Them Before They Grow and Dr. Ray Winbush’s, The Warrior Method, just to name a few, are critical books for all Black men who wish to reclaim restore and recapture the essence of Black manhood/fatherhood. Again, it begins with the adherence to a set of standards and principles that should govern our behaviors and actions that must hold each of us accountable to ourselves and the group.

If you could delineate several of the ingredients needed to eradicate the problems facing Black men, what would it include?

-embracing a belief in the Creator

-talking less and studying more

-forming pacts with other Black men that are seeking self empowerment

-seeking control over the “community of self” (i.e., drives, conscience,

     senses, ego, etc).

-demonstrating the highest level of respect for Black life, Black women and Black children

-demonstrating the highest level of respect for the role as a father

-practicing the principles outlined in the Nguzo Saba (Kwanzaa’s seven principles)

-engaging in Black family life

-internalizing life-sustaining values

-supporting Black causes and Black businesses

-working with and mentoring Black youth via “rites of passage” programs

Just as there were past policies during slavery that restricted the rights and opportunities of Black men in particular (lynching, Jim Crow, laws against reading, marrying and owing property, etc.), there are policies that exist today that need to be re-examined and/or eliminated which include, racial profiling, “three strikes and you’re out” crime policies, welfare policies that “incentivizes” single parent (female-headed) household, and “zero-tolerance” school/societal policies that labels and criminalizes Black men/youth. However, in spite of the aforementioned policies that are designed to marginalized and criminalized Black men/youth, there are thousands of Black men who have been able to rise above societal traps / pitfalls to become committed, courageous, conscious and caring Black men/fathers. Much of what has to happen to effectively address the needs of Black men must begin within the homes of Black people where Black boys are taught to love themselves, to appreciate Black culture, to internalize a love for learning and to adopt a “never quit” attitude.

The configuration of our families must never become an excuse for father absence. There are not too many reasons, outside of death and serious drug/alcohol addition that should preclude the involvement of fathers in the lives of their children. Let us not forget that if culturally focused/politically clear and responsible Black fathers were a majority in the African American family, there would not be a gang, drug or crime problem at the levels that exist today. Black fathers must return home (emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, and whenever possible, physically) to assist Black mothers who are trying, against overwhelming odds, to raise conscious, competent and confident sons and daughters in a materialistic and hedonistic driven society. Black women single-parents, in many instances, are fighting a losing battle, and responsible and committed fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other men of our extended family are critically needed. So, Black men must try, whenever possible, to peacefully negotiate their right to spend time with their children, or take their case to court if necessary. We (Black men) can ill-afford to not be a part of our children’s development. Our children function best in an atmosphere where both parents combine their efforts and talents in the rearing of children. For a man, being present in the lives of his children- 24/7/365 - is the highest level of accountability that he can practice. Fathering and fatherhood must become a top priority for Black men going forward. If not us, then who!