Hi Richard,

I typical GOP fashion, Mr. McInnish has taken a kernel of truth and prepared a banquet of lies.  History has clearly shown that Black people, like any other group of people, excel in any endeavor that they are rewarded to pursue.  They used to say that Blacks were incapable of playing major league baseball.  And prior to Johnnie Cochran stepping onto the world stage, they used to say that due to the impact of affirmative action, Black professionals were professional in name only, and they were not as competant as their White counterparts. 

Even in my own case, when I revealed  to a high school counselor that I wanted to become a writer, I was given a lecture on the importance of setting realistic goals. So I immediately dropped out of school as a direct result of that discussion.  After all, if my dreams were limited to becoming a mechanic, why was I wasting my time in school?  I would probably still be adrift if three years later an insightful judge hadn't given me the option of going into the Marine corps instead of prison.

So while there are undoubtedly problems within the Black community, a tremendous amount of creativity and brain power also resides there.  As any cognitive scientist can attest, the very same creative intellect that went into the development of a Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Ray Charles, or Langston Hughes, can also be applied to Biology, physics, or any other endeavor. 

As an aside relative to this discussion, I've just recently found out that I have another son.  My name is Eric Lamont Wattree, and his is Byron Lamont Wattree.  His mother and I came together as teenagers, then shortly thereafter I went in the service, so I knew absolutely nothing about him.  His mother, who contacted me several months ago, told me that she didn't tell me about him because almost immediately after getting out of the service I got married, so she didn't want to "disrupt my life."

Byron is currently doing 25 years to life in prison on the three strikes law.  But while he's been in prison he's obtained five AA degrees (he can't obtain a BA in prison), and six Certificates of completion in everything from mathematics to Biology, and he's currently running a program in prison to help other inmates to obtain degrees. He's also a very powerful writer.

So I have an intimate appreciation of the negative impact that environment can have on Black youth. You see, my other son, Eric Lamont Wattree, Jr, who my late wife and I raised, is currently a federal agent. And prior to becoming a special agent, when he was in the air force he was Airman of the year  for two years row, and was requsted, by name, to accompany President Clinton all over the world. He was given a commendation by the Air Force for his service.  He was recommended for officer candidate school, but when the agency that he currently works for requested him, he was discharged on the spot after six years of service.

So the key to igniting the brain power in the Black community is to reassess our priorities and begin to reward excellence.  We've got to get young Black men to pursue knowledge with the same passion that they pursue going into the NBA or NFL.  And therein, lies my mission.

I completely agree, Oleeb, and your eloquence is not lost on me.

I'm going to take your comment and send it to my son, who's in prison, that I spoke of above.  He gets one of the papers that I write for delivered to him in prison.  In our last discussion he said, "I hear where you're coming from, Pops, but how are we gonna get through to the people?"  I intend to send him your eloquent response.

And you're absolutely right about Martin and Malcolm.  Actually, I used their names as a metaphor to represent voices of like mind. As I'm sure you are aware, in poetry, unlike prowes, you shoot for the heart, rather than simply appealing to the intellect.  So the use of Malcolm and Martin was merely a poetic device.  I agree with you.  We don't need one voice speaking for millions; we need millions speaking with one voice.