Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding by

Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding by

Language: eng
Format: azw
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2015-02-02T16:00:00+00:00


Rashid Shabazz

AGE: 40

TITLE: Vice President of Communications, Campaign for Black Male Achievement

COMMUNITY: Brooklyn, NY

Language is everything. One of the first things you do as a parent is read your child stories. The way we transmit values as a society is through storytelling.

When I was working as a grant seeker for nonprofits, I always felt uncomfortable because we would have to use “deficit language” to talk about any of the issues around young Black men and boys. It was like, “at-risk youth,” “delinquent youth,” “marginalized youth,” “youth on the corner,” “disconnected youth.” That type of language didn’t affirm the young people I was working with and how they saw themselves.

That’s why when I came to work for the Open Society Foundation, I was so glad that the manager at my program, Shawn Dove, named his grant-making program the Campaign for Black Male Achievement. It was funny, when I first joined, people had quizzical looks on their faces when they heard the name—a lot of people couldn’t even fathom “Black male” and “achievement” being in the same line. It was almost like it was an oxymoron.

♦

I didn’t start talking until I was four. A lot of my parents’ friends assumed I was mute. I actually had a speech impediment. I was lucky that both my parents were supportive and took time off work to bring me to a speech pathologist. I always find it an interesting parallel that my life has been about journalism, communication, and trying to tell the stories of the Black community when, early on in my own life, I didn’t even speak.

I lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in the Marlboro projects, until 1982, when I was seven. Marlboro was a diverse community with a mix of mostly Puerto Ricans, Jews, and Blacks, but the area surrounding the projects was an Italian community that did not take too kindly to others who weren’t like them. I learned early the role race plays in everyday interactions.

My father and mother were in the Nation of Islam and stressed a strong sense of pride in their community and people. They were intent on affirming our cultural identity and self-worth. They always reinforced in our home the importance of knowledge of self, knowing who you are, respecting your history; knowing that Black people have been and are contributors to society and the world, and that you can be anything you want to be if you put your mind to it.

I grew up in a Black Nationalist home, but all my friends were very diverse. My parents always affirmed that if you’re able to love yourself, you’re better able to love your community and those around you, regardless of their ethnicity or race, which makes it easier to be a true humanitarian.

In 1983, when I was eight, we moved to Virginia. It was a huge change. In Brooklyn, I had lived in this confined space where everyone knew each other. Sure, there was racial tension, but there was also a sense of community. The South was different.



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