INTERGENERATIONAL ACTIVITIES for AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUTH in PHILADELPHIA and elsewhere

“We must convince Our young (and allow them) to not only share in controlling their own destinies, but, as well, to prepare for the generations that will follow them.”

Dear friends,

We must end the murders and other overwhelmingly inhuman actions that leave Us always on the receiving end of suffering. In order to do so, We must convince Our youth to cease their current behavior, whether it is legal (like gangsta rap) or illegal (like robbing and/or stealing from, and killing one another). Politicians who now call for more police and additional funds for crime and "community courts" programs have no plan or clue. In fact, these same people have witnessed the decline of Our community, on their watches. Period! Therefore, it is up to the community itself to solve this problem. We must convince Our youth that they have a stake in the continuation of Our historical experience.

A people’s culture determines the manner in which We transmit and share both behavior and ideas to present and future generations. However, the first thing that We must understand about culture is that it is largely tied to a people's resources. That is, social status and income as well as materials to produce what people need or desire determine how, why and through what medium folks can express themselves as a distinct group.

African American culture has contributed quite positively, and in a large way, to the development of the United States of America. However, the legacy of chattel slavery that was bestowed upon Us by both European American and African American slave owners has left Our culture in shambles. Worse yet, much of the problem of the lack of community amongst Us is based upon cultural habits that are made all too obvious by the sense of disenfranchisement that many of Our youth both feel and display.

There’s an African proverb that goes, " To live together is to have a common fate." In other words, as a community, in the grand scheme of things, as it were, We need each other, regardless of whatever extent that We are physically-able or whatever social differences that We have - like gender and age. But if people, in any specific community, share a common fate, then it only seems fair that all parties involved should have a voice in their destinies. Unfortunately, for all of America’s brave words of "freedom and democracy", when do Our children/youth ever experience either of these lofty ideals, particularly, democracy?

What young people actually feel is that they are controlled, having little or no input, regarding decisions that directly affect their existences. They feel powerless. As a consequence, they become angry and frustrated. Moreover, in their feeling of powerlessness, quite intelligently, they rebel. Yet, the problem with much of the rebellion of Our youth, particularly in the inner city, is that young people often protest in ways that are self-destructive, largely due to the types of options available to them.

We should no longer ignore the anger and frustration that Our youth must necessarily express in a negative way, if We do not provide them with opportunities to make good choices. Consequently, it seems that Our efforts need to be concentrated on building Our community from its most basic unit - the non-adult human being. After all, Our youth have a great deal to learn in order to competently replace Us and, in turn, pass on adequate knowledge and ability to those who will follow them.

Participation in both the decision-making and application processes of building Our community will help young people to look inside of themselves and resolve the anger, isolation, fear, sadness, and frustration which results from their feelings of powerlessness, through the personal strength of positive energy and group support. Mastering skills in most activities, whether for business or pleasure, requires using energy in a positive way, relying upon focus and concentration - each being human powers just as energy itself is. We must help Our youth develop these skills.

By the way, while many adults are quick to write off Our youth, as if they are lazy and selfish beings who came from another planet, it is important for Us to remember that Our youth are not alien creatures. That is, they came from Us. Their language, and, therefore, their thoughts, along with their actions are all based upon behaviors, both good and bad, inherited from Us. Notwithstanding, to paraphrase the great philosopher Kahlil Gibran: Before one is willing to get rid of an oppressor, he or she must first get rid of the oppressor from within.
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Ore of the ways that we can provide them with options to make positive choices, is for Us to have intergenerational programs in which they can engage,

Monitoring the Elderly

One of the most important aspects of youth-oriented programs are their intergenerational activities. This would more likely be successful by forming youth clubs, for the elderly. That way, you could have peer monitoring, to make sure that elders were being watched and cared for and more importantly to make sure that they were not being mistreated or taken advantage of. You do not want young people stealing from their houses, bullying them. borrowing money from them, and so forth. Their has to be a strict system of etiquette monitored by peers. Youth in churches would be good for this and the churches could identify elders who would take advantage of the service while keeping track of those elders to make sure the service was as intended.

1.) "I'm Okay" Program

Teenagers could get small stipends to volunteer services for their elderly neighbors - like running errands, or keeping an elder company, by reading to him or her. The money earned from the stipends could go towards their college funds. Regarding intergenerational programs, a dear friend of mine who lives in Florida who saw a rough draft of this proposal wrote back, “When I worked in a low income housing development here in Florida, we used to have a program where the elderly would put a sign in their window every morning saying "I'm Okay". As the kids would go to school they would look for the signs. If there was no sign in the window, they reported it. Every other month their would be a "social" for both groups to dance or sit and talk. The kids loved it and the senior citizens felt like someone cared.”

We need an “I'm Okay” sign program in Philadelphia. In other words, if elderly folks have signs in their windows that say “I'm Okay”, then they are left alone. However, if the sign is taken down, then that address would be reported to a designated person who after contacting that particular elderly person who is not “Okay” (for reasons other than medical ones), said designator would then assign a teenager to take care of the problem, whether it be grocery shopping, being read to, just wanting some company, or whatever.

Now, I will admit that the idea of a sign in the window would have worked well for Our generation (Baby-boomers and those before Us), because We were taught to stop and help an elder carrying heavy bags, and so forth. This generation is getting very little of the "manners" education. Neighbors are much more alienated from each other than Our generation. (In the wealthy neighborhoods, they do not even bother to make sidewalks anymore.)

2.) Grandparents Read Too

It will be valuable to include some Elementary school program with elderly as well. There are some schools around the country that have a grandparents' breakfast each week. Elders are invited to come and have breakfast with the kids, even if they do not have grandchildren there. However, mostly kids invite their own grandparents. Additionally, elders can help with reading, after school homework, and classroom projects.

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To be sure, there is a generation raising children that is so steeped in this market-driven, possession-oriented culture that ideas of community, and so forth, represent the folklore of generations past. Additionally, it is hard to steer the imagination towards humanity, community, and the common good in a society that holds individualism as paramount. Individualism has its place, but given too much emphasis, it can encourage greed, selfishness and petty materialism, creating serious identity problems along the way. For instance, there already exists a vulgar mimicry of genuine individualism that has young African American males wearing pigtails, earrings in each ear, along with placing jewelry and tattoos at bizarre points on their bodies.

However, We must convince Our young (and allow them) to not only share in controlling their own destinies, but, as well, to prepare for the generations that will follow them. Therefore, and ultimately, if Our youth are to be Our future, then it will only happen if We as adults, particularly parents, take the reins of this present culture and provide Our children with both an historical and social conscience, and set the example for them, by informing identity through recognition of the connection between generations and defining human life in a meaningful way (as opposed to basing who they are upon unstantiated claims regarding with whom they are having sex, or what "gang colors" they're wearing). That way, Our society will someday benefit from the "leadership" of Our youth.

At any rate, connecting to institutions where youth already participate, rather than trying to form new ones, is essential, for any hope of success. Church youth groups, school clubs, athletic teams, specialty learning centers (like boxing, karate, art, trade schools, and so forth), as well as college groups will all have interest in community service on some level, whether for positive publicity or to give concrete application of their principles. Eventually, even gangs could be convinced to act more as social clubs, giving their members a more positive sense of purpose.

By the way, instead of being “anti-gang”, perhaps, We should consider getting gangs to identify with positive behavior, at least, under some circumstances. After all, who would have ever thought that the famous biker gang known as the “Hell’s Angels”, originally out of California, would be connected to philanthropic activities, although their name continues to, sometimes, be connected with criminal activity? Even the infamous Blackstone Rangers of Chicago, at one point, became known for actions other than their violent ones. This can happen with the Crips and Bloods, as well.

Still, for all that has been discussed thus far, the proverbial bottom line is: Capitalism has been so attractive, because it is, thus far, the only type of economy that has afforded total political freedom to its participants, as workers. That means that a person can "flip the boss a bird", as it were, and walk away, being "free" to find another opportunity for employment. This was certainly not the case in either slave or feudalistic societies. Socialist countries do not allow that kind of freedom either, since everyone works for the "State" and, therefore, must work where s/he is assigned, more or less.

The downside of total political freedom for workers within the capitalist political economy is: The "market” then controls all economic and, social relationships, based upon the notion of "supply and demand", whether for the human commodity - labor, or non-human ones (commodities). Unfortunately, since, the end of World War 1 or so, the "market" has taken control of what we see as culture. As a result, the definition of culture, which historically, has referred to all of the actions by a specific population group, has become anything that the market determines it to be.


Finally, culture has no meaning once taken out of the context of a reproductive process. A people who cannot reproduce themselves as a people will cease to exist as a people and become part of something else. This is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. For example, the culture that held Africans in slavery, in this society, could no longer reproduce itself in that form and had to change, because of the well-deserved hostility and resistance it engendered.

To be sure, the idea that a culture can develop without any connection to the past (except its increased availability of consumables) is a contradiction in terms. Hence, just as We hear about "Hip-hop" culture (drugs, guns, gangs, and so forth), and “Gay" culture (weddings, nightclubs, exclusive recreational venues, magazines and newspapers with ads sold in them, and so forth), the notion of "Youth" culture, for example, is designed to exploit the vast and seemingly endless energy and enthusiasm of young people. Yet, it seems, at least to me, that the energy and courage of Our youth should, actually, serve the purpose of moving society forward - but only under the guidance of those of that part of society (parents and other elders) who have both the experience and understanding to recognize the values that maintain both Our humanity and spirituality.

So let Us stop asking children what they want to be, in the context of what they will possess, when they grow up. Instead, let Us ask, what they want to be, regarding their relatedness to others. Let Us ask, "How will you help the community when you grow up?" Let Us ask, "What kind of work will you do to help people when you grow up?"

If We are to become a real community and stop the murdering, thievery, and other improprieties that We direct towards one another, We need the will and actions of a community. Obviously, We do not have either right now. Still, it seems that it is equally apparent, from the current standpoint, that We definitely have the resources and can provide the options for Our youth to develop a loving and prosperous African American community here in Philadelphia, and in any other locales across the country. Let's do it! Peace.

G. Djata Bumpus