The 12 Things The Negro Must Do For Himself (Updated)

July 7th, 2008 | By Sonnie Johnson

In my About section, I have listed the 12 steps laid out by Nannie Helen Burroughs in the early 1900’s. Here they are the same 12 steps, just rewritten by me.

12 Things We Need To Do For Ourselves

1. WE MUST LEARN TO PRIORITIZE.

We can’t go out and buy a BMW before we first purchase a house. We can’t go out and buy our kids NIke’s and not invest in books and learning material. We can’t go out and buy Grey Goose and Hennessey when they are closing down community centers in our neighborhoods. “WE BUY THE THINGS WE WANT AND BEG FOR THE THINGS WE NEED.”

2. WE MUST LEARN SOMETHINGS ARE OUR RESPONSIBILITY

We as a people have always helped each other out. If you don’t have food, I’ll feed you the best I can. But if you won’t even try to feed yourself, why should anyone help you. Take a step and if you fall, I’ll catch you, but “Even God does not do for man what man can do for himself.”

3. WE MUST CLEAN UP OUR NEIGHBORHOODS

That means everything in them. The houses, the stores, the parks, and the people. Graffiti is beautiful sometimes, but mostly it brings down property value. When addicts and dealers consume parks and playgrounds, where do the children go. We must realize our personal value is directly connected to our community value, and if we want to advance we must take our communities with us. The standards we set for ourselves, will be those expected of us from others.

4. WE MUST DRESS APPROPRIATELY

First impressions mean everything, and you never know where your opportunity may present itself. If you are seriously seeking a career, dress appropriately all the time. You may be in a public setting and catch the attention of someone in a position of power. It’s common sense to know what is appropriate. You don’t wear halter tops and booty shorts to Chuck E. Cheese, or jeans and a t-shirt to court. Nor should you allow your children to wear clothes you feel are inappropriate because it helps them fit in. Teach them character.

5. WE MUST NOT BE AFRAID TO TELL PEOPLE WE LOVE THE LORD

Majority of us believe God is Real. We feel him in our souls, but that’s where we keep him. We go through our evolution, and we give God the Glory, but we don’t tell the little girls and little boys our stories. We walk past them and blow them off instead of taking two minutes to stop and tell them “God loves You, and no matter what is holding you down today, God will take it away if you ask him.”

6. WE MUST STOP TALKING ABOUT THE MAN

I could do this but I’ll let Booker T. Washington handle it. ” There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs-partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs….There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who don’t want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public.” Why do we only see our so called leaders when something bad happens? No one told me I could be anything, they only told me if I try, somebody will stop me.

7. WE MUST STOP BMW (Bitching, Moaning, and Crying)

Nobody is going to stop you from making money for them. It’s that simple. Black is no longer the important color. The new color of significance in GREEN. If you make a company millions of dollars, they won’t care the color of your skin. Even if he doesn’t like black people, he will do what he has to do to keep you, because MONEY is more important. The major mistake we make is thinking we can do it alone. We try and fail and look for someone to blame. Did you reach out to other black people and ask them to invest? Giving them a sense of pride and ownership of something, and you a chance to see your dream fulfilled. Instead of complaining and making excuses, look around you for people like you and make the climb together.

8. WE MUST STOP EXPECTING A JOB

Don’t go to a job interview late, wearing baggy pants, and speaking broken English and expect to get a job. You wouldn’t hire you. Don’t get the job, call out in the first week, show up late three days the next week, and then tell your manager what your not going to do. You would fire you. Don’t go to work, talk about your other employees, have totally inappropriate conversations loudly, or break an attitude and show out. Realize whether it’s fair or not you are a representative of our race, and we have to change our image if we want more doors to open up to us. Make your habits so impeccable they can’t function without you.

9. WE MUST STOP ACTING A FOOL IN PUBLIC PLACES

Most of the time, I think most black people don’t want integration. If they did, they would realize it’s really a matter of standards. I don’t go to the movies at night time and it has nothing to do with the prices. I see GROWN black folks loud and obnoxious, cutting lines and cussing at attendants for no reason. There are no white people around, that’s how we act amongst ourselves. We all have to realize there is a time and place for everything. If you want to support our local businesses, go in and act like you have sense. Make it comfortable for other races to taste our food, see our clothes, listen to our music, and support us.

10. STOP LIMITING YOURSELF TO WHAT YOU SEE AROUND YOU

Just because the only black successful people you see play a sport, are surrounded by half naked women, or don’t reach out to you, that’s not your only resource. A success story is a success story. If you can’t find one that looks like you and succeeded in the dream you have, just look for one that succeeded. Don’t worry about color. You may find that just because they are a different color, they are still went through the same problems and pitfalls you’ll have to endure.

11. WE MUST NEVER FORGET WHERE WE CAME FROM

This is what ticks me off about Hip-Hop Artist that say it’s not there place to be role models. Especially those that spend money and give back to the community. Yes, the money will help, but listen to the message that comes with the money. You may not have wanted the position, but God gave it to you. He allowed you to live and to suffer through all the pain of your life, and then he put you out front to preach his message. Tell me I can make it out, but don’t tell me it requires me sitting on 22’s. Tell me it’s hard, tell me I’ve got to change my mind set. Jay-Z did it, and he’s successful. Kanye West, Common, they are doing it and making money, is it just that you can’t be creative enough to change the message and still draw people in. Maybe that’s your wake up call to check your skills, and make sure your records reflect your actual life.

12. WE MUST STOP BEING MORE RACIST THAN ANY OTHER GROUP

Chief Moose, from the Maryland Police, lead the search for the D.C. Sniper. He joined the police after college, with the intention of learning the crooked operations of the police, then become a lawyer and fighting against it. He never became a lawyer. We talk ourselves into hating the police, when we’re really more scared of the brothers on the corner than we are of the police. We don’t restrict ourselves from going to certain neighborhoods because we’re scared the police are going to mess with us. Yet when something happens to a brother, we all want to run to his aid, and stand up for him. So the white cops that put their life on the line to protect you, you spew them with hate and disgrace. And give comfort to people you know are wrong. That’s racism at it’s strongest. You know who’s selling the crack to the mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers of our communities. I know there are certain cases where there is police brutality, but you’ve been around that dude that said they wouldn’t take him without a fight, and you believed it when he said it. You know the ones that prey on 13 and 14 year old boys to get them started, and we stand up for them. Why? We give them excuses to believe it’s okay for them to go out and do the same stupid shit over and over again. Why? We call them square if they decide their not going to fall in and ruin their lives? Why? Then when they make it and come back to help, we attack them. They open businesses, we rob them. They open community center, we sell crack in front of them. Is there never a time when we all we have personal responsibility, with no one to blame for our short falls but ourselves?