In another article I wrote that many Black leaders want to be The One as in the one great leader.   Of course I had my thoughts on that idea.   Ultimately I see most of these leaders as being sincere in that they want to see the Black community progress.   Notice I said most of these leaders.   Many “leaders” don’t really want to see progress.   Real progress would put them out of a job.   These people profit out of what I call the Black Pathology Industry.

The Black Pathology Industry are those businesses, institutions, services, and professions that benefit off of Black pathology.  I first got an inkling of this industry when I worked in job where I spent a lot of time at the courthouse in Washington, DC.   The people needing legal representation were primarily Black while their attorneys were primarily white.    It was one incident that really stood out to me.

I was in a courtroom just watching the proceedings to pass the time.  I noticed a Black defendant waiting for his case to come before the judge.   The defendant was trying to sit by his white attorney who told him to go back to his seat on the other side of the courtroom.   After that I started to really pay attention to the dynamics in the courthouse.   There were attorneys who cared nothing for their clients who were nevertheless getting paid.    We won’t even get into the rest of the criminal justice system.

It’s one thing when whites benefit off of the Black Pathology Industry but a reality is that many Blacks benefit as well.   Yet another job was dealing with civil rights issues.   As I worked on an assignment it occurred to me that many people make money off of civil rights issues.   I pondered at that moment.    Many people across the board would be out of a job if we treated each other humanely.

Getting back to many Black leaders, under no circumstances do they really want things to change.   Sure they say they do but then what would they do with their time?   I was struck by a post I read on a social media by a woman embedded in the Black Conscious Community.   She looked forward to the day when her five year old would be able to go on the lecture circuit.   I didn’t see that as a good thing because that would mean the same problems would still be there.

Some Black leaders know this.   Even though the concept of White Supremacy is fading away many will Black “leaders” will argue that it will always be around.   That’s because at a deep level they know their Mercedes and condo payments as well as their Brazil money would be in jeopardy.    They need the industry to keep going.

I think on some level this contributes to the back and forth between proponents of different strategies.   Some people want to move forward and some want to keep their cash cow going.

As a community we have to question the motives of those who claim to speak for us.   Too often I have encountered activists who seem more concerned about financial support than actually making things better for people.  These activists managed to live very well driving late model cars.   Some of them dressed better than corporate CEOs.

The Black Pathology Industry is very lucrative.   It also needs to die.   For this industry to thrive it means many people will have to suffer.   That is simply unacceptable.   We have to rise to new level.

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