" They fear us because we are the generation that will see freedom."

Fist Dap Uppity Negro Network TM 

 While the young people, black and white, didn’t face the same de jure struggles with segregation and apartheid here in the United States as we crossed the threshold into the last decade of the millennium, the society was coming to grips with the gross failures and the results of institutional racism that was just a part of the American capitalist system. 

If you never read another thing I post, Mandela and A Millennial Generation's Connection to the Civil Rights Movement  is a must read into the hearts and minds of the generation of African Americans, who didn't march, protest, boycott, struggle, and sacrifice during the American Civil Rights Movement, but were shaped by the struggle of those across the Atlantic who suffered hard oppression of colonization only six years short of the 3rd millennium of this new epoch.

Mandela had a tangible effect on millennials and that’s a fact that shouldn’t be missed.  Mandela gave us a glimpse into what it meant to be a citizen overseas who had watched water hoses and attack dogs turned on non-violent protesters.  While that was our story, uniquely an American Negro story born in the crucible of 1963 and later through 1965, my generation was able to see what impact the human story has on a global society.  We saw the protests to “Free Mandela” and “Free South Africa” and the story of the Soweto uprising in the 1970s was fixed clearly in our minds–do they hate us so much that they would kill our youth?

Thank you The Uppity Negro for restoring my belief that Children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.  Lead on.  Lead often.