For decades various African American leaders have been attempting to “save the race.” There have been various movements and countless marches designed to do something to assist the African American cause. There is a simple, yet complex, way to move African Americans forward. The easy way to “help” African Americans is having each one accept responsibility for their own life.
Grab a mirror and stare into it. What you are looking at is the reason that your life is going as it is. Look closely at the perpetrator of the situations and circumstances of your life. Close your eyes and listen to the voice in your head. This voice is the shaper and creator of the pattern of your life. In the past, people would blame outside forces as the reasons that their lives were not up to par. There are outside forces that can affect your life. These forces can only do this if you give them the power to do so. The understanding that your life is your own creation is a major step to save an African American.
Any person can begin changing their life when they take the time to acknowledge that they have created their own hell or heaven. As easy as this sounds, this is often a major issue. Many people do not want to take responsibility for their life. It is much easier to blame others and situations for the condition of life. To take the burden of responsibility up, while looking at the life you created, is one for the strong. Be honest with yourself. The decisions and actions that have put you wherever you are were made by one person. If you said yourself, give yourself a round of applause. If you are mentally weak, then you may want to do this with the guidance of a therapist. This knowledge, your life is less than ideal because you messed up, can lead to depression or worse.
Once a person realizes that their life is their creation they need to understand that they can change their life. Nothing in life is concrete, unless you make it so. Many conditions can be overcome if a person decides they want to change them. I am talking about changing life on an individual basis. If you look at history, the mass movements have led African Americans to the point they are at in 2025. That previous sentence speaks for itself. The ability for a person to transform their life is one that all religious doctrines talk about. African Americans are some of the holiest people on the planet so the concept of renewing the mind/life should be familiar. African American, why not put all that faith to use?
Many will use current situations, such as family and jobs, as an excuse to stay where they are. Once again, these excuses are leading to the creation of your life. Take responsibility and watch how things work out. Your situations may look better if you renew your mind and understand that you put yourself in the situation. This is not a condemnation of the decisions or actions you have taken in the past. You did what you thought was right and what you knew to do at that time. This is a way to accept that ‘the old you’ who made the decision is gone, and ‘the new you’ is wiser. Growth is natural. Stagnation and whining lead to death.
There you have it…a bonafide way to change African American lives. The suggestion of taking responsibility for your life can be shared with every nationality on the planet. The earth would be heaven if every person looked at their life and understood that their life is their creation. There would be no blame game. Fear would evaporate. People may just get along for once.
Frank James IV © 2025
beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or HT Group, LLC, its staff or management. “Being Frank” is a bi-weekly column exclusive to the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper.
