New York Attorney General, Letita James PHOTO COURTESY OF X.COM

This is the designated Black History Month in America, and I have been struck by a few, disparate thoughts: what it’s like now in America, and what the future can be for Blacks scattered around the world.

That Was the Week that Was, or TW3, was a popular British television program from the 1960s that lampooned people and political events in the news cycle during the week preceding its television airing. Similar shows proliferated around the world. Saturday Night Live used TW3 as a model for much of its show, particularly the ‘news’ segment.

So many late-night show’s commentaries follow the same model, and we must admit that the absurdity of the antics of people, political leaders and whole governments give us plenty to laugh about. That is, we laugh to keep from crying. Today’s headlines are filled with material that we can bemoan for an entire month.

For instance, just this past week, we have the following to laugh out loud at, and/or pull our hair out over: Trump’s golden sneakers, the mysterious death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, Fani Willis’s defense of her personal choice to keep cash on hand and to have sex with whomever she pleases, Letita James taking a victory lap using poetry to define justice in the civil verdict against Trump, referencing the art of the deal/steal, not to mention Israel’s continuing alleged (unprosecuted) war crimes in Gaza, a total civil/military breakdown in Sudan, Secretary of defense Austin’s cancer treatment, Bidens memory, and the list is growing.

But back to what Fani Willis said when she reminded us who is on trial!

When we forget what really matters, we all become complicit. We laugh when we should cry – the idea that a convicted sexual assaulter and fraudster can be elected president of the USA. We cry too long and hard when we need to act by protesting, writing letters to our elected officials, demanding fairness and justice for innocent victims of wars, voting during every election, and much more.

Instead, we look for a nightly serving of snacks to accompany the daily dosage of misery and misanthropy to help us digest the barrage of man’s inhumanity to man.

Why are we so drawn to the behavior of buffoons, autocrats, and dictators? What do we find so compelling about seeing them in real time? These train wrecks capture our attention; much like a celebrity fashion parade. Our reptilian brains are stimulated by shiny objects, and too few seemingly can filter out the glitter to reach into the substantive look behind the curtain.

Yet, we must be able to put down the popcorn for a minute and make a hard evaluation of the state of our world, and Black folks’ place in it.

Currently, the Africa Union is struggling to define post-colonial identities; to rise above tribal, cultural and language barriers and design a “made in Africa” based production pipeline that would benefit multiple regions.

Can that be achieved? Yes, with advanced technological interconnections available, it is possible, and with applications of AI, good will, and a universal shunning of interference from outside super powers, like China, USA, and former colonizers.

But is there the collective willpower and visionary leadership on the continent to pull together a solid coalition of African countries, unified around a common interest?

I’m laughing to keep from crying when I realize the economic behemoth that a marriage between Africa’s natural resources and the diaspora of Black intelligentsia can develop.

What has kept us so divided? That question has been addressed by historians, scholars, and political analysts for centuries, and there is not one easy answer.

But moving forward, an unlikely model may be found in Putin’s vision to reunify the glories of imperial Russia- by any means necessary, restoring his country to a time of honor more than three-hundred years ago.

Africa’s glory days reach back over millennia, and several thriving kingdoms are recorded in not-too-distant memories as well as in documented memorials.

Is it too far a reach to conjure up an Afro-futuristic platform on which to build a new legacy; world-wide standards for measuring progress, excellence, universal humanitarian treatments, equitable distribution of resources, benevolent justice, democratic governance?

I say “no.”

The time is now, lest we once again be content to celebrate another Black History Month contained in a narrowly construed 28-day period. We can easily seize our power and leverage our collective might with a few “likes” in support of mutual Black power initiatives.

Put the popcorn down and free your mind, and let us begin where we are planted.

In November, we must vote, Vote.

Vote. toniwg1@gmail.com