“…I dreamed one day that my brothers and sisters would stand together…and shake hands…and show support and respect…and be united…but the African American nation won’t change for the better unless each African American make a personal change for the better…”
~Tiyatti Speight
Jimmy Dumas penned a book, 24 Reasons Why African Americans Suffer. This book not only gives his personal views on the status of the African American race, it also gives his opinions on how to improve this race and this culture. Granted, Mr. Dumas’s reasons, views and opinions are very valid and very well thought out, it’s his supporting text that is his downfall. In some instances he lacks the figures and facts to support his theories.
Chapter one states the first reasons why African American’s suffer is the lack of Unity. I totally agree. African American’s won’t come together as a whole to make the race a much better and a much more progressive one. In this chapter he uses historical movements as examples of Unity, The Montgomery Bus Boycott being the first, and the most significant, on the list. Everyone is well aware of the boycott in 1955 where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. The backlash of her actions caused African Americans to stand up express themselves and fight back against the wrongdoings of others.
This example may have been slightly more effective to the reader if we know how long the boycott lasted, 381 days,(which would have show the strength, seriousness and determination of the people) how much money was lost due to the boycott and examples of how the boycott effected the public transportation system during that time. African American taxi drivers began to charge the same amount as the busses, 10 cent, to support the boycott. This act of unity shows the power a united group of people can hold.
Not only does this chapter give examples of unity, it also gives us ways to build our economy: The Economic Roundtable. Dumas states that, “The purpose of the Economic Roundtable would be to discuss and plot the path of African Americans into the next century.” It starts by bringing out money together and working together and capitalizing on what and where we spend our money. “Some of the industries that we must begin to investigate and eventually dominate are pharmacology, medicine, technology, transportation…wherever we spend our money, that’s where our greatest minds and builders should be.” This statement by Dumas transfers into finding and locating the industries that gross the most income and creating African American owned businesses of the same stature.
As whole, I am on board with Mr. Duma’s first chapter. Overall, I agree with his thoughts and opinions, though it lacked some backing. As I stated in the beginning, he could have used some statistics and numbers to support his theories but as a whole, the chapter proved to be an interesting read.
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