#32 Confidence

IF YOU CAN KEEP YOUR HEAD
WHEN ALL THOSE ABOUT YOU
ARE LOSING THEIRS AND BLAMING
IT ON YOU
--Rudyard Kipling’s IF

Confidence. That’s what needs to be restored in the 21st century. The confidence to live life one on ones own terms and do what needs to be done to overcome whatever obstacles stand in ones way. You see, Black people have a confidence problem. Believe me, I’m not saying that we suffer from a collective case of low self-esteem, I am saying that we have taken the representation of our history too seriously. I think that if you were to survey the majority of African-Americans about our history in this nation and our accomplishments as a people, few would be able to name many highlights. Few would consider the overall struggle of Blacks as even 50% successful. Few would be able to talk about much more than slavery and/or the Civil Rights Movement.

On the other side of that coin many, if not most would, be able to quote the litany of statistical information that says that Black folks are underemployed, over-incarcerated, doped up, violent, endangered, diseased, impoverished, overweight, under-educated and generally in dire circumstances. Now, I’m not a psychologist but it seems to me that if anyone concentrates on the negative aspects of his/her existence then it is hard, if not impossible, to overcome those circumstances.

So much of this life boils down to what individuals think and how that affects their actions. If all you think about yourself is negative then the outcomes in your life will be negative. In essence you rob yourself of the confidence to struggle because you believe that struggle is ultimately in vain and you can’t win. Black folks have a confidence problem.

It’s simple really. What one believes in one will act out. We as a people believe in circumstances that have plagued us. We believe in the notion that we begin life less fortunate than others simply because we are born black. We believe that the system itself is designed to hold us back, hamper our efforts and impede our progress. But if ones beliefs about life and circumstances all point to a diminished capacity to achieve, then the idea of achievement becomes ridiculous. It becomes hard to even think that anything will change because there are no examples of change and ones outlook becomes cynical and movement toward anything positive becomes stunted. Confidence not only disappears but it becomes questionable whether or not it even existed.

I don’t mean to suggest that all of the woes of the Black community can be solved with heightened self-confidence because that would be too simplistic of an answer to even consider. I am saying that none of the problems that we have can even begin to be addressed unless we possess the confidence to believe that we can affect change on both an individual and collective level. Therefore, the question becomes how do we build both individual and collective confidence?

I believe that the individual is the key to the collective, if the individual changes then the collective changes. We are all part of a whole and what one of us does affects the lives of those who surround us. Black history is full of positive examples of achievement in every area of human endeavor and individuals who seek to build their confidence to overcome must first look at those examples and find belief. We must teach ourselves to believe in ourselves by rejecting the mass misrepresentation of who we are and our potential and investigating the truth.

Malcolm X once said, “History is best qualified to reward our research.” And in so saying gave regular people the key to changing. He rose from the same, if not worse, circumstances that many of us face to become an icon of leadership, self-education, morality and single-minded dedication. With little formal education, a criminal background and a history of bad decisions he changed his life and grew confident that the same change was possible for all of his people. I have a special affinity for history and earned a degree in it.

My own studies have shown me that we as a people have always possessed the power to change our circumstances and overcome in the face of adversity. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t made mistakes, or been afraid or believed that struggle is in vain. It does mean that when those mistakes happen, or I feel fear or struggling seems stupid, I have a store of knowledge to counteract the negativity. I can point to the positive within the negative and continue to fight.

Confidence can’t be restored overnight. And it can never be restored without a willingness to seek it out. I suggest that those who see the need for reinvigoration of community confidence begin with themselves and take a hard look at how they view life and how that view has affected their lives. Investigate your true history and then ask the hard questions about what you think about yourself, your heritage and your aspirations in the face of adversity. I suggest that everyone read and then re-read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X as a textbook for change and confidence.

Keep it real and shed the fake strut of false confidence and begin to build a will backed by sincere belief in self and in community. When you notice the holes in your armor take time to repair those holes and in doing so make us, our people, whole again.