If we’re talking about the importance of being the kind of people who offer a hand up and out of poverty, why would some men like the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board member Jason Riley author a book called Please Stop Helping Us? Maybe his subtitle makes it clear: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed.

I know the word Liberal and its opposite Conservative unnecessarily provoke strong emotions, so let’s just put it this way:

Resurgent men aren’t against help. Resurgent men identify the problems and sort through the solutions to find ones that work and those that don’t.  They’re highly pragmatic about Resurgence regardless of labels.

Just like many of the black authors and activists covered so far, Jason Riley wants blacks to succeed period. Solutions devised by white people so whites could feel good about themselves won’t solve the problem for blacks. Riley looks at failed solutions and in Jason Riley: The RealClearReligion Interview  he identifies the real problems as 

bad public policies have contributed to the breakdown of the black family” and indeed a “collapse of black culture.”

Riley crystalizes the problem into the most basic unit of family as the conveyor of culture and when that’s broken, that’s what must be restored. In the interview, Riley was asked “What inspired you to write this book?” and he responded,

“I saw a need for a new generation of blacks to be saying these things about the impact of black culture — particularly in our inner cities and our ghettos — on these black outcomes that we’re seeing. I’m not breaking any new ground here. There are people like Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, and Walter Williams, and others who have been saying these things for decades. I thought it was necessary for a younger generation to continue saying these things for a younger generation of readers.”

And of course, for this Seminary Gal, what I found interesting was when Riley was asked, “Do you think the role models you found in church are missing today?” he replied,

“I don’t know that they’re missing. I’m not sure that they carry the sway with today’s young people that they did with me. But they’ve been there. The church is still there. It’s still a very important institution in the black community. More broadly speaking, you have a family breakdown issue going on. I don’t know that the church can compensate entirely for that.

The real problem is the breakdown of the black family. One of the statistics I like to remind people of is that as late as 1960, two out of three black children were raised in two-parent homes. Today, more than 70 percent of black children are not. In some of these ghettos, it runs as high as 80 or 90 percent of black kids living in single-parent homes. I think that has a lot to do with those bad outcomes we see in terms of school completion, in terms of involvement in the criminal justice system, drug use, and teen pregnancy, and so forth. It’s the lack of fathers in homes raising boys, teaching them what it means to be men, and teaching them what it means to be black. I think the breakdown of the family has been extremely detrimental to black culture.”

So what’s wrong with the policies that have been implemented to help the black community? Riley writes,

“In theory these efforts are meant to help. In practice they become barriers to moving forward. … People of goodwill want to see more black socioeconomic advancement, but time and again the empirical data show that current methods and approaches have come up short.”

The current methods and approaches have been grounded in politics, but as Riley points out, “History, in other words, provides little indication, let alone assurance, that political success is a prerequisite of upward mobility.”

In the community of Resurgent men, we need people to clearly articulate what works and what doesn’t. If the breakdown of the family is at the heart of the problem, how do we restore the importance of family to the black community?  Well, first let’s just admit that it’s not a problem confined to the black community. The American family is a mess. Some like Riley, Steele, and Williams write to identify the problem. But stay tuned, the solutions are closer to home.

It’ll be found in the God-ordained family unit as recorded in the final verse of the Old Testament through the prophet Malachi (Malachi 4:1-6).  The solution to distress will be with fathers just as God–our spiritual Father– foretold about the role of John the Baptist (Luke 1:13-17) before the Day of the Lord comes, it’s Resurgence!

“And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.” (Malachi 4:6)

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• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who help themselves by climbing from the backs of others to reach the top and leave it there like the evil Lotso Bear in Toy Story 3 who tries to keep the other toys from escaping as he rules from the top of the heap.  And then there those who know the teamwork of then reaching back down to help others up to the top, too.

I see it all the time, even as a woman in ministry.  Two kinds of people.  The one kind missing so much joy they would get from helping others.

Instead there are people achieving some level of success who suddenly forget that it’s God’s grace that brought them there.  And why were they blessed?  In order that they might be a blessing … to others.

These kind of people view power and money as a zero sum game—a fixed pie in which their giving someone a little helping hand means they have less in theirs.  Not only is this wrong, but their perception problem has–at its very heart–a core of selfishness.

To stay selfish, they cling to all kinds of failed assumptions.

Frankly, the hypotheses have been tested for years. Every black author and civil rights figure I’ve discussed so far in the Resurgence series knows these failures and doesn’t buy the failed hypotheses. They’re one kind of men—the Resurgent type of men who don’t leave their brothers behind. It’s how they climbed successfully and now, they are trying to be the kind of blacks who reach out to help others up. Man to man, not with a mano a mano adversarial outlook of the zero sum game, but as a genuine help up and a very real guide who can show them how. 

They don’t believe in the I-got-mine attitude of walking away, heartlessly waving goodbye as some map of a theoretical way out flutters to the ground that might as well read, “You’re on your own, pal.”  That’s what many politicians do.

Water Williams writes, “My argument has always been that the political arena is largely irrelevant to the interests of ordinary black people.”

He sees the failed hypothesis: “Much of the 1960s and ’70s civil rights rhetoric was that black political power was necessary for economic power. But the nation’s most troublesome and dangerous cities, which are also cities with low-performing and unsafe schools and poor-quality city services, have been run…for nearly a half-century — with blacks having significant political power, having been mayors, city councilors and other top officials, such as superintendents of schools and chiefs of police.”

Like Shelby Steel, Williams sees that the color of any official’s skin–even the President’s skin–isn’t a cure-all.  Yet, colorblind policies can be implemented to help. Power residing with the people can be vitally important. That’s why Williams says reassuringly,

“Panic among some blacks over the upcoming Trump presidency is unwarranted. Whoever is the president has little or no impact on the living conditions of ordinary black people, even when that president is a black person, as the Obama presidency has demonstrated. The overall welfare of black people requires attention to devastating problems that can be solved only at the family and community levels.”

Sure, there have been activist politicians, even preachers, promoting themselves as the perfect solution, but the main thing they’ve proven is that there are two kinds of people: ones who use their position to help others up and those who reached the top and do a whole Lotso nothin’ to help the racial divide.

Of the two kinds of people, we need more Resurgent men who will see the expanding universe of hope and the rising tide for all by reaching out to offer a hand up, not with a political solution, but with a brotherly one.   We’re in this together.

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26)

 

Another noted black author, educator, and researcher, Dr. Walter Williams (Distinguished Professor of Economics, George Mason University), also points to the need for Resurgence and has devoted much of his recent writing to the impact of crime, education, and political correctness on economics for black communities. Walter Williams writes, 

“Today’s level of lawlessness and insecurity in many black communities is a relatively new phenomenon. In the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, people didn’t bar their windows. Doors were often left unlocked. People didn’t go to bed with the sounds of gunshots….”

What changed?

Williams believes it was a well-meaning but erroneous notion that “blamed crime on poverty and racial discrimination…[while academic elites] and hustling politicians told us that to deal with crime, we had to deal with those ‘root causes.’”

Looking at the wrong root causes leads to ignoring “the fact that there was far greater civility in black neighborhoods at a time when there was far greater poverty and discrimination.”

Creating different standards of conduct and expectation only exacerbated the problems facing the black community. Williams writes, “The presence of criminals, having driven many businesses out, forces residents to bear the costs of shopping outside their neighborhoods. Fearing robberies, taxi drivers — including black drivers — often refuse to do home pickups in black neighborhoods and frequently pass up black customers hailing them.”

Crime itself in the black community feeds the tiered standards of economics.

“In low-crime neighborhoods, FedEx, UPS and other delivery companies routinely leave packages that contain valuable merchandise on a doorstep if no one is at home. That saves the expense of redelivery or recipients from having to go pick up the packages…Where there is less honesty, supermarkets cannot use all the space that they lease, and hence they are less profitable. In high-crime neighborhoods, delivery companies leaving packages at the door and supermarkets leaving goods outside unattended would be equivalent to economic suicide.

Politicians who call for law and order are often viewed negatively, but poor people are the most dependent on law and order. In the face of high crime or social disorder, wealthier people can afford to purchase alarm systems, buy guard dogs, hire guards and, if things get too bad, move to a gated community. These options are not available to poor people. The only protection they have is an orderly society.

Ultimately, the solution to high crime rests with black people. Given the current political environment, it doesn’t pay a black or white politician to take those steps necessary to crack down on lawlessness in black communities.”

His outlook for the future is not entirely without hope.

He acknowledges “This is a devastating problem, but it is beyond the reach of a president or any other politician to solve. If there is a solution, it will come from churches and local community organizations.”

Does Williams know this is biblical? I don’t know but I agree that where we place our trust is pivotal to changing our outcomes to beautiful Resurgence for the black community.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalm 20:7)

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• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

Michael Gerson, an op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, wrote a memorable line as a speech-writer for then President George W. Bush in which he described the black community as suffering in education from the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” (Referring, of course, to the elitist perception that high standards weren’t achievable for black Americans and even if the words of these elitists never said so, their actions revealed their belief that it’s foolish to have high expectations for black people.) Overcoming this bigotry, the speech went on, required recognizing that this is inherently bigoted, horribly discriminatory, and profoundly unfair to the potential of the young people being educated.  In modern terms, it’s dumbing everyone down as political correctness goes amok.

It’s not just Gerson hinting at this.  There are plenty of black writers, too, who hold prestigious positions as journalists and opinion writers at leading newspapers, rising to the top of their field, and definitely not believing the lie that would have kept them down. Instead, they see the problems and write about them. It’s their role in the Resurgence I see God working in the black community at the present time.

After all, the first step in solving a problem is to identify it, right?

Enter writing giant Shelby Steele. Role model. Wordsmith.

According to Paper Magazine (which I’d recommend reading the full interview),

“As a writer, researcher and senior fellow at conservative think tank the Hoover Institution, Shelby Steele has dedicated much of his work to questioning our assumptions about race relations in America, social programs and political correctness. His most recent book, Shame: How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country, puts forth the idea that liberalism, and the related desire to redeem America of its past sins through social programs, has instead prevented the advancement of the very groups these policies intended to help.”

In that interview, Shelby Steele (not to be confused with sportswriter David Steele who trying to erase Jim Brown’s whiteboard of civil rights achievements) says about America’s history of Civil Rights challenges,

“America is to be honored and complimented for actually facing these problems and dealing with them. Nevertheless, [having grown] up during the Civil Rights Era, America was brought to account for the sin of slavery, for its mistreatment of women, for all of these things that white supremacy, in a sense, fostered…Still, we all live with the knowledge of this past tragedy and of the hypocrisy of it. I think that knowledge has generated in American life this need to be redemptive, to prove that we are not like that anymore. And so how do you show yourself to be redemptive? You keep deferring to those groups that are associated with that victimization and you keep trying to give them things and, in a sense, use them as a vehicle for America’s redemption.”

He’s talking about what has cultivated a “soft bigotry of low expectations” for minorities in order for white people to feel good about themselves again. Steele continues,

“One of the points that I feel very strongly about, coming as a black [man], is that the deference that America has shown us since the ’60s with the War on Poverty and the Great Society and welfare, these deferential policies that defer to our history of victimization now victimize us more than racism did. I grew up in segregation. I know exactly what it’s like. And I had a more positive attitude toward America than many blacks do today who are the beneficiaries of Affirmative Action. I think that deference has become a very corrupting influence on the people that it tries to help. It’s honorable that it wants to help these people but they never ask the people to be responsible for their own transformation and uplift and that’s the great tragedy of deference and political correctness.

The history of America has accused [white people] of the evil of bigotry. And so white Americans are insanely sensitive to being seen as racists or, to a lesser degree, sexists. And so this hyperbolic political correctness that we’ve descended into has to do with this neurotic response. But when people are living under that kind of threat of stigmatization, they don’t even see the people they’re trying to help. White people don’t even see blacks. Political correctness is utterly and completely blind to the humanity of black America.

Everybody is under threat of stigmatization. Blacks are fanatical about who’s really black and who isn’t. Whites are fanatical about whether they’re racist or whether they’re not. Nobody is seeing each other as simply as human beings…”

Bingo. Shelby Steele nails it.

Culturally speaking, this is the overarching problem and why the “soft bigotry of low expectations” needs to be met head on.  It begins with seeing the humanity of everyone.  And it involves acknowledging a companion problem: political correctness.  Steel says,

Political correctness is now evil and it is what holds minorities down…All I ever wanted was just simple fairness. My prayer is that someday we become as fanatical about fairness as we are now about political correctness..”

Amen, brother.  I think we both heard that somewhere…

“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.” (James 2:1 )

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• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

Resurgent black men take a real risk stepping out of stereotypes. Just ask NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown, whose Pro Football Hall of Fame Bio states,

Jim Brown was a superb craftsman whose primary job was to run with the football for the Cleveland Browns. For nine seasons, he did it better than any player before him. When he retired at the age of 30 at the peak of his career, he left behind a record book clogged with Jim Brown notations.

Brown was more than just a one-of-a-kind running back. He caught passes, returned kickoffs, and even threw three touchdown passes. His 12,312 rushing yards and 15,459 combined net yards put him in a then-class by himself…

In the summer of 1966, Jim stunned the sports world with his announcement that he was retiring. Fans still ponder what heights he might have reached had he stayed on the firing line a few more seasons.

He actually left and embraced a different kind of firing line: helping inner-city kids, gangbangers, ex-cons, and inmates. He retired to be a resurgent man and role model through his Amer-I-Can program.

After meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump, Brown has faced a new kind of firing line. According to Warner Todd Huston, there are critics like sportswriter David Steele ready to erase an entire legacy. Here’s what Steele wants to erase like a whiteboard.

But his founding of the Amer-I-Can Foundation has done the most good, after he spent years trying to mitigate the inner-city gang culture.

“I was doing economic development for minorities. I was getting black folks to use their dollars to help each other. I looked up and saw black men killing each other over red and blue. Until we did something about that, there was no use for economic development,” Brown recently told the New York Daily News.

Since its founding nearly 25 years ago, Amer-I-Can has improved the lives of gang members, prison inmates, ex-cons, at-risk kids and thousands of other people in more than a dozen states across the nation.

The heart of Amer-I-Can is a 15-lesson course Brown created which helps train young blacks to gain control of their emotions in order to lead useful, productive lives. The program he developed helps inner-city youth learn to keep a job, raise a family, and go back to school.

Why did Brown throw it all away? Why did he let himself get hit hard and fumble big time?

Maybe that’s just what his critics want you to think about this amazing black man.  There’s no fumble here with him. Yeah, he’s full of flaws, but aren’t we all? Maybe that’s what President Trump sees–a remarkable role model not in spite of his flaws, but because of them.  He’s an overcomer who thinks for himself.

His quotes about his role in black America are numerous. It’s obviously very important to him to help other people, to pay it forward. Consider these:

• What I want to do is play roles as a black man, instead of playing black man’s roles. You know?
• The social issues outside of football are not as defined as they were earlier, when integration took place and certain rights were legislated. The Civil Rights movement is over. Individuals can buy homes wherever they want, travel first class wherever they want, eat wherever they want.
• The need to be cared for is the base of everything. In the penitentiaries, you won’t hear gangbangers and criminals say, ‘No, I don’t want to be cared for by nobody.’ When you care about them, they’ll open up to you.
• I run a program called Amer-I-Can. We’ve taught in prisons, schools, juvenile facilities and we teach in up to you. the community. We have the greatest record from the standpoint of dealing with grade point averages, disciplinary action and attendance in schools.
• If you help disabled children, it’s very appealing. If you help kids with cancer, those are the things you get credit for and those things are beautiful. But when it comes to stopping violence or really putting the time into rebuilding schools, that’s just a different kind of project. It takes more than just money to do that.
• So sometimes in politics, to get something done, it takes a special kind of knowledge and a special kind of person, but it doesn’t always follow the party lines.

Maybe Donald Trump wanted to meet with Jim Brown because he sees that Brown has a special kind of knowledge as a special kind of person, one willing to put aside politics when there’s a job to be done by resurgent men. Brown is not perfect, but he’s a man with a resurgent heart, willing to work hard and serve others.  He got a special kind of attitude and a vision, daring to imagine a different life for young men in the black community.

Matthew 25: 37 “Then the righteous will answer [the Lord], ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

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• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

Dr. Benjamin Carson is awaiting his confirmation vote for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development as I write this. Articles on how to achieve successful cities describe what the confirmation hearings revealed, which hint at a mere fraction of the man and what God is doing with him.

Sure, some have decried Benjamin Carson’s lack of experience, failing to note the significance of his rise up and out of poverty through faith, yes, but also attitude and education. Opinion writer Cal Thomas says that it could be an asset,

“Unlike many top government officials who have enjoyed a life of privilege, he knows what it is to grow up in poverty. That experience will count as he travels around the country telling people how they might overcome their circumstances today instead of someday.”

If the world is moved on personal stories and Carson’s great compassion attributes of being an excellent listener and a quick learner have anything to do with success, I have great hope. His experience with poverty and the way out reminds me of a great sermon quote I heard many years ago,

If you’ve lost your way, it’s better to have a guide than a map.”

Maybe we need more guides and fewer self-proclaimed experts and intellectuals who can’t see the forest for the trees … handing someone lost in the wilderness of poverty a map without a compass.  We need resurgent men with a compass to guide the way!

The goal of Housing and Urban Development ought to be like Bailey Park in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life!”  A place of self-sufficiency and home ownership and success for working people.  A safety net for those who need it.  The goal was never to increase the size of Potter’s Field with a Mr. Potter looking to imprison people there in a ghetto of hopelessness.

Dr. Carson knows the way out of poverty.  He knows the obstacles and the pitfalls of the path up and out.  Could he be a resurgent leader needed for such a time as this?  I’d argue, Yes.  Absolutely!

The 2008 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient talks about this in his book Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

“Success is determined not by whether or not you face obstacles, but by your reaction to them. And if you look at these obstacles as a containing fence, they become your excuse for failure. If you look at them as a hurdle, each one strengthens you for the next.”

His attitude toward problems is with that overcomer attitude I have previously discussed as 5 Kingdom Principles. Benjamin Carson writes,

“Successful people don’t have fewer problems. They have determined that nothing will stop them from going forward.”

When Dr. Carson declined to serve as Education Secretary or Health and Human Services–what the world sees as a great fit for a man whose life and career might have pointed that way–he knew that his Christian beliefs might be a possible detriment to confirmation.  It was his humility that caused him to step away from serving in those capacities.  So when he was asked to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, he might not seem like the perfect fit, but his love and compassion fit perfectly!  God sees Benjamin Carson as following the Savior’s example and just as Jesus came and overcame and sent His Spirit to do work until He returns, God sees that same overcomer spirit in Benjamin Carson, a humble man whose gifted hands have cured babies and helped children through medicine and education.  It’s the same attitude written about by the Apostle Paul,

1 Thessalonians 2: 6 We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7 but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 9 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.  

Yes, a gentle overcomer spirit is what God sees in Benjamin Carson.  That overcomer spirit hearing the voice of his mother telling him that education is a key to rising.  That overcomer spirit hearing the voice of Christ calling him to humility.  That overcomer spirit which made him an excellent neurosurgeon is the same overcomer spirit whose love and compassion compel him to reach those who are lost and vulnerable and showing them a hand up…and that when you’re lost, a guide is better than a map!

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• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

On January 20, 2017, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the oath of office for Vice-President Pence. It was a first and ought to have been widely lauded as such to inspire young men to pursue careers in justice, not just making a career of protesting for social justice. Clarence Thomas’ administration of the oath as a long-standing Supreme Court Justice was the best of accomplishments and modeled what resurgent manhood looks like.

Continuing my look at black men who are making a real difference, I’d like to look at the life of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who once described his confirmation hearings as a “high-tech lynching.” He’s a man who has flaws, but who rose above them and didn’t deserve to have a bunch of critics pick up a stone and throw it as if they were flawless specimens of humanity. Clarence Thomas endured and overcame.  He provides a positive example of resurgent manhood, not just for black Americans, but for all Americans.

John Piper summarizes Thomas’ life this way:

In the 226-year history of the court, he is the second African-American Supreme Court Justice, after Thurgood Marshall who served from 1967 to 1991.

Clarence Thomas’s life is unusual because he is a black political conservative, who lost his first marriage, conquered rage and alcohol, and survived a high-tech lynching, by holding on to the promises of the Bible.

In Justice Thomas’ memoir Clarence Thomas: My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir, he recounts an event in the Catholic school he attended,

Some mocked me for trying to ‘talk proper’ and accused me of thinking that I was better than they were.”

Such men have long been considered “uppity blacks” or Uncle Toms or sell-outs to white culture. They are often chastised and become outcasts. Thomas writes,

“How could a black man be truly free if he felt obliged to act in a certain way — and how was that any different from being forced to live under segregation? How could blacks hope to solve their problems if they weren’t willing to tell the truth about what they thought, no matter how unpopular it might be? I already knew that the rage with which we lived made it hard for us to think straight. Now I understood for the first time that we were expected to be full of rage. It was our role — but I didn’t want to play it anymore. I’d already been doing it for too long, and it hadn’t improved my life. I had better things to do than be angry.”

So the quest for resurgent manhood began. Learning what it means or ought to mean to be a black man in America. In doing so, he encountered some brothers who came alongside and mentored him,

“Hearing Thomas Sowell, and speaking to him privately . . . was a landmark event for me.” Along with Sowell, there were Walter Williams and Jay Parker. Thomas said, “[They are] smart, courageous, independent-minded men who came from modest backgrounds. Politics meant nothing to them. All they cared about was truthfully describing urgent social problems, and finding ways to solve them”

That is what resurgence is all about. It’s not black or white or brown. It’s honesty. And it requires faith and courage.

 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ends his memoir with this prayer,

“Lord grant me the wisdom to know what is right and the courage to do it. Amen.”

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• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

As that unproductive so-called Women’s March proves, white America has its manhood problems too. But the stirring of God right now is in the black community and Steve Harvey is one among many real men leading the way of resurgence and faith.  He’s not out there protesting.  He’s rolling up his sleeves like a man and working to make an impact–a positive and productive impact–on future generations.  Kudos, sir!

According to the Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation,

“The Steve Harvey Mentoring Weekend for Young Men” is a four-day, three-night interactive program designed to share and teach the principles of manhood to young men between the ages of 13-18, who live in a single, female-head of household. This program helps these young men realize their potential and helps them to envision and prepare for a future where they are strong, responsible and productive men.

The goal of The Steve Harvey Mentoring Weekend is to break the misguided traits of manhood and introduce role models who provide positive examples of manhood.

Of course, they also have a Girls Who Rule the World Mentoring Program, the goal being to “enhance the development of young girls and provide a forum to expose them to the benefits and the importance of positive self image, responsible personal conduct, respect for self and others via educational achievement, cultural enrichment and mentoring.”

And you know what? 

Not a single person wearing a knit hat marched in protest to make it possible.  Just Steve and Marjorie Harvey trying to make a difference because it all starts with becoming men and women of respect and goodness.  Their aim is resurgence!

If you read Steve Harvey’s bio on a few web sites, they leave out when he was homeless.  They leave out when he abandoned his first wife and kids.  They leave out all the ugly parts of who Steve Harvey has been in his past, about which he tweeted, “I am who I am, and I was who I was. I’m cool with both people.”  In fact, he views his struggles and failures as having made him who he is, a person with deep and redemptive purpose.

So when Steve Harvey met with President-elect (at the time) Donald Trump, was Mr. Harvey abandoning his principles? Was Mr. Trump encouraging Mr. Harvey to be a sell-out for a photo-op? 

The answer to both questions is “No.”

For all of President Trump’s faults-and they are many-I do believe he sees potential in others.  It’s what developers do.  And Steve Harvey is a developer of human capital.  That’s what his foundation does for boys and girls.  If Mr. Harvey’s efforts can be applauded, highlighted, expanded, and form the basis of total revival for the black community which has been beleaguered for a long time, how can this possibly be a bad thing?  The critics need to leave him alone.  Mr. Harvey lives his organization’s motto:  “Faith doesn’t make it easy.  Faith makes it possible.” 

And looking upon them Jesus said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

You’re heroes in my book, Steve and Marjorie Harvey!  Press on!

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• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/