It is said that we are reaping in our communities the failed efforts of those of us in the Black community who benefited from the civil rights struggle to produce and provide a future for our children. We are now the President of the United States, Congress Persons, CEOs, Billionaires and Millionaires, Mayors, Police Chiefs, School Superintendents, Commissioners, Council Persons, Business Owners.

As individuals, we have “pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps.” Yet, as a whole, we have not produced and provided the foundational structure necessary to properly “train up” our children “in the way they should go.”

There are examples of organizations, religious groups, businesses, individuals and parents who are doing their part and doing the best they can to help the plight of our children. However, this problem is so huge that it demands our collective efforts, the pooling of our resources intellectually, spiritually and economically to establish lasting institutions for our youth that will address all of their needs.

While we glory in our pursuit of the American Dream, our children are living the American nightmare. Every institution in America, as a whole, has failed our youth; educational, religious, judicial, political, family. There are no jobs for them.

I see 300 children gathering in the park differently than you do. What you see is the negative effects of our failed efforts. What is the cause that produced the effects? The cause is the real problem. And, all of us, black and white, bear some of the responsibility to solve this problem. I cannot allow those of you in the white community to put all of the weight of this problem on the black community. I’m not going to address the institutional racism and the root cause of the after effects of slavery in this response because regardless of the cause, today it is our responsibility, the black community, to take the lead in solving this problem.

How do we solve this problem? More boots on the ground is not the solution. Tougher laws and enforcement of those laws and harsher sentencing is not the solution. To solve this problem, government must partner with the black community, more specifically, black men. And, it must be the right, spiritual minded, God conscious black men.Unconditional love for our youth must be that force that drives and fuels our desire to solve this problem.

We solve this in the black community by uniting, pooling our resources and doing for self. We, in the black community must meet among ourselves and check our egos at the door. We must convene a summit. No media. No Mayor. No Police Chief. As Richard Pryor once said in referring to the judicial system’s treatment of black people in America, it must be “just us.” The first thing we must do at this meeting is agree to stop the “gang banging” from the pulpits, rostrums, and wherever else among us as leaders, activists, pastors, ministers, imams, rabbis, educators, religious and non religious, professionals and non professionals, young and old, male and female, light skin and dark skin, rich and poor.

After the summit, we, the unified black community, must put boots on the grounds in our neighborhoods. God fearing, spiritual minded black men are trained to heal and save our people. We must call on the black man to be the soldier of God. The only blood we desire to see pouring is the redemptive blood of Christ Jesus for the souls of our children.

Those in the white community must allow us to work through this process. This will not be solved overnight. It will not be solved in one or two meetings. I know we don’t have a lot of time, but be patient with us. You can help us by not getting in the way of those black people who are helping that you don’t like or disagree with by condemning them. If you are not going to help, then get out the way. If you are going to help, you must allow the black man to lead and you follow. We need your institutional help, but allow us to tell you how. Don’t dictate our agenda to save our children to us. We can’t be puppets dangling from a string with you ruling from behind the scenes. The black man must rule. He is the only one that can solve this problem.