The media has grabbed hold of two stories. The first story was about how a vandal sprayed racist graffiti on the front gate of LeBron James' Los Angeles mansion, and the other was a lynching noose left at The Museum of African-American History in Washington DC.

Whenever something racial happens in this country, the first thing that is said is we need to have a conversation about race in America. They pull out all the black scholars, historians, statistics and then collectively sit around throwing out ideas of how to fix the problem at a series town halls capitalize on branding themselves at these events. Somehow the problem never gets fixed, healed nor resolved. BUT, how many more conversations do we need to be a part of before the conversations move from talk to action?

Far too many times throughout the history of this nation the issue of race has come and gone. For example: The end of slavery, the implementation of Separate But Equal, the race riots of the 919, the artistry of the Harlem Renaissance (the pen is mightier than the sword) and those brave black men who were returning from World War II, demanding equal treatment after they put their lives on the lines for an ungrateful country.

However, it was the action of a woman a Black woman who said enough is enough. She stopped having conversations and put action into play. As we moved from the Montgomery boycott into school segregation once again, it wasn't the conversation that made a difference but the action of students willing to be beaten, yelled at and spat on to make the point that they deserve an equal education identical to their white counterparts. But somewhere between the March on Washington and the election of this country's first (and probably only) Black president, we have moved back to a time and place where we've just accepted their behavior and tried to get along with our lives.

Last year, the hype of Black Lives Matter showed the world how ready we were to fight not as Black Americans but as Americans and prove that the treatment of Black Lives, do matter. But as usual, the hype has died down people have gone back to their respective communities, lives, and the rally cries of unity have once again died, only to be resurrected when another cop kills a person of color.

So I pose this question to you the reader of this op-ed piece, what are you willing to do if not for you, for your children to protect them from the rise of racism regardless if its overt to the subtle? Are you willing to take a stand? Can you do without the material things and use your money to help finance the black political movement so we can become an active political block? Will you do your part? Can we as black people stop having the crabs in the barrel mentality and move to each one teach one? Or are we to continue the legacy of the 400-year-old experiment "the making of a slave as taught by Willie Lynch? I have and will continue to fight tooth and nail highlighting any racism, bigotry, sexism and or homophobic behavior. Because saying nothing is acceptance. Saying something begins in action and action as history has taught us can bring down the mightiest walls of oppression.

Malik Shakur

Writing since May 2017 · 3 stories contributed