Black People Should Speak Up

By: Nathaniel Gadsden
Founder & Director
Nathaniel Gadsden’s Writers Wordshop
1416 Cumberland Streets
Harrisburg, Pa. 17103
pgadsden@aol.com
www.nathanielgadsden.com
(717)233-7611


Recently, the cities of Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have been rocked with a string of senseless shooting deaths. Almost all of the victims were young African Americans, and the killers were also young African Americans. Unfortunately, this is not shocking news to most people living in Harrisburg, the United States, or the planet earth. The sad reality is, African Americans are killing one another, in what I call, a Self-imposed Holocaust and we don’t know what to do about it. We have marched, held town meetings, supported tougher sentencing guidelines, called on God and cried. Every step we take forward against the Holocaust it appears that we lose a step. We are a resilient people, strong and vibrant at our best, but even the strongest foundation can begin to crack, over time, if the steady drip of destruction is not repaired.
I want to propose something to all writers, spoken word artist and performers/actors of the African American Community. Let’s refocus our energy, time, and talent toward the total destruction of the African Holocaust in America, Africa, and anywhere it prevails. Let’s put aside our fixation on relationships, personal stardom, and intellectual showmanship and gather together under one God directed path of the complete and total destruction of the African Holocaust. We will only write, speak, create product and energy that eliminates self-murder in our communities. We will not adopt the language of the “fool” and pretend that it is something special, you know, “a black thing.”

We will not allow our “voices”, public celebrities, or private citizens to fill the air with gossip, put-downs, and fowl language. Even Tom Joyner, Jay Anthony Brown and the other celebrity voices will be held to this standard or we will simply stop listening. Our performers, such as Eddie Murphy, Monique, Jay Anthony Brown and others, will take responsibility for their craft, or we will stop supporting them. And we take this stand not to destroy our voices and creative genius, but to say no to the misuse of our God-giftedness any longer, no matter who the artist is.

We must take this stand, because we know that the creative community has major influence over the minds of our community. Much of the negative energy and negative life choices that are being made in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, can be found in most towns and cities where our people reside. The common thread that connects us is too often the movies, television programs, plays, radio shows, magazines, and sporting events. What is said through these outlets carries an enormous amount of influence in African American communities, including Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a Writer/Creative person I must do all that I can to ensure that the images and messages I give life to do not ultimately take a life from the community I love. Will you join me?

I would like to hear from you. Let’s start a movement of creative artist dedicated to saving the lives of our people. I can be reached at (717)233-7611 or email: pgadsden@aol.com. My Web page is: nathanielgadsden.com