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The Maroon Page 9 Monday,-November 4,1996 Power is politically defined as the ability to influence or control something or someone. But what connotations does that definition take when you think of it in terms of Black folks? In 1996 do we re ally have power or is our sup posed clout merely a souped up silhouette hiding behind a white screen that tries to call itself leadership? With all of our local and na tional leaders, congresspersons, the one senator, mayors, city council- men, etc., we still seem to in fluence very little. DC is mole than 80% Black and yet it still has to appeal to the White fed eral government for funding and to pass legislation. The recent Supreme court ruling on drawing congressional dis tricts by racial lines has Black officeholders running and ducking for cover. The lynch ing law is still on the books in some states and our right to vote is actually reevaluated every few decades or so. Clarence Thomas is on the Supreme Court for life and poor Alan Keyes can't even get the Republican party to let him speak at his party's debate. Where's our power? In reality, our ability to control and influence is totally dependent on the dissolving of our potential for political control into the wa ters of the mainstream vote, just so that when a few of us actually sip the juice, we'll be able to taste a glimmer of our own flavor. Keep it real. Our search for power should first and foremost rest in rallying and organizing ourselves toward the betterment of our own psy ches and institutions starting with improving the condition of our neighborhoods and businesses. It should rest in the hands of the community and not in represen- iPir Our search for power st and foi -' v f ing an organizing ourselves to ll!?. i war our own psyches . . 1 the betterment oi : tatives for the community. After all, neither Malcolm, Martin, Booker T., Garvey, nor Dubois were elected officials, but private citizens who asserted themselves and stood up for what they be lieved in. The struggle in the 21st century will be all the more intri cate and in need of a variety of means and methods to slay the Beast, many of which will go far beyond kissing babies and taking campaign contributions. I say all this to say that registering to vote and showing up to punch a few holes in your ballot isn't enough. Putting the black candidate of the- year into office isn't enough ei ther. Our political leaders do not show up when the cops are searching our cars at two in the morning for crack that is not there or the gats we never thought about firing. Nor do we see them when the sistas down the way id themselves considering all but suicide because they've mouths to feed, three mini mum wage jobs with no ben efits and another kid on the way. As young African- Americans moving into what should be the next millennium (if we make it) our focus should be transcending the ex- ! pectations of our parents and the 60's generation. Webster's dictionary also defines power as "an ability or I faculty." Imagine if you used it to plant a seed in the Afri- § can psyche or an idea in the | expanse of someone's youth. Imagine if you used your Di vine-given power to change the mind of that politician you couldn't vote out of office by more strategic and perhaps more effec tive means? It's almost scary isn't it? That's exactly why they want you to vote your power over to someone else.