(FinalCall.com) -- A friend once referred to fellow Blacks as the "mentally dead." Since that time I�ve heard many refer to Blacks in the same respect. Many of us would deny that we�re the "mentally dead," and, if questioned about it, would say, "Oh! ain�t nobody dead but you." We refuse to admit and accept the nature of our condition.

We�ve been made to feel inferior and kept from being aware of our potential as a people. We�re truly sleeping giants. In addition, because of this conditioning, we�ve felt that it was unnecessary to be in touch with certain aspects of our socioeconomic and political environment.

Other groups are aware that because of the negative conditioning of Blacks, it�ll be difficult to awaken many of us from our dormant state. Therefore, other groups can treat us with disrespect and not have to worry about retaliation, since we aren�t unified enough to do anything about our circumstances.

Even when we�re aware, we don�t do anything about many of the negative conditions that affect us. We get caught up in feeling that we�re all individuals and need not act as a group. We seek to blend in and to integrate within the dominant society and don�t do anything about the conditions of the group as a whole.

In the �60s, many Blacks were given token positions. We didn�t build power bases and use them as positions from which to negotiate and gain leverage. In many cases, that token became infatuated with being the only Black in the organization, and assisted in being sure that no other Blacks came into the organization. Consequently, today we�re threatened with downsizing and the glass ceiling, but we have few power positions from which to defend ourselves.

At this point, we wonder why our children will be the first generation to be worse off than their parents, and we refer to them as the "lost generation." There is a reason for this, and it�s our lack of strategy and long-range planning. This is because we built no power bases in the organizations we were brought into as tokens. Part of the problem, also, is many Blacks still don�t take voting seriously or keep up with local or world issues affecting them.

Blacks are the "mentally dead" mainly because of our economic stance. Some of us aren�t careful about what we do with our money. Every time a new product comes out we have to buy it, whether we need it or not. We must buy the latest garb, even though we only wear it a short while and our closet is breaking the brackets used to support the clothes we have. We have more shoes than we�ll ever wear, and throw out old shoes and clothes, only to refurbish our closet with more of the latest fashions. We should be saving our money and investing it a little at a time.

We often complain that we don�t have any extra money, when we are spending it unwisely. The old clich� is true, "it�s not what you earn, but what you keep." If we saved a little bit at a time on a consistent basis, it would surprise us how much we could accumulate.

Many of us also allow ourselves to be brainwashed by prime-time TV, not realizing what�s good, or what�s bad for us, and that it�s planting negative subconscious and subliminal messages. We accept that if it�s on TV, it�s okay for ourselves and our children to watch. In this way, we internalize all manner of violence, immoral, and unsavory attitudes toward life.

As a group, we�re indeed sleeping giants who must awaken from our slumber and realize the potential that lies within us. But, in the final analysis, we presently show few signs of being able to resurrect and illuminate ourselves from this darkened state of the "mentally dead." We seem to have become complacent with our past and present state of being.