Family

Why is family so important? It’s important because it’s the
basic building block of society.

What would happen if you constructed a building using a
bunch of weak bricks? The whole building would be weak
and eventually it would fall. The African American
community is weakened when our basic building blocks are
weak.

Weak families produce a weak community, and the weak
community manifests itself in the form of crime, drugs,
poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and lack of
development in the areas of education, business, culture,
and politics.

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King realized long ago
that in order to have a healthy community, we must have
healthy families. Here are some quotes from a book he
wrote in 1967 entitled, “Where Do We Go From Here:
Chaos or Community.”

“The shattering blows on the Negro family have made it
fragile, deprived and often psychopathic. This is doubly
tragic because nothing is so much needed as a secure
family life for a people seeking to rise out of poverty and
backwardness.”

“History continues to mock the Negro today, because just
as he needs ever greater family integrity, severe strains
are assailing family life in the White community.”

“In short, the larger society is not at this time a...