Recently, I heard a woman from South Africa recount her involvement in the liberation of that country, starting at the young age of 15 when she joined students in the underground. Her recollection included a recitation of different types of training in the political arm of the movement. In fact, there was some “underground” work which required knowledge of firearms and use of force.

She was a real-life “Sarafina”!

She had been a staunch “fighter” and disciplined leader in the antiapartheid movement. Her leadership resulted in programs to redistribute power and wealth, the establishment of new systems of governance, and an overarching retooling of societal infrastructure initiatives designed to build the country from within. The strength of her conviction has not waned. I was inspired by her still firm resolve to continue the work necessary to rebuild her nation, after more than 40 years.

What does this have to do with reparations and the election of a U.S. president?

With the election of Kamala Harris, another window has opened for us to drill down on nation-building initiatives. I’m excited about the potential gains for American Blacks, along with a coalition of others who have expressed an alignment with us. We must understand how to leverage every advantage provided.

I take a few lessons from my South African friend. First, their successful movement was built on the principle of unity. The few exceptions who did not endorse the goals of independence and Black rule, were removed. In America, we have too many Black folk who have aligned with the majority, and who remain deluded about the American myth of individualism. Too many have pledged allegiance to empty pursuits.

Second, the African National Congress and its allies were part of a global enterprise. There was a network of countries, thinkers and political activists who backed the anti-apartheid movement, including many in the USA.

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has just rolled out a program to benefit Black males which looks like a form of reparations.

An opening, yes, but is it enough?

California entered the Union as a non-slave state, yet has issued an apology for participating in slavery. The contrition reads, in part, apologies for “promoting, facilitating, and permitting the institution of slavery, as well as its enduring legacy of persistent racial disparities,” thus hindering the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for Blacks. The state-formed committee is exploring ways and means to determine what reparations are owed to the aggrieved population.

As California goes, so goes the nation?

Here is my first-blush set of questions: The committee must identify the rightful heirs of the original 40,000 emancipated people who were promised 40 acres and a mule. In today’s dollars the land value approximates $6.4 trillion dollars.

Will residency in the former confederacy be required?

What percentage of African blood will be necessary to meet the threshold? Does the one-drop rule apply?

Regarding Harris’s plans, how is a Black male defined? Are transgendered persons eligible? Who decides? Our divisions may be dispositive before we even start.

Which raises another question: Do Blacks in America have international empathy? Is there a global movement in support of parity for us? Can we Blacks align with other nations that are repairing themselves from colonial rule and subjugation? What was once referred to as Pan Africanism has expanded into the notion of Afro-futurism, still in its infancy, but moving rapidly across the globe in music, fashion, art, and universal ideas of community.

I don’t think there is any amount of money that will “fix” the plight of African Americans in this country. Too often, our solutions, to give fish rather than to teach folk how to fish, have fallen short.

But I’m encouraged to hear that consideration for reparations, in a variety of forms, is being discussed, and not just on the margins. Mainstream forums call for a unified front to incorporate the Black agenda, authored and adopted by trusted partners.

What a tall order! Can we go through with it? And just who are these trusted partners? Perhaps it is you.

What I know for sure is that a Trump administration would curtail any movement toward Black unity and parity. Under his administration, any nascent efforts to build our nation, within a nation, will go the way of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), Affirmative Action, ongoing efforts to roll back voting rights, to name a few.

All the more urgent reason to vote.

Vote. Vote!