Joseph T Robinson Jr / www.ppre-4-evergreen.com

The revival of African-American mass militancy is vital for future black progress and for the realization of democratic ideals. The assumption that exceptional black leaders will foster such a revival is contrary to the lessons of recent African-American history. Great leaders have provided African Americans with important insights about the meaning of their experience, but they have rarely mobilized the black masses into sustained political movements capable of affecting the American political system. Waiting for the messiah is a human weakness unlikely to be rewarded more than once in a millennium. Careful study of the modern black freedom struggle offers support for the more optimistic belief that participants in a mass movement can develop their untapped capabilities and collectively improve their lives.