The Day the Crabs Got Out: The Revival of Black America

By Eddie Taylor, PhD

Dr. Eddie Taylor was born in Chicago, IL. He has served in the US Army as a Chaplain and paratrooper. Dr. Taylor has earned a BA in Bible and Christian Education from Southwestern Christian College (HBCU), an MA in Religious Studies from Concordia University, an MA in Christian Ministry from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. He is a Lead Psychologist within the Indiana Department of Corrections and has a private practice in Northwest Indiana. He is also the author of Restoring the Mind of Black America (African American Images, Inc.).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Jan 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483425283

Book preview

The Day the Crabs Got Out

The Revival of Black America

Eddie Taylor, PhD

Copyright © 2015 Eddie Taylor, PhD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-2529-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-2528-3 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 02/24/2015

Contents

Acknowledgements

1    What is the Barrel?

2    How Did African Americans Get In This Condition, or How Did The Crabs Get In The Barrel?

3    Life In The Barrel

4    How Do The Crabs Get Out Of The Barrel?

5    Black Organizations: The NAACP And The Urban League

6    The Black Church: Focus On Its Members

7    Black Entertainiers: Representing Healthy Images

Conclusion

Invictus

References

Acknowledgements

Any accomplishment or achievement is the collective work of many individuals working together for a common goal. As with this work, the success and completion is a result of the support of many. I would like to thank those who have blazed the trail for Black America and the process of liberation. I thank the ancestors for their struggle, sacrifice, and sincerity. I thank those who were determined to obtain civil rights for Black America: Blacks, non-Blacks, Jewish Americans, and White Americans.

Staff at the Chicago Public Library: Carter G. Woodson Regional and Harold Washington Library were very helpful. Thanks to Merle Molofsky for sharing her insights as a supporter of the NAACP and her dedication to uplifting humanity. Thanks to Lulu publishing for making this book available and the message accessible in various formats and bookstores.

I am grateful for the interviews and listeners of Darryl Clark and Progressive News Weekly blog talk radio, for discussing the many issues that confront Black America.

Thanks to my mother, Lillie Robinson; my brother Ulyess, Jr.; my sisters Brenda, Gailynn, Pamela, and Kimberlerine, for their love and encouragement. Thanks to my mother in law, Georgia Malone for her kindness and support.

Special thanks to my wife, Jesseann, for her love and support during this process, whom I am deeply grateful for. To my children: Eddie, Jr., Evan, and Jameka for their joyful spirit, as they academically prepare to give back to society and contribute to the amelioration of humanity.

Thanks to God, for making this book a reality.Introduction

This book is a practical one, filled with employable ideas, not philosophical phrases or theoretical statements. My previous book, Restoring the Mind of Black America, serves that purpose. This book, however, is to be useful and its ideas acted upon. The title is to tackle and resolve the issue of a self-restricting principle within Black America. Crabs in the barrel is a metaphorical concept of people who live in a particular condition and who constantly pull back those who are making it out of that condition.

This book is short so that it can be read in a limited amount of time, but its principles are long-lasting. The idea is for people and organizations to remain or become actively involved in bringing a renewed reality for Black America.

Black American is specifically referenced to identify the descendants of African slaves who were brought to the United States to work, build, and develop this country without pay, while suffering inhumane treatment, morbid psychological and physical abuse, and the destruction of their identity. The terms used in this book are Black American, African American, American African, Colored, Negro, and African.

This book is about how Black Americans live as citizens of this country today, but today is not just about what is seen; it is also about what Black America collectively worked for, strived for, and dreamed of. The liberation of Black people will be a result of the work Black Americans and other honest, sincere people collectively do to reach the goal of Black equality.

The history books on America must include the reality of the relationships among slaves and slave owners, slaves and overseers, and slaves and oppressors. The issue is, what did people do to resolve these conflicts? How did the descendants of African slaves lift each other up, strengthen and support themselves, and live in harmony against their division? The descendants of the slave owners, overseers, and oppressors must understand their roles in the development of American society and how it is today. Theirs is a conversation that must first be held separately from the myriad symposiums, conferences, or seminars where Blacks and Whites meet to discuss race relations. But before any progress can be made in America, something must be done to get the crabs out of the barrel.

This book is written to be simple enough for all to read and understand. Being psychological in nature and philosophical in its premise, the concepts of this book are to be realized and promoted. While not every organization that has influenced and contributed to the progress of Black America is mentioned in this book, I encourage all such organizations to continue carrying out the message laced within this book’s title: everyone must work to help get the crabs out of the barrel.

1

What is the Barrel?

Crabs in a barrel is a metaphor used to describe, or symbolize a condition in which those about to climb out of a barrel are pulled back in by the other crabs. The barrel, as a symbol, carries more than one meaning and more than one message. A sign can mean only one thing.