Why Black People Need To Stop Wishing For Change In Our Lives And Our Communities
"Bolie, you are going to catch a tiger tonight. I'm gonna make a wish. I'm gonna make a big tall wish, and you ain't gonna get hurt none, either. You hear, Bolie? You've been hurt enough already, and you're my friend, Bolie. You're my good and close friend."
One of my all-time favorite Twilight Zone episodes is The Big Tall Wish. It was the only episode in the show's history that featured a predominately black lead cast. The storyline is about the relationship between a washed-up boxer and a little boy who admires him. The twist to the story is that the little boy has an unwavering belief in wishes. He believes that if you want it bad enough and concentrate hard enough, your wish, any wish will come true.
Throughout the episode he repeatedly and passionately exclaims to the boxer, "You got to believe in the magic, Bolie!" The problem for Bolie is that he can't believe in magic or wishes any more. He has been too beat down by the realities of the world to believe. Bolie can't even believe when the boy's wish for him comes true. He is a broken man looking for just a little peace, a little joy in his small corner of the world.
"Little boys, little boys with their heads full up with dreams. When do they find out, Frances? When do they suddenly find out that there ain't any magic? When does somebody push their face down on the sidewalk and say to them, "Hey, little boy. That's concrete, and that's what the world is made out of—concrete." When do they find out that you can wish your life away?"
Bolie forces the boy to take back the wish and makes him promise to grow up and stop making wishes. Bolie intention is not to hurt the boy or dash his hopes for the future, his desire is to have the boy understand that you have to deal with what you get handed in life, not spending time making wishes to change things. Wishes are for children, not adults.
Every time I watch this episode, I am struck by the fact that too many black people in real life spend too much time hoping and wishing for change, instead of pursuing it themselves. Our dependence on others to change the circumstances of black folks has become a paralyzing stumbling block and poisoning frustration for those who are attempting to make things better with real tangible action.
I understand the appeal of wishing, but I think that may be it's time black folks just start admitting that the changes black people need and must make are going to be painful and not without causalities. Some of us are going to get left behind. We must proceed forward with or without folks. And it's on us to do it.
