The legacy of Black millennials, and how we can create one that matters

This article was originally published on JamesMurray.co.

I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into a limo. I must’ve been 10 years old.

“Why is the car so long?” I asked my mother. “Because your father is receiving a special award that deserves a special car,” she said before guiding me into the back of the Lincoln Town Car.

My father was receiving an award from the Children’s Defense Fund, and we were on our way to see him be honored. I was a child, and I was in awe. I was confident that there was no one more powerful than him. Not the President. Not Oprah. Not the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. No one.

After all, we had the longest car on the road, which to my 10-year-old ego, was a clear sign that we were the shit. Years later, I’m less fascinated by the fancy whip and more enamored by his legacy of service, and how intentional he was about creating it.

“Legacy draws attention to our sense of who we were, who we are, and who we believe we can become. The Afro-American legacy of hope, against all present realities, can be cited as one of the main contributors to the survival of Afro-American people,” he said in his acceptance speech.

Some things haven’t changed since he spoke these words many decades ago. Our legacy of hope is still a critical component of our success. Passing down our belief systems, values, and assets to the next generation remains an indelible source of value.

Legacy is still the most authentic form of connection between ourselves and previous generations who could only dream of the opportunities we’re afforded.

Black millennials, in particular, are continuing the work of our ancestors by converting hope into prosperity. It’s no coincidence that black women, for example, are the fastest-growing demographic of entrepreneurs in America.

In business, education, medicine, law, public service, and entertainment, our generation is rising to the occasion – writing the checks, building equity, and exercising power in spaces where our ancestors were historically powerless.  

James Baldwin would be proud. “Your crown has been paid for, so put it on your head and wear it,” he once told Maya Angelou. I can’t speak for our entire generation, but I do believe that most of us desire to wear this crown.

Our success hasn’t been without challenges, though. 55 years after Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, we continue to face the ills of racism and sustained inequality that pays black women 70% the hourly wages of similarly educated white men.

Meanwhile, evil has descended upon our bank accounts in the form of student loans. 

But these challenges, as crippling as they tend to be, make us stronger when we’re able to persevere.

As black millennials, we need to be intentional about creating a legacy for ourselves because those who came before us went through many trials and tribulations to get us to this point. They’ve written checks for our future by way of their sacrifice, and it’s our duty to cash them.

My father wrote a check for me when he overcame prejudice as one of the earliest black students at Vanderbilt University in the 1960s. Without his sacrifice, I wouldn’t have received a degree from the same institution decades later. At some point, there was a family member who wrote a check for you, too. Our elders did their part, and now it’s time that we do ours.

While there are nuances to each of our lives, there are things we all need to do to make this happen:

• We need to fill our souls with faith, not fear, believing with every fabric in our being that we’re destined for victory, not defeat.
• We need to remember who we came from, leaning on the fortitude of previous generations when life’s challenges seem unbearable and overwhelming.
• We need to embrace the opportunity to try and fail, over and over again, until we proudly arrive at our desired destination – the destination where we all belong.

And we need to do these things with intentionality, and with love.

I believe deeply that our legacy is our treasure chest, an inextricable link between ourselves, our loved ones, and all of the beautiful souls who sacrificed for our success.

It’s important that we pass these lessons on to future generations while working to build legacies of our own. There are those who are making great strides, but this is something that we all must take part in, and bring intentionality and love to our everyday lives.

This is what our generation will be remembered for. Our time is now.