CHAPTER THREE
BLACK SCIENTIFIC LEGACY

Without a carefully defined master plan and collective vision for the 21st Century, the black world is essentially rudderless in an ocean of endless possibilities and suspended in the permanent postponement of Dr. King’s Dream of a utopian society. The KyberGenesis Connection is a call to action; a significant revolution of the spirit and creative mind-set of the black world to redefine itself in the midst of the momentous Information Age Revolution.

For the black world, the mission of science and technology is an urgent matter. A major technological renaissance movement is required to revitalize the economic and technical stagnation that permeates far too many segments of our communities. A vast number of black people will be left behind in the wake of this current technological revolution if no significant movement is initiated. Far too many black people (in particular our young people) are locked out of the American Dream and the technological wave of the 21st Century: complacency at this moment in history only means that a huge disaster awaits us in a few short years. This is no time for day dreaming, giving a few motivational speeches or passing out a few scholarships to only our brightest; the message of KyberGenesis is to start a deeply entrenched scientific and technological movement for the survival and success of generations to come. There is an urgent need to do something about our future now!

Black people need to give this movement the same kind of spirit and energy that focused around Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. Many of our best scientific minds need to focus on
building and sustaining a peaceful but brilliant revolution of profound significance. In addition, this movement needs to be given the kind of financial and economic support necessary to place it on a fast track of success and superior development.

We explored in Chapter Two the historical significance (in the early 1980s) of Japan’s strategic technological shift to initiate, on a grand scale, the development of the Fifth Generation of Computers. Starting in the 1970s, the bold visionary leaders of Japan began a program for active mobilization and support of a master plan for their people and the 21st Century. We stated that, “During the 1970s, Japanese thinkers and writers flooded the general public with books, newspaper and magazine articles, television programs and other media sources, proudly proclaiming the promises and benefits of the new age. Japan’s decision-makers and business leaders embraced the concept of the end of the smokestack industrialism age, and gave total support and resources to move their society to the forefront of a global technological revolution.” This is a lesson and a vivid example in this century of the collective will of a people.

A model similar to this should be adopted by African Americans to promote broad-sweeping reforms in the educational system, revolutionary rehabilitative programs for the prison system, collective action on the business and economic fronts, and the propagation of KyberGenesis in all forms of media at our disposal. KyberGenesis seeks to bring into consciousness a higher level of respect and commitment for knowledge, technical expertise and education in the black world. Many of the genius and creative minds of our people are trapped in a vicious spiderweb of poverty, hopelessness, mis-education, violence, drugs, and a host of other social pathologies. We must harness the power of these new technologies in the war to help liberate many people from these vicious cycles of aimless lives that have no substantial long-range goals.

KyberGenesis is a call to use our knowledge, historical genius and resources to develop a new scientific imperative and paradigm for the black world: it’s a call to participate in one of the most dramatic scientific revolutions in world history. In the 1990s, the black world is at a perilous crossroads, and science and technology are important pillars for our future survival.

BLACK SCIENTISTS and ENGINEERS EXPANDING

The complete story of black scientific development must be told and fully understood by black people and the world. Like so many areas of black achievement, this important historical legacy has been nearly submerged in the generalized thinking of Western Civilization. We are constantly reminded of the social pathologies and failures of black society, but rarely does the media and educational system focus on the brilliant accomplishments and success stories of black pioneers, great innovators, and other positive developments. It’s a sad commentary, and black people must not allow this to continue in the 21st Century; our children and the children of the world must know the truth: From the Truth will emerge enlightenment and a new reality!

There is a serious need for black historians to do an in-depth analysis of the overall impact of African Americans on the scientific and technological advancements of the Industrial Revolution. At present, we are only scratching the surface of this very exciting field of study. Also, present day black scientists and engineers need to write about their discoveries so that we may have a larger database of well documented information.

One of the greatest assumptions in the western mythological system regarding black people, is that we have not been involved in the scientific and technological revolution of the past two centuries, that black people have made no meaningful contributions to science and technology! While this glaring omission continues in colleges and universities throughout Western Civilization, black scientists, engineers, mathematicians, physicists, and other brilliant minds, are quietly recruited by some of the most prestigious research and business organizations in the world. For the most part, their contributions to science and technology may never be known, such as the black scientists that worked on the Atom Bomb project during World War II.