Change or Charity: It’s our Choice!

I still remember the day I left military service as a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant (E-6). I was about 29 years old and just completed my 12th year as a Soldier. I was leaving service with two tours to Iraq, one tour to Afghanistan, two tours to South Korea, one tour to Kuwait, and one tour to Romania under my belt. Not to mention, I somehow worked hard enough throughout these many years while also deployed to other countries including war zones to completed my Bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security. As I left military service, I felt I had been properly prepared to join the civilian workforce and contribute to society, especially knowing that I was bringing my unique leadership skills and background to the table for hiring managers to review. Because so many people told me that having an internship was beneficial for soldiers leaving the military to use as a bridge to the civilian sector, I immediately took on an internship and worked with a mentor to help further develop my skill sets and prepare me for work in Homeland Security; the field in which I attained my degree.

As the unpaid internship came to completion, I found myself in a rough place, I was on the verge of not be able to pay my mortgage, something I never had to worry about as a soldier. Around this time, I found myself in a federal building with my wife, taking care of some personal business, when I saw right there in front of me, the Office for the Department of Homeland Security.' I watch as this older African American male, who seemed to be in-charge, gave orders, provided guidance, and led the staff. It was obvious from his position he was someone important. Because I also had a degree in Homeland Security and was unemployed, I knew this was a time for me to ask questions, find out what I was missing, and what I had to do to utilize my degree in the field I wanted to work. So, I kindly approached the older African American male as soon as I saw he was free and alone. I said:

"Hello sir, good morning, my name is Lorenzo Johnson. I just completed my degree in Homeland Security and completed 12 years of military service in the Army. I have done everything to learn how and where to apply for a position within the Department of Homeland Security with no luck. If possible, I would be thankful and feel blessed if you could share any information on the process for a potential position I could apply.”

The man looked at me sternly, and asked whether I had a degree, he said “you need a degree for this position.” I found myself partially repeating myself, as I again explained.

"Yes sir! I have a Bachelor's degree in this field, the Homeland Security field." I continued, "I only would like to know how to look for and apply for jobs in Homeland Security." When I said this, the man looked at me, rolled his eyes, and said, "you ain’t taking my damn job, you’re going to have to figure it out on your own.”

I was obviously hurt, confused, and felt as though nobody wanted to help me!

About one week later, I was in the same building, and a white guy was helping me take care of some official business, again. The elderly African American gentlemen I saw before was no longer around, and my wife told me I should ask the white guy for work information. Due to the previous shut down, I was a little discouraged to ask for help again and hesitated, but because my wife kept pushing, I finally did ask the white guy, his name was Phil (as indicated on his name tag). I said:

"Hi Phil, my name is Lorenzo, I have a BA in Homeland Security and have not had any luck with applying, nor do I know where to find jobs associated with the field in Homeland Security." Phil looked at me and asked whether I had any military experience because the Department of Homeland Security liked to hire individuals with that experience, I quickly said "YES"! Phil then proceeded to provide me with detailed information on where and how to apply and even provided his personal information to me, if I needed him to look over my resume before applying. I took advantage of all his offers, and two months later, I was working for the Department of Homeland Security as an entry-level employee. After in-processing into the department, I again saw the elderly African American fellow that literally would not give me the time of day, with regards to help or information. I also found out he was a senior-level employee and was actually in a position that could have more easily assisted me with hiring and at minimum inform me of what was needed to apply for the position. I found it fascinating that the white guys, Phil, who I was more likely to have direct competition with, due to his position being closer to the entry-level, when compared to the elder man, that was senior/executive level with decades of experience, helped me, but not the elderly black man. I was in no way, nor nowhere even close to competing with him, the elderly black official, but he would not help me.

Fast forward to today, I myself, now am more of senior staff with the Department of Homeland Security, and as I moved up, I learned that about 98% of the time people that look like me never helped me. Even more, my people tended to avoid me, and acted like anything they knew was a secret. On the other hand, my white counterparts were more forth-coming and more easily shared insights (as long as they liked you and you asked), they mentored me, and shared information that in-part helped me to be where I am today. Today, I take a different approach and work to address the issues that previously occurred to me by actively working to inform young African Americans in the workplace that need, want, and seeks information on processes for success in their careers. Still, one of the biggest problems I see, is that we have a lack of African Americans in these higher-level jobs. To be honest we have a lack of African Americans as a whole in senior-level positions in many career choices out there.

So, this brings me to the point of this blog, are we helping each other enough? When I see the Asian, White, Indian, and Latino communities, I notice they tend to help bring each other up more often. We see this in collectivist communities, and how they tend to police each other by protecting, employing, and helping their own people to enter higher levels of society and corporate America; while on the other hand, my people as it seems from my experience thus far, are not as much helping our own to enter those same spaces, as it pertains to higher positions/levels. I believe the lack of black Americans helping each other is in some ways seen as a tangible manifestation throughout our communities. Why are we working 90% of the service industry jobs, even though we are 2 to 3 times more likely to get COVID-19, we suffer from more pre-existing conditions (We can discuss why we have more conditions, later, in another blog), and we tend to lack financial support/savings when compared to the other groups of people I discussed earlier in this blog. I am aware of the many issues, aspects, and historical complexities that face the African American people, but for me to be in the position I am at, and not challenge us as a people to be and do better would do us even more harm. I only ask people that look like me, are we doing enough to help each other out of poverty by coaching and providing mentorship to our people? For those that made it and are now financially successful, are we sharing with our communities the lessons learned and how to be better? And, for my people that look like me, are we listening to those individuals just stated above? Or, are we acting in a defensive manner and providing reason after reason why we can't get or do better for ourselves? At the end of the day, we must ask ourselves do we want to change through being informed, supported, and educated, or do we want help, charity, and assistance. If the latter is the choice, then our people will continuously be in a state of need, and suffering. In no way am I’m saying here I have all the answers, these are just things I observed and hope to start a civil and engaged conversation. Any and every voice is welcomed to share their feedback, no matter the race or background. Please provide your thoughts!!!!