Whoso would be happy must pin his hope and his affection to things that are immortal, things that are eternal. Whoso would court unhappiness and disappointment let him have inordinately things that are temporary, things that are fleeting. Among those things that are fleeting are individuals. Individuals die and if you have pinned all your trust in an individual your hopes may be blasted. Individuals change their philosophy, their character (to some extent) and their outlook. In such a case whoever has loved that individual too well is doomed to sorrow. The Cause Is The Thing
Seek a cause to which to give your best devotion and stick to that cause. Let it be a broad Cause, a Cause that is necessary or vital to living a good life. Find such a cause and stick to it. It might be that the Cause you have undertaken to fight for is no longer satisfying, you no longer believe in it. If so give it up after carefully considering whether or not you are on the wrong track.The Danger Of Loyalty To Individuals But the chief danger of loyalty to individuals, as we see it, is that this loyalty and affection and admiration for the individual may make us forget the Cause for which we are fighting. In defending this individual we may neglect the Cause. Some persons in an organization may love and admire one individual and some another. If those individuals are hostile to each other and lack the wisdom to make their cause superior to their personal feelings and personal ambitions then the ground is laid for the development of factions; the organization is split into contending sections and the end is not far off. All this because the CAUSE was neglected. A Happy Combination If however, the individual whom we love and admire and respect is truly representative of the Cause in which we are fighting for the accomplishment of which we are striving then indeed we have found a happy combination.
Black men BEWARE! State and restate to yourselves the Cause for which you are fighting and stick to it. Do not allow any man or woman to monopolize your affection and loyalty. Avoid carefully any splitting into factions and parties, some loyal to one leader some to another. Keep your locals and your groups devoted to the one Great Cause and the One Great Leader who so well represents that Cause.THE VOICE OF ETHIOPIA has always made it its duty to bring into the open the rocks on which Black organizations split and flounder. THE VOICE does not wait until the difficulty arises but inquires into past events to find the shoals and quick-sands that have destroyed our past efforts toward racial emancipation. The Cause of Black Men Black men everywhere are oppressed. Black men everywhere are prevented from attaining full growth. In the modern world one cannot come to the full stature of the modern man unless he has the right to undertake the duties and responsibilities of modern times. Black men are systematically kept out of all important positions in the world. In order to produce the highest works of art, the highest works of thought, men need not merely the will but Time. Why do Black men produce so little in literature, in art? Because they are too hard pressed making a mere living. They have no time, no leisure.
Black men are hungry all over the world. The economic pressure is well-nigh endurable. Slavery has been abolished only in name. To tell a man that he is free after you have deprived him of the means of living and of getting around is the same as setting a bird free to fly away after you have cut off its wings.What then is the cause of Black men? It is first the desire for real freedom. Black men want to live a normal life on this earth. Unity must come before freedom. Black men will work out their own Salvation or be doomed. The Ethiopian World Federation is striving with increasing success to bring about that unity among Black people that must come before freedom. Concentrating now on the CAUSE of Ethiopia, working for her freedom will help to bring about that unity which is so necessary for freedom of all Blacks. Let us stick to the Cause and Never forget it.]]>