Book excerpt: On October 16, 1995, a million black men- sons and brothers, husbands and fathers- made a commitment to ourselves that we would not shirk our duties as fathers to our children, loving husbands to our wives, and for a serious examination of our place in the world. It was on this day, in a speech by Minister Farrakhan, that I first heard about Willie Lynch. There was something about that part of his message that stuck with me for the past ten years. Scholars would say that it is too simplistic to attribute our failings to one person- one plan- one scheme, Willie Lynch. We are not that naïve, are we? And, anyway, if true, his effort at social engineering took place 300 years ago. In this book, I will attempt to explain, in broad terms, the negative results of that social engineering project of Willie Lynch. I will also make recommendations designed to combat it. I want to tell my readers how the cornerstone of black society, the family, has been eroded to the point of despair; the mindset that caused it, and some possible basic solutions. The educational system should be the easiest to fix. We must stop putting kids in bad learning situations, and leaving them to fail. We have choices and we must exercise those choices. The economic wealth of African Americans is larger than most countries in the world today. Yet we fail to benefit from that wealth. We are Bling-Bling Broke. We are the second largest voting block in the country, yet we have marginalized ourselves by voting for anyone who will promise us civil rights (The Democrats). They don’t deliver, yet we continue to vote the same way each election. To this day, the media will rarely portray Blacks in a positive way. The media has proven to be the most effective instrument of the Willie Lynch social engineering experiment. From the days of slavery the church played a vital role in the rebuilding of the moral foundation necessary for this society to grow strong and correct. The Willie Lynch legacy is the one consistent thread that seems to affect all of us. In 2006 we still occasionally exhibit social behavior reminiscent of the Willie Lynch legacy.