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B LACK HISTORY^MONTH
Cybervisions For A Greater
Black Community
B y P aul M c D onald
At 6 years old, my father started
teaching me how to read using
notes and symbols that my grand­
father created in 1888. It was
about creating a town and organi­
zation that would liberate the
Black community that was just
out of slavery. Grandfather was a
progressive, 20th century thinker
for his time that created the ideas
behind Black Wall Street, Rose­
wood (in Florida) and other places.
Both my father and grandfa­
ther were self-proclaimed Futur­
ists. Like them, I began looking
at how to create a parallel world
where there was no Suprem e
Court decision that we were ‘sepa­
rate but equal." I grew up to also
become an Urban Futurist grow­
ing institutions and corporations
through cybcrvisions that sup­
port an emerging culture for Black
com m unities. It is a “virtual”,
parallel world with a leveled play­
ing field in which Blacks are judged
by their collective productivity.
In a parallel world, as black
people, we are the new pioneers
designing futures that are sim­
pler and more in line with our
concerns. Great leaders of great
movements have demonstrated
that compelling visions have the
power to draw people toward a
preferred future.
The Black community will soon
be awakened to the potential us­
age of computer and telecommu­
nication power which will be
coupled with marketing imagery.
T oday, the appeal o f arcade
games, beepers, cellular phones
and VCRs have met with wide­
spread acceptance in the Black
marketplace.
Urban Futurists create models
and marketing that tailor high-
tech telecommunication applica­
tions for the special needs o f the
Black community. Once the flow
of information within the Black
community is managed properly,
the competence o f the organiza­
tion increases and the relation
within the community improves.
Knowledge and information are
not the same thing. Information
has no value until it becomes
integrated knowledge and there­
fore useful.
The Black community is stuck
on many problems. In the end, we
as the Black community are de­
feated because we rely upon the
competition and thinking repro-
ductively - that is on the basis o f
similar problems encountered in
the past.
Reproductive thinking leads
us to the usual ideas about build­
ing a better community and not
original ones. When confronted
with problems, the Black com­
munity fixate on something in
our past. Because of the sound­
ness of the steps based on past
experiences, we becom e arro­
gantly certain o f correctness of
our conclusions. Interpreting past
problems through the prism of
past experiences will, by defini­
tion, lead the Black Community
thinkers astray.
In contrast, Urban Futurists
think productively, not repro-
ductively. W e ask ourselves:
•
Howm anydifferentways
can we look at our better future?
How can we rethink the
way we see it?
•
Howmanydifferentways
can we see our collective better
future?
By creating models of our bet­
ter future, we come up with many
d ifferen t resp on ses, som e o f
which are unconventional and
possibly unique. Albert Einstein
was once asked what the differ­
ence was between him and the
average person. He said that if
you asked the average person to
find a needle in a haystack, the
person would stop when he or
she found a needle. Einstein, on
the o th er h an d , w ould look
th rou gh th e en tire h aystack
looking for all possible needles.
In order to solve the problems
of the Black community, we must
develop a community think tank.
We must not settle for one per­
spective and conceptualize our
community problems by aban­
doning our usual approach that
has stemmed from past experi­
ences. The think tank does not
merely solve existing problems.
We identify ways o f creating the
com m unity’s “collective better
future.”
The Black community o f the
future will revolutionize science
by making our thoughts graphi­
cally visual through new tech­
nologies. W e must showcase our
visual mind as we think more in
visual forms. This better future
is characterized by our immense
productivity because from our
massive quantity o f work comes
quality.
Our collective creative genius
is to know how to use Futurist
thinking strategies and teach oth­
ers to use them. W e must act as
m asters o f different thinking
styles and strategies rather than
what to think. So, clearly, our
genius strategies can be learned
and applied. Recognizing and ap­
plying our collective com m on
think strategies helps make us
more creative in our work and
com m unity.
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T rends
B y G raham T .T . M olitor
Infotech
O p tim a l tr a n s m is s io n o f
ig ita l sig n a ls w ill grow from
0 g ig a b its p er seco n d in 1997
) b ey o n d 100 g ig a b its per
econd by 2 0 1 1 . (A g ig a b it -
ne b illio n th o f a se c o n d - is
) a se c o n d w h a t a se c o n d is
> 3 1 .7 y e a r s.) S c ie n tists are
Iready w o r k in g on tr a n sm it-
ing d a ta in te r a b its (o n e -
rillio n th o f a se c o n d ); at this
p e e d , th e c o n t e n t s o f th e
.ib r a r y o f C o n g r e s s , e s ti-
îa te d at 25 te r a b its, co u ld
e tr a n sm itte d in ju s t o v er
ive m in u te s.
Consum er
E lectronics
E le c tr o n ic n o te b o o k s w ill
lu p p la n t p a p e r t a b le t s by
1027; e le c tr o n ic p u b lish in g
n a y su rp a ss pap er-b ased pub-
is h in g b y 2 0 0 5 . O n e k ey
Iriver in th is tren d is rea l
(state; I t ’s too e x p e n siv e to
le v o te so m e 20% o f o ffic e
ipace to sto r in g p a p e r .
V o ic e r e c o g n it io n , v o ic e
ly n th e siz in g , and v o ic e -a c ti-
zated c o m p u te r sy ste m s w ill
is h e r in a c a sc a d e o f co m -
n u n ic a tio n g r o w th . A c c o m ­
panied by p a lm -siz e d in sta n ­
ta n e o u s tr a n s la tio n p r o ­
g r a m s , th e s e v o ic e -e n tr y
c o m p u te r s w ill b e a boon to
in te r n a tio n a l to u r ism .
M e d ic a l
B reakthroughs
D ia g n o s tic s w ill a d v a n c e
r a p id ly in th e n e x t 50 y ea rs.
T r a d itio n a l m eth o d s o f d ia g ­
n o sin g sy m p to m s in the la b o ­
r a to r y o n c e to o k m any
w e e k s, o fte n r e q u ir in g h u n ­
d red s o f la b o r -in te n siv e and
c o s tly e x p e r im e n t s . In th e
f u t u r e , d o c t o r s w ill u s e
c r e d it-c a r d -s iz e d d ia g n o stic
p la te s c o n sistin g o f up to a
m illio n o r m o r e m ic r o c e ll
p r o b e s - a r r a y s o f m in ia tu re
te st tu b e s - to d e te c t d isp o si^
tio n or to v e r ify d ise a se s, d e ­
fo r m itie s, and d y sfu n c tio n s.
R e su lts w ill be rea d and a n a ­
ly z e d by c o m p u te r s in ju s t
m in u t e s .
H ealth , Lifestyles,
and Values
E u th a n a s ia m a y b e c o m e
c o m m o n , a s t h e r ig h t to
c h o o s e e x te n d s from a b o r ­
tio n r ig h ts (r ig h ts o v er b irth )
to d ea th r ig h ts. N ew d e fin i­
tio n s o f “ d e a th ” w ill be h e a t­
ed ly d e b a te d . S o a r in g m ed i­
ca l c o sts w ill in flu e n c e view s
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on d e a th : T e r m in a l illn e s s
and d y in g c u r r e n tly a c c o u n t
fo r 10% o f h e a lth -c a r e o u t­
la y s; for M e d ic a r e , i t ’s 27%
o f p rogram o u tla y s.
E u g en ics w ill gain a c c e p ­
ta n c e as h u m a n s ta k e c o n ­
tr o l o v e r th e ir ow n e v o lu ­
tio n . A n im a l an d p la n t g e ­
n e tic m a n ip u la tio n o p en s the
w ay to hum an b io lo g ic a l e n ­
g in e e r in g . C o n c e p tio n w ill be
le ss a m a tte r o f c h a n c e and
m o re a r e s u lt o f g e n e tic
sc r e e n in g and m a n ip u la tio n
to m a x im ize d e sir a b le tr a its
an d m in im iz e u n d e s ir a b le
on es.
Aging
T he tren d tow ard ea rly r e ­
tir e m e n t w ill be r e v e r se d , r is ­
in g to an a v era g e o f 67 y e a r s
in 2022 and 70 in 2 0 2 5 , as
A m e r ic a n s liv e h e a lth ie r and
lo n g e r liv es.
M ore a g e -c e n te re d p o liti­
cal c o n tr o v e r sie s w ill a r ise ,
e sp e c ia lly o v e r g o v e r n m e n t
sp e n d in g . P r o g r a m s for the
e ld e r ly co u ld In crease, from
o n e - t h i r d o f a ll f e d e r a l
sp e n d in g tu m ore th a n o n e -
h a lf by 2 0 1 0 , p ittin g econ om ic
n eed s o f Y IP P 1E S (y o u n g im ­
p o v e r ish e d w o r k e r s) a g a in st
W H O O P IE S (w e ll-h e e le d
o ld e r p e r so n s).
M u ltic u ltu ra lis m
Im m ig r a tio n w ill c o n tin u e
to in c r e a se th e o v e r a ll U .S .
p o p u la tio n . Im m ig r a tio n w ill
ste a d ily in c r e a se r a c ia l, e th ­
n ic , and c u ltu r a l d iv e r s ity .
By 2 1 0 0 , p e r so n s o f E u r o ­
p ea n d e sc e n t w ill c o m p r ise
le s s th a n 50% o f th e U .S .
p o p u la t io n . H is p a n ic s now
o u tn u m b e r A f r ic a n - A m e r i­
c a n s in 21 U .S . s ta te s an d
w ill b eco m e th e la r g e st e th ­
n ic m in o r ity by 2 0 2 0 , c o m ­
p r isin g 15.7% o f to ta l p o p u ­
la tio n c o m p a red w ith 13.9%
fo r b la ck s.
Business and th e
Economy
E le c t r o n ic C o m m e r c e is
ta k in g o v er m ore and m ore
o f r e ta il an d w h o le sa le c o m ­
m erce. V ir tu a l c o r p o r a tio n s
u s e c o m m u n ic a t io n s t e c h ­
n o lo g ie s fo r in s ta n t a n e o u s
o r d e r in g a n d f u lf illm e n t ,,
e l i i p i n a t i n g th e n e e d f o r
c o stly p r o d u c tio n fa c ilitie s ,
w a r e h o u se s, and sto r e fr o n ts.
R eta il sto r e s «Od w h o le ­
sa le r s may la r g e ly d isa p p e a r
as th e c o n v e n ie n c e and tim e
s a v in g s o f e le c tr o n ic sh op ­
ping and home delivery alter con­
a.
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sumer behaviors, starting with
tim e-pressed dual-wage-earner
households and the elderly.
Personal Finance
E ducation costs at private
schools are more likely to double
again by 2014. Rising college costs
will force growing numbers of
parents to choose between sav­
ing for their retirem ents and
paying for their children’s edu­
cation.
Energy Supply and
Demand
Nuclear power will meet most
electric power needs following
breakthroughs in high-tempera­
ture plasma fusion, which will
become commercially viable by
2020 and offer the world a virtu­
ally limitless and cheap source of
energy. Clean and safe fusion
will becom e a panacea for global
warming.
Transportation
areas. Global perspectives will
shrink as suborbital space travel
becomes commercially available
to the public by 2021.
e
Social Security
g
Birth rates and death rates
are falling in the United States,
creating greater numbers o f eld­
erly. Social Security trust funds
will face insolvency between 2029
and 2036. Social Security, left
unchanged, will pile up an over­
whelm ing $8-trillion deficit by
2070; decades o f continuing re­
form will offer incremental re­
lief.
&
Crime
U.S. crime rates will continue
to decline slowly as the popula­
tion o f crime-prone young people
shrinks as a proportion o f the
overall population, / ’
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Leisure
| u--.,
Workweeks averaged 70 hour»
during early industrial times
___________
The world’s . fleet
o f cars ____
will .. (ifcld-1890s), then plummeted
grow. There are currently some 38.1 hour» during 1980. rebound-
625 million motor vehicles in use ;irtgto 3 9 3 hours In 1996. The
around the world, and the popu-— average workweek will likely fall ■
lationof motor vehicles will grow
to 30-35 hour» by 2030, making -. 0
to 1 billion by 2025.
more leisure hours available. By
Superfast rail system» ap -
proachh»gapeedsof200mphwill
collapse distances for exurban
2010,i leisure time will acco u n t* ..
for over 50% of lifetime activF-
Wes.
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