Dwelling in the Midst of Potential

Potential is defined as existing in possibility: capable of development into actuality. Sadly, we live our lives in this area and never venture out into the actuality. Having been in New York for a month now and reflecting on both the economic and social environment here and back home in Chicago, I am disheartened by the reality of what has come to be the livelihood of people. Growing up, I was always amazed at the potential of the black boys and men in particular, but also black girls, who were around me and that I would encounter. As I grew older, I realized that the potential never became anything else, it simply remained potential, which if not developed into anything else, never becomes anything and thus is wasted potential.

When I arrived here in Buffalo, I was appalled! It looks like a huge ghetto. The first side of town I went to I thought, oh my, this is the hood. Then I got to my neighborhood and I thought; now this is really the hood. But then I saw the Eastside of town and thought to myself, this is the real hood! How is it an entire city, as old as it is still looks like a huge ghetto I thought to myself?

But then I thought back to all those people in Chicago who simply dwelt in potential but never explored the possibilities of what could be. The same was true for the city of Buffalo. Buffalo, an old, industrial city, is stuck! As I drive on the different highways and through the city that is surrounded by water and beauty, it saddens me to think of it as the 3rd poorest city in the United States.

Does Buffalo not see the potential it has I wonder? How can an entire city be content with living in possibility, in the capability to become something great and not accept the challenge?