Black Code of Social Engineering
BCoSE = Because
Social Engineering is the ability to get a group of people to behave in a desired manner. While it is usually used as a negative, it can and should be used by groups of people to solve social problems within their own communities. We already see it in place in households were parents will commonly give incentives both positive and negative in order to get their child to behave in a certain manner. Society does it on a larger scale in several sections to include the workplace, school, even clubs and parties. It is how we define what is acceptable during our interaction with other people and is largely involved in shaping the culture of all those within a sphere of influence.
- “Vegas” Rule.
- What goes on in the Black Community is discussed and resolved within the Black Community.
- The nation is constantly looking for reasons to vilify us and keep us from working together. This is often done by misrepresenting cultural differences and inserting negative narratives that are then used to attack the community socially through various media outlets. But this can also come in the form of using the words of 1 member of a subset of the community to attack an entire but different subset of the community. Often times creating a situation that is blown out of proportion before the community itself even has a chance to address the issue. These situations are then held in place as a reminder long after the issue has been resolved with the resolution never being mentioned thus creating tension.
- "Good Faith" Rule.
- Communicate in good faith to identify issues and problem solve.
- Far too often in our communications with each other we are expecting negativity usually in the form of not believing someone will do what they say they will. This is problematic on a multitude of levels the biggest of which is that it stops us from even attempting to work together. When we interact with each other we need to be interacting from a positive position of faith and trust. It is only through this form of communication will we be able to hear each other clearly enough to identify problems and solve them.
- "Conservation of Energy" Rule.
- Make an effort to get involved with projects that generate collective statements regarding any issues that negatively impact black communities.
- We spend far too much time duplicating work and making duplicate statements. Before you get involved with any project or in making any statement see if someone else has already fully conveyed or established what you are looking for. If they have then divert your energy to something else. 2 fish restaurants side by side will eventually run each other out of business.
- "Positive Acknowledgment" Rule.
- Make every effort to acknowledge and/or at minimum greet members of your community when in their presence.
- Greeting people is the first step in building a relationship with them and in our current situation we need to build as many relationships inside the community as we can. The deep ramifications of simply acknowledging someone's presence cannot be overstated. You could prevent someone from committing suicide, meet a lifelong friend, find a business partner, or find a job for someone else you know. All because you simply nodded your head or said hello.
- "LEVELS to This" Rule.
- Recognize levels and address them accordingly when it comes to credibility in research and expertise of field.
- Understand that just because you know something doesn’t mean you know everything and just because someone doesn’t know as much as you doesn’t mean they don’t know anything. Everyone is on a journey and when it comes to dealing with community members we need to be willing to help everyone we come into contact with.
- "Crack in the Concrete" Rule.
- When achieving certain levels of knowledge and/or power to progress the movement create an opportunity for others to use those same pathways already forged.
- Be like the flower growing in the concrete. It doesn’t bash or look down on all the other plants that failed to make it through the concrete. It weakens the concrete creating space for more flowers to come through. Don’t sit on your success and gloat over the community, help other community members achieve what you have by helping them down the road you have blazed.
- "The Daily Affirmation" Rule.
- Speak out loud daily affirmations that value your importance to the black community and humanity.
- Affirmations are a powerful tool of self-actualization. What you think you are is what you will become and far too many members of the community think that they aren’t worth what they truly are. Change that belief by speaking out loud every day that you are a powerful member of a powerful community. When you believe that you are powerful and that your people are powerful, you will be able to accomplish some truly amazing things.
- "No Bystander" Rule.
- Only press record when necessary; otherwise, assist in de-escalating and removing Black Life from potentially dangerous and harmful environments or situations
- It has become dangerously popular to film life threatening situations in the modern age. Filming a tragedy should not be more important than preventing it or helping get people out of it. If you see a woman being harassed, an elder being abused, a child being mistreated, or a male in danger, you should feel an obligation to help remedy the situation in the safest way possible. Most times that will simply be making your presence known, other times that will be filming, and other times that will mean getting your hands dirty, and you should be willing to do all three if necessary.
- "Know Your Self" Rule.
- Subscribe, take notes, and independently research historical content that directly points to your current existence.
- Knowing your past is essential to understanding your present and plotting your future. How do you know if your making progress if you don’t know where you started? How do you know you aren’t going in a circle if you don’t know the details of the journey? Forward motion isn’t always progress and standing still isn’t always stagnation. It is imperative that as a community of individuals we understand as much about ourselves as possible. Our esteem, pride, chances of success are all directly related to our understanding of who we are and what we are capable of.
- "Black Economics" Rule.
- Buy Black, Review Black, Respect Black Dollars. Black business vs Black Consumers
- No one is more likely to support and hire the Black Community like Black Business Owners. Not only do we need to respect and support them, they need to support and respect Black Consumers. The consumer to business relationships is a flowing circle, if one side fails to respect the other then the entire economic model for that community breaks down. If we are serious about our economic future, we need to understand that business owners and consumers need to have a mutual respect for each other and that they need to support each other.
- "No Generalization" Rule.
- No negative generalizations or smear campaigns against other community members.
- It is imperative that we understand that life is a team sport and you were drafted. You don’t get to pick your team and no matter what you do, you can’t take your jersey off. This means that when you generalize about the community you are in fact including yourself in those generalized statements. If they are positive you just complimented yourself, if they are negative you just insulted yourself. You should also be compassionate enough to understand that you don’t know why that person is down on their luck nor do you know why this other person seemingly has fantastic luck. Whatever problems you have with a particular person or even a group of people in the community, remember that they are on your team and no matter how hard you try you cannot disassociate yourself from them.
- “Sambo” Rule.
- Any black person that proves to be against the community is not protected by these codes of conduct.
- While we honestly believe that with time we can create a culture so inviting and warm that no one would ever even think of betraying the community, we also understand that those people are going to be out there. While we don’t advocate feeding these people with any direct energy positive or negative, we also don’t feel like people should feel obligated to respect someone that doesn’t respect them. A Black Person that is an enemy to his community is an enemy to himself and does not warrant the protection or respect of the community. To be clear someone having a different opinion no matter how odd or strange does not make them a Sambo. But somebody that is actively attempting to destroy the community is clearly a Sambo and this rule is for them.