I wish to thank all the Congolese people who responded to my previous articles on the CongoBoston website. Your feedback inspired me to write this article aimed at strengthening that vision of empowering our communities and bringing Congolese to work together for our community's development. As I wrote in my previous article, « New Bostonians on the Rise! », we Congolese can do better in the USA, and we should not underestimate our values and capacities. Instead, we should multiply initiatives that will cement the development of our communities.

In my second article published in CongoBoston, « How Can Congolese Succeed Together in Business ?», I tried to shed light on those behaviors that discourage us from trusting one another and from working together. If we keep feeding this negative feeling and gossip, our communities will never achieve anything in the USA. Today I continue in the same direction, but this time by showing Congolese that it is a misconception and misleading idea that Congolese who want to start a non –profit organization, church, business… don’t have to think first of our own communities but rather they have to work with diverse communities in the USA. In fact, it would seem that this idea comforts many who have never viewed the « Congolese community » favorably. However, this statement is not true at all. It is true that in today’s global environment we have to think globally, but I would argue that history has shown that many initiatives or businesses which have become internationally recognized, started locally.

America, of course, is the land of opportunity, and people from diverse communities come here to achieve the American Dream. Without a doubt, this country gives us all the opportunities to tap into a big market, but we can't ignore the realities that those communities are not totally integrated. Those communities that are doing better nationally started by doing so within the limits of their own community. The greatest thing about America is that this country allows all communities to take the American Dream and bring it back to their own communities and help their own people. We Congolese have the obligation to support our community initiatives through participation and financing.

In fact, if a Ghanaian, or Hispanic person needs a service, he is going first to look for that kind of service in his or her own community, or will prefer the big companies because of the belief that they will offer him a good service. Even though Congolese pastors can preach well in English, Ghanaians or Kenyans will go to their own church because they share same culture. It is not my intention here to discriminate against others’ businesses. We Congolese do have to be competitive in the global economy. I just want to encourage my Congolese compatriots to start to reflect positively toward our own community and learn that without strong Congolese structures such as church, non profit organizations, or businesses, our community would not succeed in the USA. The Congolese people have to change their attitude vis-à-vis our community. Our succcess will not happen overnight; we Congolese have to start projecting a positive image of ourselves, move past our bad memories, and fully engage in living in the USA to change the course of history.

Instead of profiting from a divided community, our leaders have the responsability to shape a new vision, to bring to the Congolese a sense of belonging to the same country. We need to work together and succeed together.(This paragraph in French- Démonsthène, philosophe grec disait:« Si vous avez été vaincu dans le passé, ce n’est pas ce qui doit vous detourner d’agir. Bien au contraire, si vous avez été vaincu, c’est précisément parce que vous n’aviez les moyens de vaincre. Ce qui vous a nui dans le passé se trouve être précisement ce qui doit le plus vous rassurer pour l’avenir» End)

In the past, we Congolese failed to unite and organize. That is the reason we have been left far behind other communities. However, we can win in the future. This will happen if we learn from past failures, stop chatting and blaming each other to start working for the development of our communities, creating more initiatives and sincerely networking with our own.

By Willy Lukanga, Small Business Owner in Worcester, Mass

Congoboston.com, April 2006