There Are No Giants

William A. McClain

Grand Sire Archon

Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

37th Biennial Grand Boule

August 15, 1984

Atlanta, Georgia

Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

Numbers 13:30

Behold, thy Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: Go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.

Deuteronomy 1:21

I. Introduction

When the children of Israel reached the Promised Land aftersurviving all their suffering and tragic experiences for 430 years of slavery in Egypt and 40 years in the wil derness, God spoke to Moses and commanded him to select the rulers of the twelve tribes and send them out to search, explore, and spy out the land of Canaan—the Promised Land. Moses in obedience to God selected the twelve tribal leaders and commissioned them to go into Canaan to search it in order to see whether the peo ple were strong or weak, whether the land was good or bad, whether the people dwelled in tents or in strong holds, whether the land was lean or fat and to bring back the fruits of the land.

The twelve tribal leaders went into Canaan and after spending forty days in searching the land, returned to re port to Moses. Caleb, the son of Jephunneth, the tribe of Judah, in making his report stilled the people before Moses when he said, "Let us go up at once and possess it: for we are well able to overcome it." Joshua, the son of Nun, tribe of Ephraim agreed with this positive report. But the other ten tribal leaders, who went with them to Ca naan brought back a negative, dissenting, and evil re port and said, "We are not able to go up against the peo ple: for they are stronger than we and there we saw giants, the sons of Anak, which come of giants and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."

The people began to complain against Moses and God. They said that they wished that they could have died in Egypt as slaves rather than die in the wilderness. They began to search for a new captain to lead them back to Egypt. They preferred to go back to Egypt and die rather than to live and pursue their divine destiny of exploring the vast unlimited horizons, capturing new un discovered citadels of power and enjoying the marvel ous wonders and eternal freedoms in Canaan—the Promised Land.

Moses took out the relic containing the bones of Jo seph that he had brought with them from Egypt to remind them of the past, to give them peace for the present and to offer hope for the future. But this did not quiet them. God in his wrath punished by death those men who had brought back the evil report against the land of Canaan as well as the congregation which had slandered and murmured against God. Only Joshua and Caleb—the positive thinkers—who had affirmed the promise of God, lived to enter the Promised Land.

Now think of this! God through Moses had brought the Israelites--600,000 of them plus their children—out of slavery in Egypt, had divided the Red Sea for their cross ing, had slain all their enemies, had led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, had fed them manna and quail, had clothed them all the way of their journey, had helped them to dispel and overcome all manner of evil forces and had brought them safely, as He had promised, to the Promised Land. Notwithstanding the fact that God had revealed His miracles and wonders and had demonstrated by conclusive proof and unre butted evidence the realism of His divinity and the su premacy of His power by rescuing the Israelites from slavery and bringing them victoriously through the dan gers and toils of the wilderness for forty years, the multi tude in the congregation upon reaching the Promised Land, accepted the negative and evil report of the ten tribal leaders and very easily lost faith in that same God to lead them victoriously into the Promised Land over all opposition.

Think of it! God told the Israelites that they could have all the land that their eyes could see in the Promised Land. But this was not enough. They wanted God to promise them that they could have it without any struggle, without any sacrifice, without any pain and without any price. Because of their lack of faith and their negative thinking, they became obsessed with the negative emotion of fear and considered themselves in their own sight as small, insignificant and inadequate grasshoppers against imaginary giants in the Promised Land. But the fact of the matter is that when God is on your side there are no mountains too high to climb, no waters too deep to cross, and no armies too powerful to conquer. When God is with you, there are no giants! There are no giants! There are no giants!

As the walls of Jericho came tumbling down and God through his divine will allowed black Americans to reach the Promised Land of freedom and liberation after more than 360 years of strife and turmoil in the wilderness of slavery and racism, we too are just like the Israelites. We too often have accepted the negative and evil report of too many of our black leaders and are afraid to enter the Promised Land and possess it because we see imaginary giants and “We are in our sight as grasshoppers and so we are in their sight.” But in order to survive and gain our eventual freedom and liberation in the Promised Land we must accept the positive message contained in the words of Caleb, “let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” There are no giants! There are no giants! There are no giants!

II. Our Problem Is in Our Own Minds

Most of the outward barriers of racism that have kept black Americans in their so-called "place" are gone. As Nathan Wright, eminent minister and theologian has so eloquently said, "racism is no longer the dominant rea son for the plight of blacks." What black Americans face today is a crisis of mentalities—a crisis in their minds, their inner lives, and in their thought patterns which are negative in nature and prevent them from aggressively entering the Promised Land, becoming free and pos sessing all land which we can see. We can no longer in dulge in the luxury of shirking our own responsibilities and absolving our own guilt by blaming others, espe cially the white power structure, for the things which we fail to do for ourselves. We ourselves place limitations on our own mental vision and our own minds by negative, self-defeating, and self-destructive thought patterns and mental attitudes which blind us and close the door to in finite possibilities which are before us in the Promised Land.

Marcus Aurelius, one of the wisest men who ever lived, very aptly said that "a man's life is what his thoughts make of it," Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great writer, ex pressed the same thought when he said "A man is what he thinks about all day." The Scripture expresses this theme in Proverbs 23:7—"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." Our struggle now is not with the outward cir cumstances which confront us but it is in our own minds. We must take the limitations off our minds with positive thinking. We must allow God to give us all the land which we can see in the Promised Land. We need self-fulfilling behavior, thought patterns, and mental attitudes which allow our imagination, perception, intuition, reason, and our extrasensory powers to open our eyes to the new ho rizons, immense vistas, unlimited expanse and infinite areas of opportunities in the Promised Land.

As long as white America can control our minds by making us see imaginary giants and consider ourselves "in our own sight as grasshoppers," it will always control us and our total environment. Let us not accept the neg ative report but in the dynamic words of Caleb, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to over come it." There are no giants! There are no giants! There are no giants!

III. We Must Use Our Own Resources

To overcome imaginary giants, we must first discover, use and exhaust, and take advantage of all the oppor tunities and resources presently in our own hands. Think of this! We already have the power in our own hands to attain our own freedom and liberation. We are always looking for power elsewhere but God has already given us power which we do not use. The greatest tragedy in our times is the dissipation by black Americans, young and old, of their human resources—their mind power, their economic power, and their political power. The chal lenge, therefore, before us today is that we must begin to mobilize, organize, conserve, direct, and utilize the ac tual and potential power that we have in our own hands to solve our social and economic problems.

Let us review the present state of affairs in the black community. Fifty-five percent of the black children are born out of wedlock. Fifty-one percent of black families are headed by a single parent, usually a black woman below the poverty level. Forty-two percent of our black youth is functionally illiterate. The unemployment rate for blacks over age sixteen is fifty-five percent. Black on black homicides constitute ninety-five percent of the homicides in the black community. These statistics standing alone spell doom for the black family, black ed ucation, and black survival.

But we have the power in our own hands to rescue our selves from these social and economic problems. Re cent statistics show that the black community in America has a consuming power of 155 billion dollars, which is exceeded by only five or six countries in the world, in cluding the United States. We need to transform our con suming power into producing power. The black commu nity has enough political, economic and human resources in its own hands right now to determine, con trol, and shape its own destiny Think of it! We are eco nomically able to establish, support and control our own black industries, black institutions, black professions, black leaders and the total black environment. We have in our own hands enough wealth and resources to de fend and protect ourselves from all incidents and injus tices of racism, poverty, unemployment, poor health, illit eracy, bad housing, crime, and dope addiction. If we exercise our right to vote, we have enough power to de termine our place in the political systems of our national, state and local government. We remain weak because we refuse to use our power and resources which God has given us to free and liberate ourselves.

The late Booker T Washington in his famous Atlanta Exposition address on May 18, 1895, related a story which is appropriate for this occasion. A ship was lost at sea for many days and suddenly sighted a friendly ves sel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal "water, water, we die of thirst!" The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back "Cast down your buckets where you are." A second, third, and fourth dis tress signal were given by the unfortunate vessel and the same answer was given by the friendly vessel. At last the captain of the distressed vessel, taking heed, cast down his bucket and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon river.

We must begin to cast down our buckets where we are so that our buckets will come up with the political, eco nomic, and human resources which are already within our control. The black community has the actual and po tential power within its own hands to achieve its freedom and liberation. We must begin to understand and appre ciate the immensity of our own power. We must stop look ing at ourselves as grasshoppers. "Let us go up at once and possess it: for we are well able to overcome it." There are no giants! There are no giants! There are no giants!

IV. We Can Have All the Land We See

To overcome imaginary giants and possess all the land we can see in Canaan—the Promised Land—we must see the new horizons and aggressively take advantage of the ever-present opportunities for adventure, explora tion, and conquest in the Promised Land. The mysteries and wonders of the Promised Land are always with us. The Promised Land is vast, unknown, immense, eternal, and perpetual in all dimensions of time, space, and dis tance. God has a special place for us in the Promised Land and because of its immensity no generation, na tion, race, or people has been able to exhaust, possess, or consume all of the infinite opportunities and possibil ities in the Promised Land.

There is a biblical story in the fifth chapter of St. Luke, verse 4 through 10, that relates to Jesus saying unto Si mon "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught." Simon said unto the master "we have toiled all night and have taken nothing, nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net," When they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net broke. They then beckoned unto their partners, who were in another ship, that they should come and help them. They came and filled both ships so full that they began to sink.

Too many black Americans have accepted the nega tive, dissenting, and evil report because they are afraid or unwilling to launch out into the deep and let down their nets in the vast and unlimited opportunities of the Prom ised Land. They still have a slave mentality and are un willing to leave the plantation in order to seize the new op portunities, enjoy the new freedoms, attain equal status relationships with others, and seek new adventures in the Promised Land. When they reached the Promised Land they expected an instant paradise. They hoped for instant miracles, instant rewards, and instant peace for ever. They wanted their freedom in the Promised Land without any struggle, sacrifice, pain, price, or any work. But they soon found out that there are no such satisfying things as instant culture, instant education, and instant qualifications for advancement. The fact of the matter is that God did not promise the Israelites or black Ameri cans that there would be no struggle for the conquest of the Promised Land. But God did promise us that He would lead us and guide us in the Promised Land through all the struggles triumphantly as He did in the wilderness. We ourselves must have the courage to launch out in the deep and let down our nets for a draught into the infinite wonders, marvels, magic, and mysteries of the Promised Land. When we do this our nets will come up with a draught of infinite opportunities and possibilities. When we do this we can have all the land which our eyes can see.

When properly motivated, blacks have been able to excel in any field of endeavor which they pursue. They have the mind power and physical power to do this. For a long time black youth has been motivated to excel in sports, entertainment, music, and dance. The black role models or heroes for most black youth, and particularly the underclass black youth, are the black entertainers, black athletes, or black musicians. Black youth at a very early age is motivated to emulate these black role mod els, and to seek excellence in these areas. The conse quence is that boxing, track, football, basketball, base ball, and certain areas of music and entertainment are dominated by blacks.

But the time has come when we must launch our nets and possess all the land that we can see in the fields of business, engineering, electronics, professions, trade, commerce, and all the sophisticated branches of sci ence and technology The motivation of black youngsters today must not only be to become superstars on the playfield, gymnasium, or stage but also to become su perstars in the library, laboratory, or classroom and in those areas which prepare them to enter into the main stream of economic and political power of the market place, boardroom, and world arena, where the real con trolling action is. We must begin to launch our minds as well as our muscles in the deep and possess all the land which we can see in the field of arts, sciences, business, professions, trade, commerce, and industry here we can attain recognition, power, and independence.

God who has led us through the wilderness of slavery and racism has reserved a special place in the Prom ised Land for us. We have our own destiny, our own her itage, our own bounty in the Promised Land. We are not grasshoppers. "Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." There are no giants! There are no giants! There are no giants!

V. For Every Circumstance There Is an Opposite Circumstance

For every circumstance there is an opposite circum stance. For every problem there is an answer. For every ill there is a cure. In the Hermetic philosophy there are two principles. The first principle of polarity embodies the truth that everything is ambivalent and dual in nature and has its pair of opposite poles. The second principle of rhythm is that everything has its tides of rise and fall and that the pendulum swings to the right the same distance as it swings to the left. There is always an action and a reaction; an advance and a retreat; an ebb and a flow. These principles are true in the affairs of the universe, in the animate and inanimate life, and in the affairs of men and nations. Maybe black Americans are at the time of history in America where the pendulum is swinging back towards conservatism. If so, this may mean further cur tailment of public welfare and social entitlement pro grams.

This should not cause us any alarm. For a long time the majority of our nationally known black leaders assumed that the public welfare state, social entitlements, and governmental benevolence would solve the problems of crime, unemployment, poverty, and illiteracy among the black masses. But, recently a pamphlet consisting of twenty-two pages was published by the Washington- based Joint Center for Political Studies, entitled a "Policy Framework for Racial Justice," reflecting the delibera tions of thirty black leaders and scholars during confer ences in 1981 and 1982 in Tarrytown, New York. It in cludes the endorsement by the Black Leadership Forum, comprising heads of the major national civil rights groups. The thrust of the report is that after the passage of twenty years, the expenditure of billions of dollars by the federal government has not had a measurable impact on the income of black families as compared with white families. What has had an impact—an adverse im pact—has been the growth in teenage pregnancy and the number of black families headed by a single par ent—a black female. The report says that single-parent black families have grown because of, not in spite of, federally engineered social programs such as AFDC. On the question of public welfare the report recognizes that public welfare has undermined the black family structure and that federal anti-poverty programs osten sibly designed to assist low-income blacks have had the perverse effect of locking blacks permanently into their poverty. Our black leadership is finally willing to consider the fact that the present public welfare system has cre ated more problems than it has solved. It has been self- perpetuating. self-destructive, and self-defeating be cause it not only destroyed the selfhood of the black re cipient but the foundation of the black family. Black lead ers whose black organizations have been subsidized and supported by subsidies from the federal govern ment are now beginning to question the traditional as sumptions of governmental paternalism and the social programs of the Great Society. Two things emerged from this report. First, the acknowledgment that it is time to re-think federal policies and programs designed primarily to help black people and second, the realization that the black community itself must assume the major respon sibility in halting the dissolution of black families, in preventing the increase of teenage pregnancy, and in find ing solutions to eliminate the problems that remain.

If the pendulum of time is swinging against the public welfare state, governmental benevolence and paternal ism, then our black leaders must not helplessly spend their time negatively by attacking this reality. We cannot keep alive the approaches which we have made in the past to our problems because they are now based on false assumptions. It is now abundantly clear that the white power structure no longer feels guilty about slavery and racism, and government is no longer going to as sume the major responsibility for solving our problems. Our black leaders must take a positive attitude towards finding new options, new approaches, new remedies, and new answers. They must have the honesty, intelli gence, imagination, perception, intuition, reason, and other extrasensory powers to discover other means for black survival and black liberation.

For every circumstance, there is always a counter-bal ancing positive circumstance—an answer, a cure, or a remedy—to solve the problem. Life always offers you positive options for every circumstance. There are no hopeless situations in life; there are only hopeless per sons who have grown hopeless about the situation. You may not have control over the happening of a circum stance but you have the right to choose a positive reac tion, a winning attitude toward the circumstance, and, to proceed to find the counter-balancing circumstance. There are trillions and trillions of opportunities for black Americans behind every circumstance. The challenge comes for our black leadership to find them. If public wel fare is fading away, then we must find means to feed our black poor. If health programs are decreasing, then we must discover ways to care for our elderly and sick. If blacks are becoming unemployed, then we must provide work for them. We must always be able to develop new approaches, new strategems and new means to deal with the social, economic and political problems con fronting blacks. For every circumstance, there is an an swer. "Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." There are no giants! There are no giants! There are no giants!

VI. Handicaps Must Become Our Strengths; Obstacles, Our Opportunities

When your humble servant was elected Grand Sire Ar chon-elect, I began to question my worth to become the chosen leader of this great fraternity. I went into my sanc tum sanctorum and did some meditation and soul- searching. Out of my confusion there came to my mind the scripture contained in St. Luke, Chapter 12, Verse 48 which reads: "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed, of him they will ask more."

This obligation of leadership places an awesome bur den upon the Grand Sire Archon who in the short period of two years must justify his leadership by leaving his trademark and charting a course of action for this frater nity to follow. The task before me is to help this fraternity not only in defining and achieving its goals and aspira tions but also to aid it in justifying its existence within the context of the changing social scene.

To help your humble servant in this period of stress, I read again the scholarly history of this fraternity written by Archon Charles H. Wesley, our distinguished scholar and historian. I was able to capture the vision of our founders and realization of the enormous debt which I owe them as I assume this leadership role. They con sisted of five physicians and one dentist—Robert J. Abele, Eugene T Hinson, Edwin C. Howard, Algernon Jackson, Henry M. Minton and Richard J. Warwick. Our founders were black intellectuals who organized on May 15, 1904 in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the first fraternity in history for college and professionally edu cated blacks. They were not only outstanding in their chosen professions but also active participants in com munity affairs. The principles upon which this fraternity was founded were so valid and perpetual that we are celebrating tonight our 80th anniversary.

To aid your humble servant further in conceptualizing the role of my leadership, I read again three memorial ad dresses which not only have left an everlasting impres sion on me but also have shaped my philosophy con cerning the role which our fraternity should play within the context of our times.

Shortly after being initiated in the fraternity, on July 28– 31, 1964, your humble servant attended the 27th Bien nium of the Grand Boulé, which Zeta Boulé hosted at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. The memorial address which was given by the late Archon Percy L. Julian, enti tled "Faultless Prophets" inspired me and gave me a justification for being a member of this fraternity. In his address, he admonished us not to be "a society of snobs" or "intellectual do-nothingers" in these times of social change facing the black masses. In order to meet the demands of the changing world he suggested five programs for the fraternity, namely (1) an annual sym posium of Sigma Pi Phi with the papers relating to the contributions of our scholars to the culture of the nation, (2) an increase in membership fees to at least 100 dollars or more annually, and the closest supervision to see that not one dollar of this fee is spent for other than creative and constructive public endeavor, (3) a compulsory life membership in the NAACP on the part of every archon, (4) organization of nationwide talent scout committees in every Boule in order to discover prospective Sigma Pi Phi scholars and funds to assist these scholars and (5) establishment of an investment council in every Boule, coordinated with a national investment council, to begin accumulation of stock in a block for Boule members col lectively in significant corporations of this country.

The second memorial address which has shaped my philosophy about the purposes of this organization was delivered before I was inducted into this fraternity by the late Archon W.E.B. Dubois at the 19th Grand Boule held at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1948, entitled "The Talented Tenth" which as a concept was changed to the doctrine of "Guiding Hundredth." In his address Dr. Dubois said,

What the guiding idea of Sigma Pi Phi was, I have never been able to learn. I believe it was rooted in certain ex clusiveness and snobbery, for which we all have a yearning, even if unconfessed. But such an object be longs to the days of peace and security Today is a time of crisis. Could then this organization be adapted to the role of organized scientific leadership of the American Negro?

Dr. Dubois said that the tasks of obtaining survival and liberation of the black masses must be borne by a highly trained group of black scholars who are educationally and intellectually equipped to perform. He recom mended that the fraternity should increase our member ship rolls to 30,000 by 1960 by including black college trained men who could assume leadership roles.

The third memorial address which challenged me was given July 28, 1974 at the 32nd Biennium Grand Boule in Cincinnati, Ohio by the late Archon Benjamin E. Mays en titled "The Challenge of Our Unseen Witnesses." He said,

"I have a great fear for the future of black people. I have supported many demonstrations in my life. I have re belled against racial discrimination all my life. I have three times been threatened by the mob. But thank God, I have always known that there is no substitute for excellence, none for a trained mind and skilled hands. We, as members of Boulé, would help our young people a great deal if we got across to them the fact that we cannot violence ourselves into trained minds. We can not demonstrate ourselves into becoming a great man. We cannot black power ourselves a skilled surgeon, a lawyer or engineer. A penalty has been placed upon the black man because he is black. I see no way to avoid telling our people that there is no way out for us except sweat, blood and tears! As the author of the Hebrews challenged the Church of Rome to carry on, and they did, possibly enabling Christianity to survive, it might well be that all of our deceased archons and archousai who have died since 1904 are challenging us in the lan guage of the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which doth so easily best us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

After much consultation with the past and deep medita tion about the present and future, your humble servant wants to outline three proposals which reflect my con cept of what this fraternity should do. First, it is my rec ommendation that we conduct a Sigma Pi Phi Think-Tank Conference, composed of the scholars not only of our fraternity but also of the black community At my request Archon Broadus N. Butler has already prepared a blue print for such a conference. This should be a three-day conference and the agenda would consist of scholarly papers prepared by selected participants giving an analysis of the economic, social, and political problems facing black America. White Americans go to Aspen, Colorado annually and just engage in thinking and dis cussing the major problems facing America. It is time for us to do some serious positive thinking about the plight of black people in America and what action we can take.

Secondly we ought to follow up the Sigma Pi Phi Fra ternity Think-Tank Conference with a Sigma Pi Phi Fra ternity Master Planning Council composed of our ar chons and other black leaders skilled in social and economic planning to help us decide the major problems facing black Americans and make a blueprint of priority for action by this fraternity for the next five, ten, twenty, fifty or one hundred years, as the case may be. Social change is always an inevitable process. To cope with so cial change we must do master planning. Too many black organizations such as ours have no master plan of growth or directions to meet the trends of the times.

Finally, I am recommending that we develop a very sophisticated Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Network System of communication and support for our organization. If any major crisis should happen in the Catholic or Jewish community, whether it be in Rome or Israel, these two communities through their network system of communication and support are so well-organized that in less than twenty-four hours, there is consensus on a plan of action. Where there is an occurrence of any major crisis to which a subordinate Boulé must respond, such subordinate Boulé ought to be able to issue a call for help from the fraternity at-large through a central network agency which can contact each subordinate Boule for its immediate response.

In accepting the mantle of leadership of this fraternity, I assure you that this is one of my finest hours and shin ing golden moments of my career. You may say that what I have said to you is all rhetoric and difficult to do. But his tory is full of great men and women who adopted a posi tive attitude and overcame obstacles greater than you and I have ever faced. They took adversity and made it an opportunity. When one door closed in their faces, they opened other doors of infinite opportunities and possi bilities by an affirmative and aggressive attitude. They were motivated to seek excellence and were able to move mountains to attain their unique selfhood. Their handicaps became their strengths; their obstacles be came their opportunities. They believed in the scriptural passage found in Hebrews, Chapter 11, verse 34 "out of your weakness shall come strength."

As we stand here on the threshold of the Promised Land, our main struggle today, like the Israelites, is in our own minds, our inner emotions and in our thought pat terns. We can choose the negative and evil report and thus, blind ourselves from seeing the infinite opportuni ties and possibilities of freedom and liberation in the Promised Land. Or we can adopt the positive report and acquire all the land we can see in the Promised Land. We can view ourselves as grasshoppers or we can accept the challenge of Caleb “Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." As your leader I proclaimto you the role of Caleb with all the eloquence and conviction which I can muster: There are no giants! There are no giants! There are no giants!