How is Eva not a leader? She started an organization to fight for Latino rights, raised 30 million dollars for Obamas reelection campaign, was instrumental in getting the dream act passed, and is currently working in DC trying to get even more political support for Latinos in this country. If that's not the definition of a leader, then what is?
But regardless of whether there are Hispanic or gay leaders, I believe black people definitely need leaders to push our agenda and cause forward, mainly because so many of our people are completely divided and don't know what to do or what direction to go.
I don't take issue with what Oprah said because I agree with her. But unlike most dudes in this thread, I'm not gonna point the finger back at her and say "Why aren't you a leader Oprah?" I'm going to ask myself what can I do to help lead my community? On this site we constantly hear the rhetoric that the reason the black community is in the condition it's in is because it's a matriarchy and women can't lead, then these same men turn around and want Oprah, a black woman, to take on a leadership position.
Black men need to take on that role. Black men need to be the one fighting and putting in work. Black men need to be the ones coming up with strategies on what we can do to solve the problems we face (whether it's white supremacy, violence in our communities, joblessness, over incarceration, etc). We have no business asking Oprah, any black woman, or any non black man to fix this problem for us.
For me I believe economic independence is what our community desperately needs. So my goal is to start mentoring other young black men and motivate them to become entrepreneurs. To take part of the profits from the businesses I open and start programs for black people to push entrepreneurship. To eventually build relationships with other business owners in Atlanta and convince them to pool our money together, buy a politician, and get shyt set aside exclusively for black people in Atlanta.
We all can look at the black community and see shyt that needs to be fixed, but instead of us stepping up to the plate and trying to fix it ourselves, we'd rather wait for someone else to do the job.