The Man Sitting in the Road
Jerry Primm
Everyone wants progress.
Until progress requires movement.
There is an old village proverb about a man who sat down in the middle of the road.
It was not a small path. It was the main road connecting the village to the rest of the world. Merchants traveled it. Farmers carried their goods along it. Families used it to visit neighboring villages.
But one day a man decided to sit right in the middle of it.
At first people approached him politely.
“Brother,” they said, “you’re sitting in the road.”
The man did not move.
So travelers began stepping around him.
Some walked to the left side of the road. Others stepped carefully into the grass to pass by.
But as the day went on, the man began complaining.
“People in this village have no respect,” he said.
“Everyone keeps passing me.”
Travelers continued their journey.
Merchants with their goods stepped around him. Farmers carrying baskets walked past him. Children moving quickly between homes skipped around him.
The man grew more frustrated.
“Look at this,” he said. “Everyone just keeps going around me.”
Late in the afternoon an elder walking down the road stopped and looked at the man.
He watched travelers step around him for a moment.
Then the elder said quietly:
“If you do not wish to be passed…”
“…do not sit in the road.”
The Lesson
Proverbs like this survive for generations because they capture something deeply human.
Sometimes people remain exactly where they are while the world continues to move forward around them.
And instead of asking whether they should move, they complain that others are moving too fast.
The road, however, was never designed for sitting.
It was designed for traveling.
And when someone chooses to remain in the middle of it, two things will always happen.
Others will keep moving.
And eventually they will pass.
The Mirror
Over the years I’ve spent time around leaders, organizations, and institutions across our communities. One thing I’ve learned is that progress rarely waits for anyone.
Economies change.
Technology changes.
Opportunities shift.
The road keeps moving forward.
But sometimes within our communities we fall into a familiar pattern.
We hold tightly to old systems.
Old approaches.
Old ways of thinking about leadership and opportunity.
Meanwhile others begin trying new things.
They experiment with new business ideas.
They organize differently.
They move faster.
And as they do, some people begin asking:
“Why are they passing us?”
But the more honest question might be:
“Are we still sitting in the road?”
And if we are honest, this is not something outsiders always do to us.
Sometimes it is something we do to ourselves.
Communities that move forward are rarely perfect.
But they are willing to adjust.
They are willing to stand up when the road begins to move.
Because the truth is simple.
The road does not stop for anyone.
The Question
The real challenge facing any community is not whether change is coming.
Change is always coming.
The question is whether we will move with it.
Or sit still while others continue their journey.
Because history shows something very clearly.
Those who refuse to move eventually find themselves watching others disappear down the road.
So the question for the village is simple:
What kind of village do we want to be?
Jerry Primm
Founder, Black Vanguard Media
Black Vanguard Media explores ideas that strengthen the Black community through leadership, economic understanding, and thoughtful dialogue.