I recently spoke at a Jubilee Sunday service in Chatham County, North Carolina and proposed a new tactic in the struggle to ensure that Black Lives Matter and that Black Votes are not taken for granted. Our future and the future of the next 3 generations will be decided by our actions between now and March 15, 2016 (NC Primary Day).
During that first Jubilee JULIUS C. MORELL a native of North Carolina, said that, though he was born in the Old North State, he felt no particular pride in it, I can honestly say that as a North Carolinian, I feel no particular pride in how our state is currently governed. Morell recounted many of the barbarities of Slavery and said that "the present rebellion would have broken out long ago had it not been for the anti-Slavery societies of the North who through their preaching and promises, the slaves were induced to keep quiet."[1]
I have been active in political circles for over 30 years and we were induced to keep quiet and did not hold Democratic Administrations accountable. We kept quiet, we compromised on Criminal Justice reform, on Housing Policy that put our families at risk, on Education Policy, on so called Welfare Reform, we sacrificed our people on the altar of expediency.
Our current president was induced to keep quiet on matters affecting the Black community. He compromised on so much in his first four years in office that even the white middle class is suffering. Let's remember, who he was listening to in those early years, Rahm Emanuel was his chief of staff and Larry Summers was his chief economic advisor. Summers when he was chief economist for the World Bank advocated exporting polluting industries and dumping toxic wastes to"under-populated countries in Africa" because the economic logic was "impeccable." [2] Brazil's then-Secretary of the Environment Jose Lutzenburger wrote back to Summers: "Your thoughts [provide] a concrete example of the unbelievable alienation, reductionist thinking, social ruthlessness and the arrogant ignorance of many conventional 'economists' concerning the nature of the world we live in""[3]
President Obama was induced to keep quiet by these key advisors because he did not want to appear to be the "Black President". So once again, we kept quiet, we had his back and we did not hold his administration accountable to meet the needs of our community. Folks we cannot in 2016 be induced to keep quiet.
If we don't become radical in our thinking the left will take us for granted as they have in the past. We can no longer expect that any party or candidate on the left or the right will address our issues or concerns without a demand, it is NOT in their interest. That is why our actions between now and March 15, 2016 are so important.
The Black Lives Matter Movement is already being congratulated for bringing to other folks attention the facts we face in our communities everyday. We are being told we have won, but the blood of our children still runs red in the streets. No indictments in the case of Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Eric Gardner or Michael Brown. 150 armed terrorists have occupied a federal building, leaving behind video saying they will kill or be killed but there is no wall-to-wall coverage like there was in Ferguson, no tear gas, no calling out of the national guard. It takes 2 seconds to determine that a 13 year old black child is a threat but 150 armed men are "peaceful protesters", how do we change this paradigm?
I am recommending that Black Lives Matter Movement activists and Black Democrats across the country but especially here in NC vote uncommitted in the Presidential race. I want to see Black Lives Matter activists INSIDE the convention hall in Philadelphia demanding action during the first 100 days of the administration; not outside the hall fenced off in demonstration pits.
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