Minister Jesse Jackson has had a tough week to say the least. Whew, Jesse!
Let's just get this out the way now! No, Black dude should ever even in jest say they are gonna cut someones ---! off! Given our history in this country and abroad. Shame on you Jesse!
But now let's have some real talk. Jesse is/was upset by Barack's seeming condensing tone in his recent speeches on personal responsibility to Black folks. This ain't something that hasn't been said before in Bam-Bam's historic campaign. Bam-Bam is righteously open for criticism.
Bam-Bam's completely spineless vote for the FISA bill is one such instance. And his recent pandering to right wing prone GOP leaning voters is another.
But the other thing is our collective frustration with our traditional leadership and icons. Jesse Jackson has done great things and his legacy is secure in our history. I feel this way with most of our leadership.
It would be a mistake for us to ignore Jesse's past and current contributions. He has knowledge and wisdom that we need and it should be taken advantage of. Now, I know that some people would like Jesse to go somewhere and sit down. I feel that way too sometimes but I am a realist and I think we all need to be realists as well. Minister Jesse and his colleagues are from a 60's era civil rights struggle. He has seen the non violent action and resistance movement and the Black Power and Black Liberation movements that came from that as well. He's more than earned his right to speak and be taken seriously.
One of the problems facing us today that is hindering progress is that there is no direct lineage in mentor ship. Jesse and Andrew Young came out from under Dr. King and Dr. Ralph Abernathy. Dr. King from Bayard Rustin and Dr. Vernon Johns. Even though each man took the movement or his ministry perhaps in another direction than their mentors they were connected and we could verify them.
Barack Obama and Harold Ford Jr and some of the young lions are not from that school of training and in fact there is no verifiable school that we can look to in order to see their lineage. They didn't come out of the traditional Black civil rights movement. They've shown contempt in some cases towards that leadership. But even more than that none of the young lions have any real political stripes and clout in the Black community. Barack's strategy has been to distance himself from any traditional Black leadership including his pastor.
Now, on the other hand I've been waiting for Jesse, Al Sharpton, Minister Louis, Andrew Young, Julian Bond, Bobby Seale and the bunch... I've been ready for y'all to pass the torch! But who would they pass it to? The days of handpicked successors are gone. Good riddance! Nepotism certainly has not been a benefit for anyone except those already in power. I cite the Bushes, The Castro's, The Duvalier's and so many others. If I were Jesse I wouldn't just step aside just cause folks have found someone new and pretty
So we are not looking for someone with necessarily with the endorsement of the establishment but we do need young, new leaders that engage us.
Remember US?
The people???
Dr. Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and David Hillard didn't come out of the traditional civil rights movement. But Huey came out of Phi Beta Sigma and was connected in that regard. He espoused the views of Malcolm X without Malcolm's religious ideology. Stokley Carmicheal was a King Kid from SNCC then he became a Panther but he maintained dialogue with his mentor. Where is that connection with the new Black leadership? So I understand why Jesse and some others may be mad.
Now, on the other hand it seems to me that the youth have not been groomed to take over and lead with confidence instead our present elders have tried not to groom but clone themselves in younger versions. This is the problem. Some of your views, the world that you knew is outmoded, outdated and stale and it only serves to keep the status quo. To keep you in power!
Bruce Gordon, recently past president, of the NAACP, left after squabbles with the board of directors of the NAACP. It's been said that the board didn't like the changes he was trying to implement. Quote... we hired you to maintain the organization not to remake it. Again, the status quo. How many new members does the NAACP recruit, where are they battling now? The NAACP needs to be made over. It's been that way a long time. This is not the organization of Robert F. Williams, Dr WEB Dubois or Langston Hughes anymore. It's the organization of Walter White and his merry bunch and it's time for a change. That's goes for several other organizations too.
Where is Jesse and the traditional leadership on the lack of home ownership, high school dropout rates, increasing prison population representation, lack of banks, supermarkets and medical care in the Black Community? And for you so called conservatives Black or White, The General Motors rule is in effect. So goes the Black community so goes the country!
Where are our leaders? Republican or Democrat when a corporation lays off twenty thousand people or more and then gives its top exec's large bonuses? When they loot the companies and institutions that you de-regulated and left people penniless? Again, leadership means you look at what's good and what's bad and didn't work and you fix it. I got a stronger door, better locks and changed my routine when I got robbed. What have y'all done? So far just left the door open.
Change is what we need! The GOP needs to change too. They have become outmoded. The cold war is over gentlemen. And guess what??? The New Deal worked! It did! Social Security worked, Medicare worked! The FDA worked! The clean air and water initiatives have the last 50 years have worked! Separation of Church and State is a good thing! It's kept us from killing each other. Sure each one of these programs could use some tweaking but not elimination.
Hey guess what? Diplomacy works too. Old Cain thinks that talking with the folks who hate us is a bad thing. Stupid out moded thinking! If I have a blood feud with someone I'm going to send my best negotiators to the table with me and we all gonna put our guns on that table and talk some real talk. But we will be at the table talking.
Iran, has some legitimate grievances with the west! We backed a series of puppets, that gave away their resources and oppressed them. Remember the Shah?
Iraq, again, series of puppet brutal strongmen who gave away the resources and oppressed the people. Remember Saddam Hussein?
Chile, we took out their democratically elected leader and backed a coup that put a maniacal puppet in power who oppressed the people. Remember Pinochet?
Cuba, since the start of that nation we've had our hands in it! We took the sugar, cigars and the people. We had a huge slave population there, we made it a casino and a whorehouse backed by a series of puppets who oppressed the people and gave away the peoples resources. Castro..Still there!
Venezuela, Chavez is in power and hostile to us cause we helped ferment a coup that disposed him for six days again, puppets in place. Haiti and Mexico we've had our hands in their pot too long. It's time for a change.
Perhaps we could create some real change in those countries by making sure that their resources actually get to their people. I'm sure clean water, good roads and electricity could change alot of minds about America. Perhaps in Sudan. There is only one airstrip in that entire country.
No, Barack Obama may be the change we need but even more so we need change. Anyone talking about the status quo and wants to maintain it we need to sit them down.
Change or it will be to our detriment!
Be Mindful! Be Careful! Be Prayerful
Jaycee
No comments:
Post a Comment