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U.S. Senator Elizabeth
Warren gave a powerful address confronting the prospects for
black America at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the
United States Senate on September 27, 2015.
Other than the U.S. Senate
candidate and Cincinnati City Councilman P. G. Sittenfeld’s
“urban agenda,” Warren’s speech uses the strongest and most
direct language on the topic I’ve heard from a prominent
elected official who isn’t a person of color.
Does the black community
have friends anymore?
If so, our traditional
allies that we have supported for human, worker, and civil
rights both back in the day and in the recent past, have
lately seemed more like just old acquaintances than friends.
When it comes to Black
Lives Matter and institutional racism, Where my homies at?
Where is Labor? Where my
g’s on the left? My dawgs like Bill and Hillary Clinton and
company? My progressive pals and BFFs?
Even, the beloved Pope
Francis, after meeting with Black Lives Matter
representative in Vatican City in June to discuss the
devaluation of black life and police brutality, was acting
like he didn’t even know us during his recent monumental
trip to the United States.
Undoubtedly there is fear,
at least on the part of progressive electoral candidates,
even those who have not been afraid to address controversial
and unpopular causes in the past.
The trepidation grows not
only out of “being seen in certain company,” but also from
cultural insecurity and unfamiliarity with operating in
contemporary non-privileged racialized settings. The
penalties for making political missteps around today’s brand
of young front line activists can be harsh.
Hillary Clinton has been
quiet as a church mouse, seeming to avoid issues surrounding
Black Lives Matter and, when cornered, as she was when
interrupted during a recent speech in Cleveland, her
response then, and now, seems to be canned and very well
rehearsed.
Sanders, also, learned a
valuable lesson rather quickly after a misguided and
uninformed response of “All Lives Matter” to issues raised
by Black Lives Matter proponents. The activists were able to
open Sanders’ eyes when they hijacked his microphone and
provided a “teaching moment” to let the Senator know that he
“truly doesn’t get it” and is totally missing the point on
issues that confront black America.
For sure, today’s
generation of freedom fighters are taking their grievances
directly to those who purport to want to serve the community
and are finding that everybody sporting the progressive
label “ain’t down for the cause.”
Yet, there are those in
the “struggle” who “keep it one hunned (100)” and go beyond
superficiality in their relationship with the black
community and Black Lives Matter.
Responding to the silence surrounding Black Lives Matter and
the black urban agenda, P. G. Sittenfeld states: “Yes, all
lives matter. But in too many cases, the police treat
people who look like me (white) differently than they treat
people who look like you (people of color).
And worst of all,” he adds, “too many black lives are being
snuffed out under suspicious circumstances or following
petty crimes that don’t even merit jail time, let alone the
death penalty. The problem of institutional racism is real.
It must be addressed. And public officials need to
acknowledge that not every problem in our inner cities is
related to economics.”
True friendships are not one-sided. They are give-and-take
relationships that not only receive benefits but also make
contributions. One such friend to the local black community
is Equality Toledo and its Executive Director Nick Komives.
“I don’t think it’s any
secret that Equality Toledo is 100 percent backing Black
Lives Matter, the movement. Any time that I hear something
locally, some rumbling, anything that’s happening, we share
whatever we can to help get folks out and get them energized
and keep them informed on what’s happening. So Black Lives
Matter is definitely something that Equality Toledo cares
about,” says Komives.
“To us, the Black Lives
Matter movement is similar in many ways to the work that
we’re doing, and that’s why the coalition and partnership
(with the black community) is important. Equality Toledo has
been shifting more to a progressive stance on most policy
issues, so we’re not afraid to say that we support Planned
Parenthood or any of these issues that other organizations
might stay away from. We would consider ourselves very
progressive in that we believe in equality for LGBT people,
but then also for everybody else in terms of their choice
and what they do. So yes, as an organization we’re 100
percent behind the Black Lives Matter movement without
hesitation,” Komives further explained.
Yes, because that’s what
friends are for.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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