BlackPerspective.net
Discussing the Diaspora as seen through an internal Black lens
The Jena March and the Debate Over Protest Politics Pt3
December 3rd, 2007
First I’d like to thank Dr. Uhuru Hotep for blessing us with his thougts on protest politics, and giving BlackPerspective.net the honor of publishing them.
If you missed part 2 of this series, you can read it here
I’d like to give my analysis to the issues that Dr. Hotpe addresses in his essay “Protest Politics and the Jena Generation”.
Dr. Hotep states in his essay:
“Like the Civil Rights activists who preceded them, the Jena March organizers failed to consider the economics of mass mobilization. LIB Radio commentator Keidi Awadu, has leveled the same criticism at the organizers of the Million Man March, who unwittingly delivered at least $100 million into the hands of Washington, DC’s White business community.”
It sounds real nice that Farrakhan could have raised 100 million dollars in October of 1995; but may I humbly submit that the fallacy in that argument lies in what is the basis to suggest that 1 million black men would have sent an average of $100 dollars to some fund just because Farrakhan said so? For what? Based on what? With what purpose? No such purpose had been established. That’s what the march (or gathering or coming together) is for.
There’s no precedent, no evidence, no reason to suggest that Black folks would have agreed to randomly fund some 100 million dollar fund of which no agreed agenda had been set for. That’s why you have the rally.
The other fallacy is in the assumption of this position that money is the only thing. Do we need money to fund the fight, and more importantly to fund our independence - absolutely. But does collecting money solve all our problems? How do we know what problems we want to spend the money on to solve if we haven’t come together to make that determination? Does Farrakhan just get to unilaterally decided in the Million Man March scenario, or some unelected oligarchy of so-called “Black leaders”?
Physically coming together is absolutely necessary for a multiplicative of reasons; and the collection of money is often beside the point, or at least beside the immediate point. Further, such coming together gatherings don’t destroy the opportunity to raise funds, it actually enhances it.
Many-a-sideline quarter back and Jena 6 March stone thrower commentated after the march saying why didn’t Al Sharpton and the Black leaders Bail out Mychael Bell instead of marching, uhhhh, maybe because he wasn’t eligible for bail, and it wasn’t possible; which such was part of the necessity of the march, they obviously missed the point. Further more, money was raised at the march, some $16,000 dollars (as I recorded here just days after the march) at the time I was boarding my bus to leave. And that was just the money collect at the actual march. It doesn’t account for all the people who were stirred awake by seeing the wonderful unity and united front on television and in other media and then when to their computers and made donations over the next few days because of it.
Back to the necessity of coming together
I’m going to quote myself from two years ago in writing about the Millions More Rally after I attended that in D.C.“The rallies are meant as just that, an event to rally people; to be a jump off point. They’re not meant to be the struggles resolution.” I further went on to say in response to the ideal that the rally was useless that “even despite what goes forward from here, Millions More has already achieved a level of success; as a new generation of Black youth have witnessed, many first hand; the possibility of self-empowerment and united struggle. And further have been given an indelible psychological image of an enormous mass of Black people gathering in harmony and unity, not for a concert or drunken sporting event; but for social and political action. Now would you really like to tell me that this is nothing more than a waste of time?”
Eugene Robison’s comments in the Washington Post the day after the 2005 march reflecting on his initial cynicism of the ’95 march are as follows: “You can keep your cold-eyed analysis and save all your gloomy statistics. When a locked door is swung open and you see that beyond it lies a better world, something has changed. Even if the door slams shut again, you’re not the same person you were before. You can’t be.
What I saw that day was possibility. And possibility, even if it’s still unrealized, is nonetheless real.”
Conclusion:
Dr. Hotep is right, we should not be restricting ourselves to protest politics, we should not be celebrating the “illusion of inclusion” and getting excited just because the news media and politicians finally pay us a little attention, and we should be proactive rather than just reactive. Yet, these things do not preclude the tactical use of the protest march/rally as one tool in our repertoire that can serves it’s purpose. It may be overused or misused at times; but as anything, something being misused doesn’t equate to it having no use. So I think the challenge is not to throw the baby out with the bath water, but to be more exacting and strategic in how we go about executing a broader plan.
Bottom-line, our problem is not the protest march; it is the lack of fallow up to our protest marches, and the lack of substantive and deliberate actions backing and under-girding those marches. So let us understand the protest demonstration’s place and limitations; and began to develop and execute a stronger and broader strategic action agenda.
Popularity: 4% [?]
posted in Politics, Social Commentary | | | View blog reactions | Print This Post
Related Posts:
2 Responses to “The Jena March and the Debate Over Protest Politics Pt3”
Leave a Reply
About The Blog
Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.
I created this site to give new voice to socio-political issues that are in need of thoughtful consideration and redress.
Click the "More About The Blog" link for rest of this statement.
Also, if you like what you see, subscribe for a once a day email to be sent on days when we post; by entering your email address in the feed burner subscription box below.
- More About The Blog...
Subscribe via email
Buy Obama
Blogroll
Site Meter
Meta
Subscribe Via RSS
Recent Posts
- Thabo Mbeki Accused of Responsibility for 330,000 AIDS Deaths
- Preliminary Thoughts on Jeremiah Wright’s ‘Africans Who Shaped Our Faith’
- Who Is Eric Holder, Obama’s Attorney General Pick
- World AIDS Day Is Coming
- Political Satire On Obama Victory
- Watch Outfoxed Video
- Video of 60 Minutes Interview With Barack and Michelle Obama
- Hillary Clinton For Secretary of State, Why
- William Ayers Speaks Out On Good Morning America (video)
- To The Black Woman
Podcast
Podcast Commenting
Taser Abuse Awareness
test
After reading your post above along with the others who you have noted, I find that from my experiences, that it has always been necessary for Blacks to rally, march and/or demostrate to bring attention to the the poor and shallow treatment that people of color have received in this country. As you have stated, even though monies have been a necessary component of these rallies/marches, the most important concept that we as a Black community must realize is that it was the actual organization of one people for a common cause. Back in the day when I actively participated in the rallies/marches, of the Civil Rights Movement; there was not a fear of Blacks handling large sums of money because for the most part, those participating were poor or on the lower end of the economic scale.
What racist White America feared was the organization, the unity and the peacefulness with which these protests were carried out. It was only then that Blacks became a real threat to the ideology of racism. If we paid attention to the history of Blacks in this country, we would recognize that it was only when Blacks organized in protests that Whites felt the need to put an end to these marches. In earlier protest marches, this is why we would see Blacks attacked with hoses, sticks, dogs and bullets. Part of the theory of racism is that as long as the Black community was divided, there was never any fear of these marches actually accomplishing anything.
As you stated, bail was not paid for Mychal Bell because if we all were paying attention to the events surrounding this case, we should all know that there was no bail to be paid. Blacks gave generously to help pay for legal fees and help the families of the Jena Six. If you recall, Mychal’s father was fired from his job, which caused even greater hardships on the family.
As Mr. Robinson states, that once the recognition of a better world is realized, it is difficult to forget that we have caught a glimpse of that world, even if it is not handed over to us right away. Whites also realize this and that is why Black organization frightens them. Our responsibility after these marches/rallies is that we should always keep our eyes on the prize and strategically plan and implement ways of obtaining it.
As Dr. Hotep indicates, action after the march is where our concentration must lie. After Jena Six, and having witnessed the harsh reactions from racist America, we cannot return to a dormant state now. We must continue to move forward until our dream is realized and obtained.