Governance for Black America part 2 – National Black Caucus

In a previous post I mentioned a need for representation of the Black community on the local and national political stages.

Establish a national Black Caucus. I know there is a congressional caucus that is looking at the representing the interests of the African American community however, I am proposing an expansion or a separate entity. The remit would be calling our prominent figures that are doing things that are counterproductive to change, prosperity and/or progression within the community. We would manage public relations of national community issues – sending representatives to rally locals and improve media portrayal of the community. We would prepare local political candidates to represent the community and create local caucuses to help them address the issues prevalent in their own communities. It would be a coming together of local and national leaders.

To be more specific I think the remit of the caucus could be:

* making “community call outs” on any prominent figures – local, nationally, or internationally – who are doing or saying things that are counterproductive to change, prosperity and progression.
* manage image of the Black community in the media
* manage community issues before they become national statistics and fodder for stereotyping
* sending consultants to communities to help in times of crisis (public relations, organizing, creating strategic actions plans for change led by local leaders)
* sending consultants to communities where leaders appeal to the caucus for assistance
* training of local community on change management, building community resources, and training local “champions” to manage local political processes
* aiding in ensuring there is equal political representation and policing in communities where Black people dominate the population (to start)
* re establishing town hall meetings as a means of addressing local issues and manage them independently
* building of funds to fund community interventions
– financial drives: possibly local drives to address their own issues
– National drives: appeals to organizations and representation for national crisis fund

As I’ve said, we have all the talent and ability to unite and do better. Having a national voice is part of it but listening to local voices is the bulk of it. Let’s build on what we have to increase what we have.

 

I have a responsibility to Black America…

As a Social Worker, I am committed to social justice. However, as I have always been on the frontline doing day to day work with individuals and families, I left political intervention and macro social work to others. I have spent too much time thinking and feeling that someone would come along and help improve the state of Black America. I will not stay silent any longer. We have spent too much time having the same conversations ending with the same list of demands that will never be achieved; and they won’t be achieved because they are unrealistic. As a 33 year old woman of color, I have heard these demands but I am more concerned with creating our system of justice than I am with getting others to amend theirs to suit the needs of my community. The Black community in America needs to:

• Stop believing anyone owes us anything. If this is true for individuals trying to succeed in a chosen career, why isn’t it true of a community? How many oppressed peoples sit back waiting for their oppressors to correct the system of oppression they created for their own benefit? I am aware that the government promised 40 acres and a mule. I have read that this was passed but subsequently repealed. What I am not clear on is why we continue to expect people who don’t even see us as human beings to honor a promise that was quickly repealed? It gave with one hand and took it back with the other. Have these demands for a repealed “promise” prove productive or prosperous for us? No. What it has done is keep us locked into poverty and a slave mentality. It is no longer a valid argument and we do ourselves no justice trying to change a system built to deny. We need to move on and forward.
• Stop addressing each other as n***ers or any variation of the word. The argument is that by using it we take the power away from the word. The truth is that argument is a blatant lie. What we’ve done is give others not only permission but license to use that diminutive word without any context to its damaging nature. The truth is, I doubt anyone who uses this word (besides those who aren’t people of color) would feel so confident as to walk away from a Caucasian person using this word. The truth is, if they heard this shouted when they were out on their own in the middle of Mississippi, they wouldn’t bother sticking around for an explanation. As long as the word precedes an attack on my person, either physically or verbally, it is unacceptable. Period. We need to stop using the word and stop accepting it from others. We are better than that.
• Establish a national Black Caucus. I know there is a congressional caucus that is looking at the representing the interests of the African American community however, I am proposing an expansion or a separate entity. The remit would be calling our prominent figures that are doing things that are counterproductive to change, prosperity and/or progression within the community. We would manage public relations of national community issues – sending representatives to rally locals and improve media portrayal of the community. We would prepare local political candidates to represent the community and create local caucuses to help them address the issues prevalent in their own communities. It would be a coming together of local and national leaders.
• Stop believing violence is the answer. Stop threatening violence and learn to address community issues with strategic action. Violence and attacks only perpetuate the stereotype that we are “animals” in need of containment and control.
• Local lobby for fair and appropriate representation in communities where we are the majority. We need to work with our young people to help them understand and get into politics. We need to support our own who want to get into politics. We need to support those with track records of supporting or being involved in initiatives that address local concerns. We need to understand politics and the dynamics of representation on a larger scale.
• Get our young people involved. We need to get our economists, political science majors, policy makers involved in local government early. Create local internships and fellowships etc so they are talking, strategizing and creating actions plans to move forward locally.
• Take notes from other communities on building and circulating wealth within the community. We continue to need educating on finance. Not only on the use of money, credit and the like, but also on investments, financial planning, equity and other issues. We need to build up the work ethic and sense of community/communal assistance. We need to own more and to be educated on how to do this so that we hold on to it. We need to know more about possible tax breaks, write offs and rebates for volunteer work, pro-bono work etc.
• Take responsibility for our own wealth and prosperity. We need to stop relying on “others” to move our community forward on a local level. There are many national programs looking at the bigger picture but we need to empower the “impoverished” so they learn to help themselves. Stop being so comfortable with “others” buying in our neighborhoods when we own nothing. Stop blaming anyone accept ourselves for our lack of progress because in truth we haven’t done all we can do. Start accepting the responsibility to ourselves, to each other and to our communities.
• Teach and accept social responsibility. We need to help our children and young people with work experience in their own neighborhoods first and foremost, encourage volunteerism from a young age as a means of community building, developing social skills and local pride, and developing employable skills. We need to make local investments in restorative justice and reparations to discourage crime and rebuild what has been broken. We need to, as adults, model this behaviour for our children and volunteer to help each other and each other’s children.
• Understand that if we want change we have to create it. We can’t depend on our oppressors to help us progress. No one will give us anything we haven’t taken. Discussions are important but only as predecessors to action which will facilitate change.

 

Less Talk About Racism, More Talk About Policy

I have been thinking the same thing. There needs to be less of the same old conversations and more strategizing and action to make changes – in addition to policy. Many are saying it; now we just need to get together and make it happen.

Social Justice Solutions

I will go out on the limb here and say more talk about racism will do little to change the plight of the good citizens of Ferguson or the poor and middle class in this country in the near term.   What is needed is more talk about policy.  …

Full Story @ http://sjs.li/1o68BL3
#Ferguson, #Racism

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Please stop with the “reverse racism” crap

I am going to say this quite clearly. There is no such thing as reverse racism. Racism is racism no matter where it is coming from or where it is going. “Reverse” means “the opposite of” and the opposite of racism is what? Think people. I hate hearing this. What makes it even worse is the fact that it is spouted by non-minorities when they think they are trying to help or are exhibiting behaviour they view as showing that they are on our side. It is not reverse racism. In some instances it is racism, blatantly. Not all “Black” people wish to be white. Not all “Black” people value light/fair skin, straight hair or narrow noses. Not all “Black” people like Caucasians. Some of us are happy just as we are. There are just as many “Black” people who do not favour Caucasians as there are Caucasians who don’t favour “Black” people. And don’t misunderstand, any Brown person or person of colour is despised however, there seems to be a particular distaste for the darker shades of brown. The other cultures of people with brown skin are the lesser evils because although they have insular cultures that support themselves, they still allow the pseudo-majority to feel superior (for the most part – of course not everyone fits this mold).

However, there are other times when it isn’t racism at all. It is actually a frustration stemming from a non-ethnic view that you can somehow relate in any way to our experience. As much as we may appreciate your efforts and your contributions to overcoming the struggle, you will never have an anecdotal story that will ever compare to the ingrained and entrenched institutional biases we have to overcome on a daily basis. If you want to help, just be yourself. Empathise with us, absolutely. Try to understand what we go through and be part of the solution, absolutely. But the kindest thing you can do is to recognise that you will never know what it is like to be thought of as beneath everyone no matter how prestigious the schools, no matter how high your grades, no matter how hard you work (but don’t rub it in our faces, we already know it well). You have a privilege that will never be extended to us. You have a standing in the larger societal view that will forgive you for everything you do, always. You hold a status in the world context that means you can experience the world without fear. We hold no such delusions. Unless we are lucky we are not taught to love ourselves from day one. It is something we learn. It is something we can only learn from each other.

Can Caucasians be victims of racism? I would say categorically no because they hold a privilege that allows them to rise above everything. They also hold a majority standing that means they are granted anything. Can you know real racism if you are in the population that benefits from it? I am not sure but I don’t think so.

Can they be victims of racially insensitive comments and stereotypes? Yes, they can. They can, most certainly, be victims of the institution they created. The difference between racism and racial insensitivity, in my mind, is the effects. Racism can keep me from thriving, can cost me my life, can keep me from getting a job, or accessing certain services. Racially insensitive comments and stereotypes may hurt your feelings but that’s about as far as it will go. It seems to be a bit crass, but it is absolutely the truth.

I don’t want you to think I am a racist. I absolutely am not. What I am, is someone who is honest about the world in which I exist and the effects of the things inflicted upon me. I am thought little of by the ruling majority. I am thought little of by other people of color. I am thought little of by my own. And that is just as a “Black” person. As a “Black woman”, I am not even respected, at times, by anyone. I am viewed as an oversexed, glorified mattress and portrayed in the media as though my skin isn’t beautiful (although the products that people of colour have been using for ages to keep our skin so lovely is now being marketed to the ruling majority), as though my hair is something to be hated and drastically changed on a cellular level. I wouldn’t change my skin. I have learned to love my hair and have always loved my curves (even on my nose). I believe everyone, no matter the race should feel the same.

I genuinely feel that all men/women are equal by virtue of the fact that we are all humans. I don’t begrudge anyone their happiness as long as it doesn’t infringe upon the happiness and well-being of others. I believe people have to do what is best for them; that which will allow them to thrive. I enjoy getting to know people, and having friends from a wide range of backgrounds but this will not diminish my love of or respect for “Black” people.

 

Being a Woman of Colour from America in London

As a woman of colour, I believe to a certain extent people of colour from around the world can understand the struggle that accompanies not being in the so called majority. However, I think there are lines in the sand in terms of understanding what this means in context for an American. There are places in my own country to which I would not venture and although slavery has been over for 150 years there are still people who believe I am less than a human being.

I am not saying racism isn’t present in London, quite the contrary. It is alive and well despite what people think. It is just hidden behind this polite disgust and quite ignoring of others. In the USA there is no such courtesy. Racism is in your face. People will blatantly tell you where you don’t belong and ask you to leave. People will tell you they don’t accept your kind. The differences in the way racism is manifested makes conversations about race and the effects of racism difficult. As you know, any argument where one party does not understand the context of argument of the other party is difficult.

We are judged everyday based on the colour of our skin. Before a word is spoken, there is already a set of assumptions bounding about. In parts of the country civilian racial crimes are common place. Everywhere in the country we are dealt with more harshly by the criminal justice system than Caucasians. This is just based on the colour of our skin. No race or ethnicity is more degraded than ours. We are the only race/ethnicity that openly belittles ourselves and do not raise a potent enough alarm when we are belittled by others. We are the only community that does not provide for our own. The only ones who haven’t created a niche for ourselves so we are relatively self sustaining. We are the only ones who are openly reliant on those who have oppressed us to rescue us from their oppression. We have been systematically destroyed and invasively removed from the rich heritage that built our foundation. We are not united.

You would think a community of people of colour would be sensitive to each other and help each other to grow. But, that is not reality. You can have an entire community of people of colour and you wouldn’t have a melting pot, you would have a salad bowl – yes we are all in the same place but totally different. There is no common ground reached.

Having lived in London for over 6 years now, I am happy to call myself a woman of colour. I moved away from African American after about 5 years of the following scenario.

Random person of colour in London: What are you?
Me: I’m African American.
Random person of colour in London: Oh, where are your parents from?
Me: America.
Random person of colour in London: But, where’s your family from originally?
Me: The southern states of America
Random person of colour in London: No, I mean before they got to America.
Me: {awkward silence as I realise the context of slavery has not seeped in} I don’t know.

More awkward silence before the conversation is changed to something a lot more mundane.

A while back I came out to all my friends and family (on Facebook) openly stating that I will not tolerate the use of the “n” word in my presence. I just cannot tolerate it. I don’t like it in music. It makes me cringe when I hear kids using it to refer to each other. It makes me feel minimally homicidal when I hear Hispanic children not only using but justifying the use by changing the letters with a misguided view (fuelled by rap which is controlled and distributed by “the majority”) that this somehow makes it less offensive and reduces my urge to staple their lips shut. How many of them actually go around yelling “yo, what’s good spic”? Answer, none of them.

Now, having been in London for 6 years, which has also been infected by the genetic mutation that is todays rap, I am hearing young Asian children (Pakistani, Afghani, etc.) singing along to the lyrics in my face with no sense as to why they shouldn’t. Now, would these children walk around calling each other “rag heads” or “pakis”? Answer, absolutely not.

I am going to say this, not to offend but because it is the absolute truth. This past Halloween, someone thought it was a good idea to dress up as a young Black teenager who was unjustly murdered and his murderer. What’s next? Going as your sister’s aborted fetus? Because that is just as disgusting, distasteful and disrespectful. Where has our concept of morality and human sensitivity gone? Or is it that we are just so irrelevant the “majority junkies” feel nothing us?

I hate the impact that popular music has had on the younger generation because I hate the casually stated yet harmful messages it sends.

I don’t want to talk about race if you’re not going to make an effort to understand why things bother me. But then, could you even empathise if my experience doesn’t mirror your own? I don’t want you to tell me that I need to get over it. I don’t want to hear that it doesn’t matter when young Black men are dying and being brutalised at the hands of those whose job it is to “serve and protect”. I don’t want to talk to you if you have no concept of the experience of those referred to as “Black” in the USA. Please don’t speak to me. Why? Because it matters; it all matters. Slavery matters. The fact that my history is regulated to a month is offensive. The fact that I cannot be proud of who I am without being labelled an extremist or a racist is offensive. The fact that you think you should weigh in on an issue you don’t understand is offensive. The fact that I can’t talk to you and feel as though I am talking to someone who will at least make an attempt to empathise is disheartening.

“Black history” in American schools is consigned to a month of majority approved headliners to make us feel good for the shortest month of the year then drops us back into reality with our history in America shoved into two sessions about slavery. If not that then you spend the majority of your school years learning about how great these majority rulers are that built the country (which tells nothing of whose backs they were stepping on to reach so high) then go to college to find an abbreviated history taught by people who look nothing like you; unless, you’re lucky enough to have one of those professors who are not afraid to tell you the truth. But by then you’re like the rest of us, completely indoctrinated into believe the ideal is the American dream and the only way to get there is to be one of the unassuming ones because if you make too much noise they will find a way to discredit you. Or you get in, play the game, get to a place where they can’t touch you and start screaming. That works for me. I’ve done my time as one of the masses. I can make an independent living without needing, but thanks to, that foot in the door.

Being me in a land of people of colour with a solid connection to their ethnic roots is hard. Explaining why I am the way I am in this world is hard. Explaining who I am and how I got here is hard, but I am so much more comfortable with it because I have learned to love how loud I can be.