Gene Demby in Politico Magazine (here) touts the birth of a new civil rights movement. It’s for real, he says, this social justice thing that happened in 2014. He predicts it could be even more dramatic in 2015.
He doubts not that “…a loose but increasingly coordinated network of millennial activists” is networked up. “…you’d be hard pressed to find a better megaphone than Twitter,” he says. They have a broad agenda and a serious generational rift going for them. Rallies and speeches are out along with male dominated charismatic leaders. Fannie Lou Hamer/Ella Baker style participatory democracy is in. Or so a professor of social movements informed him. These Hamer/Baker inspired grassroots leaders actually made it to the White House. Inside, outside. It’s happening. “As it goes with all histories, the catalyzing moment in this social-justice revolution is hard to pin down”, Demby proclaims. --------------- Here’s the big fly in Mr. Demby’s code switch revolutionary ointment. No movement is likely to be built by polarizing off law enforcement. Not that there isn’t good cause from time to time. Brutal, inappropriate and even murderous behavior from time to time. Deaths of innocents even. But change is not going to be delivered by Twitter and, I suspect, no one would have nailed this faster than Fannie Lou Hamer and Ella Baker. In the real world, polarizing off law enforcement benefits three players: attention seekers (amateur or professionals like Sharpton), media (streaming compelling images that drive market share), and opportunist practitioners of backlash politics (in defense of law enforcement). Millenial sensibilities notwithstanding, these interests predominate. Perhaps more important, the vast majority of residents, whether poor or middle class, want law enforcement to successfully combat crime. This determinative reality undercuts “movement building” targeting officers of the law. Real, careful on the ground organizing - agitating, listening, learning, educating, challenging, negotiating, compromising and holding accountable - is what alters systemic relationships and delivers change. There is no alternative to this hard, risky, disciplined work. Frank C. Pierson, Jr
2 Comments
Hermi Cubillos
1/12/2015 11:51:40 am
You are right. Look what happened to the 99%...it went no where. Organizing is the only way to make changes. It takes time and discipline. Need to go deep and methodical.
Kathy Partridge
1/13/2015 03:26:14 am
I'd add how many of the identified and effective new leaders have roots with labor, broad-based organizing, community organizing, or campus organizing. Much of the work is being carried out by existing community organizations. Just as the Civil Rights era activists had training, mentors and organizers. There is a myth of spontaneous upheaval that doesn't serve long term change. Leave a Reply. |
Frank C. Pierson, Jr.Frank Pierson retired after forty years of work with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) as a professional organizer. He began his career in 1971 in Chicago, moved to Queens, New York City and migrated west to work in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado. He resides with his wife, Mary Ellen Kazda, in Oracle, Arizona. He may be reached at [email protected] Archives
June 2018
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