Seattle will be okay for Sanders
Last edited Sun Aug 9, 2015, 12:02 PM - Edit history (6)
if we make it so. People may not like this or listen, but I've got something to say.
Fellow Bernie supporters and BLM non-black allies, if you are wondering, "Why aren't they protesting HRC or the GOP candidates?" or "This is a Soros funded conspiracy" or "Bernie has the best civil rights record" or "this just hurts the BLM movement and Sanders," or "how dare they call liberals or progressives racists," then stop it, please. Doing this hurts Bernie Sander's campaign and lets the wedge be driven in that will harm us all. We Sanders supporters must make it a priority to understand and listen to young Black activists in this country, no matter what their tactics. We must be knowledgeable and then walk the walk (not just the talk) better than the supporters of any other candidate. Why? Because it is on us to skillfully take advantage of this publicity to fight for justice and equality, to learn and understand, and form a more perfect union. If we do that, Sanders will win.
I'm asking everyone not familiar with the concept to learn about WHITE FRAGILITY and also to reflect on the state of emergency Black America is in right now.
(*Edited below after rewatching and listening to the video*)
Who gives a shit if Marissa Jenae called white progressives 'racists' in Seattle? Really? White ppl are going to get upset about an insulting name while their Black neighbors are getting unjustly killed and imprisoned at rates much higher than average? Maybe getting upset is what we need. Maybe getting off our asses and rolling up our sleeves is what we need. A few vocal people in that crowd booed at those two young Black women. But if we feel critical of her words, if her tactics and emotions were so misguided, then, like enlightened progressives why don't we rise above? Bernie supporters are a smart, caring group, some of them more mature and older than her. A lot of them just listened non-violently. Now that's powerful too. HRC folks don't have this opportunity at their events because from what I can tell, these same activists have already given up on her.
I'm not going to talk about what those women did. Rather, if liberals are so wonderful -- then we should damn well act like it. We should create the America we want to see, right now. The truth of how really caring and skilled progressives are is coming to the surface and we have to prove our vision of ourselves. We have to prove we care by actually doing something to change our criminal justice system, to stop the next incident of Police brutality. How f'ing long to Black people have to wait? Why not think of what *we* can do, rather than what these activists *should* do? We only have control over our behavior and speech.
Do you know, what MLK wrote in "Why We Can't Wait" that his greatest disappointment was? It was the passive silence of white progressives, the lack of action by white clergy. As a white progressive, ally of BLM and Bernie Sanders supporter, I've found it's not just about what's right in your MIND, it's what you actually DO that convinces people you are on their side. There's a big step between feeling SMUG, and putting your ass on the line for someone other than yourself.
Just today we have a really weak and embarrassing example of stupid words. Try reading this as if you were a family member of Sandra Bland or Eric Garner http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/09/1410125/--BowDownBernie-No-GrowUpBLM
and you'll see how self-satisfied, "you people should wait" condescending and infuriating it sounds. To a Mom mourning a son or daughter it is just words, just White tears, unreflective White fragility BS, and it's sickeningly ignorant when compared to the scale of suffering and racism rampant in this country.
Bernie supporters, and I count myself among them (I've donated $$ and have my bumpersticker and am in my local campaign), what we do and say now really matters. I urge you not to attack people, accuse them, or think there is a conspiracy. Some courage is called for, some actively getting out of our comfort zones and regular routines and media, to find out as much as possible about BLM and Outside Agitators, and to make JUSTICE and EQUALITY more important than our own egos or fears that Sanders might not win. He will win. This is our golden chance to make an effort to reach out, listen, to exercise patience and generosity.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Agreed.
and maybe you'll get actual readers. 
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"That was then, this is now"!
If Bernie doesn't deserve any respect for his civil rights
work in the 40's and 50's, why should there be "white tears"
for their lack of opportunity back then? 
First of all, I think Bernie can "handle it", I just don't think he should HAVE to handle it. I disagree
profoundly with on the issue of "respect"- Respect ALWAYS matters, imo, and you can be assured that few
if any, will listen to your or your message, however just, if you do NOT address them with basic respect.
You seem to feel certain groups who have past and/or present grievances, deserve a 'pass' on that.
I do not, and judging by this thread, most here do not either.
As to "modeling" values...That's already being done, by most in white AND black communities.
Sorry, but it seems a rather lame suggestion.
If you forgive me I'll bring cookies next time. 
the same unproductive behavior over and over, and expecting a different result.
We progressive Bernie supporters, of all races, genders, and sexual orientations, believe that one thing we can do to help prevent African Americans from being abused and murdered by psycho cops, and improve their social and economic conditions, is to get Bernie elected to the Presidency.
We can unite and do our best to nominate and elect a sincere, concerned President who actually gets that black lives matter, and who actually cares about the systemic racism and economic and social injustice that have been inflicted upon African Americans and other, and who will actually make every effort to do something about it.
Non African Americans cannot presume to lead African American movements for justice and equality. Even if we are of another minority, we haven't lived the black experience. African Americans can lead, and the rest of us can follow, as long as they explicitly tell us what they would like us to do. If African Americans do not explicitly tell us what they would like us to do to help, and we have no intrinsic knowledge basis for leadership in AA movements, we are all left here wanting to help. but not knowing how to help.
You mentioned that these two young leaders of BLM in Seattle were "passionate, inexperienced young firebrands". Passionate, inexperienced young firebrands do not make good leaders. The have tendency to walk off of cliffs, not watching where they are going while looking up at the sky, taking those who follow them off the cliff with them.
As an activist, I recognize and respect the effectiveness of disrupting political rallies to get a point across. However, when doing so, it is important to make it perfectly clear that you do not have nefarious partisan political ulterior motives when making your case. BLM leaders at NN made a serious mistake by disrupting an event that did not include Hillary Clinton. They irreparably damaged the credibility of their movement by making it appear that their action could have been one of political partisanship rather than purely to make the case that we all need to be aware of the desperate conditions that exist, and take action to solve them.
Like it or not, assuming the motives of BLM's leadership are singular and sincere, the leadership of BLM has very seriously fucked up by tainting the general public's view of their credibility, and have left themselves wide open to accusations of maliciously using a very important and righteous cause to attempt to damage Bernie Sander's reputation and campaign, and shill for Hillary Clinton, in an effort to help Clinton win the nomination.
The leadership of BLM has made a very serious error, and continues to err by only disrupting the events of one candidate, while at the same time basically ignoring past racist words and actions of Hillary Clinton while aimlessly flailing away at a candidate who clearly has, at the very least, sincerely attempted to support justice and equality for African Americans for several decades.
And no matter what they do from here on out, BLM will never be able get this toothpaste back in the tube. They have made the motivation for their activism legitimately suspect, and continue to do so.
Wise leadership would do damage control starting right now, and help restore BLM credibility, and could help this movement become a focused, effective, constructive force for significant positive change. But there does not appear to be another MLK on the horizon right now, and I doubt BLM would pay attention to direction from a long experienced activist leader like Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
So we're all waiting, and listening, and waiting, for BLM to tell us what they'd like the rest of the world to do to help them, as many have been wondering what the plan is.
Telling us we need to vote for Hillary Clinton would be the exact wrong answer. That is the same path that has led directly off the cliff for everyone but the very wealthy, for decades. The same path that has put many African Americans in the desperate straits they are in at this time.
Voting for Hillary Clinton would continue the process of repeating the same unproductive behavior over and over, while expecting a different result.
Real progressives, of all colors, gender, and sexual orientation, didn't fall off he turnip truck yesterday. Wealthy private interests have all the money, power, and talent in the world to promote agendas and actions that serve their interests, and they do it with malicious, anti-democratic intent, every single day, early, and often, without conscience.
BLM indisputably has a righteous and legitimate cause. If they wish to restore their credibility, they would be wise to make it clear that their only purpose is to advocate and gain justice and equality for African Americans. Because it is definitely not clear to large numbers of people that this is their only agenda.
08/06/2015
snip---
Some better questions are whether #BlackLivesMatter is really anything like a peoples movement aimed at changing society and lives for the better, or is it the private vehicle of its co-creators who get to take it where they decide to go? To whom are #BlackLivesMatter's leaders accountable, and just where are they taking their “movement”? Barack Obama's 2008 campaign marketed itself as “the movement” too.
Why doesn't the #BlackLivesMatter movement, supposedly focused upon the unique needs of people of color, have any critique of the black political class, almost all Democrats, who have been key stakeholders in the building of the prison state, in gentrification and school privatization from New Orleans to Detroit and beyond, and who helped peddle the subprime mortgages to black families which exploded and cut black family wealth by nine-tenths? Have they even noticed that a black president has closed and privatized more public schools than any other in US history? For all the big words they use, do they ever mention the word “capitalism”?
There are ominous signs. Last month folks whom Alicia Garza described as “part of our team” disrupted two minor white male candidates at NetRootsNation, the annual networking event for paid and wannabe paid Democratic party activists, embarrassing them with demands over structural racism and “say her name”. If they were positioning themselves for careers inside the far-flung Democratic party apparatus, it was a smart move, because Hillary wasn't there. Hence they got noticed in that crowd of Democrat operatives without antagonizing the people with the real money and connections.
snip---
It's appropriate to wonder what a “movement” really is these days. Maybe movements nowadays are really brands, to be evoked and stoked by marketers and creators when needed. But it's hard to imagine a brand transferring the power from the wealthy to the poor. It's hard to imagine a brand being accountable to its membership, even if you could be a member of a brand. And it's impossible for a brand to prefigure, to get us ready to imagine and become the kind of people we'll need to be to build the new world after capitalism.
http://www.blackagendareport.com/wheres-the-blacklivesmatter-critique-of-black-political-class
So don't tell me to just STFU and get in line.
Show me authentic, show me real, and then tell me the plan. I need this, because I have been subjected to smoke, lies, deception, and abuse by the wealthy private interests that own hostile forces which are hostile to democracy and justice within the Democratic party for several decades. These hostile forces use vague shit to tell lies and use these lies to deceive gullible people into acting against their own interests.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251495072
