#NNPA BlackPress

FISHER: 2019 is the Year of Legitimate Discontent – let’s get to work!

THE NEW TRI-STATE DEFENDER — The fruit of structural racism is the standardizing of white mediocrity and the suppression of black creative excellence. And we deserve full, equitable, inclusion into the society we have helped to shape, build and sustain. Until that goal is achieved, we must obtain and maintain a maladjustment to the injustice that continues to be normalized.

Published

5 years ago

January 5, 2019

Oakland Post

By Rev. Dr. Earle J. Fisher, Special to The New Tri-State Defender

In August of 1619 the first enslaved Africans arrived on the shores of America in Jamestown, Va. Two hundred years later in 1819, the city of Memphis (named after Memphis, Egypt) was founded. As we enter 2019 and commemorate the quadricentennial of Africans in America and the bicentennial of Memphis, TN, one thread of consistency is stitched through the fabric of our history.

Race still matters.

It is fair to ask one to speak of the progress that has been made in the country and the city of Memphis in the past 400 and 200 years, respectively. What might be more prudent to ask – and difficult to discuss – is this: Are we where we should be?

If I stick a knife in your back nine inches and take it out six, is that progress? The implication is, ‘No!’ – Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz)

Progress is a relative term. Malcolm X said, “If I stick a knife in your back nine inches and take it out six, is that progress?” The implication is, “No!”

Our appeals to a disassociated type of “progress” are diversions from weightier matters of accountability, justice and equity. They require, especially people of color, to yield to the sprinkles of tokenism and exceptionalism that serve as a demand for conformity, complacency and cowardice. It is a demand to be satisfied with crumbs.

Have things changed? Absolutely. Are things better for people of color than they were 400 or 200 years ago? In some ways, yes.

However, issues of segregation, poverty, exclusion, exploitation, miseducation and other forms of injustice continue to disproportionally impact people of color.

In his book “The Education of a Black Radical” the Honorable Judge D’Army Bailey wrote of the 1960’s something that rings true in the present.

‘Negroes who claim to be satisfied with the present situation fall into one of three categories. One, they are either too scared or they haven’t got enough sense; or two, they are making more profit from (the current situation) than they would from (a more inclusive and progressive one), and they like living in a luscious jail; or three, they’re lying to themselves and everyone around them.’
Judge D’Army Bailey, “The Education of a Black Radical”

“Negroes who claim to be satisfied with the present situation fall into one of three categories,” wrote Bailey.

“One, they are either too scared or they haven’t got enough sense; or two, they are making more profit from (the current situation) than they would from (a more inclusive and progressive one), and they like living in a luscious jail; or three, they’re lying to themselves and everyone around them.”

So, what do we deserve? And how do we obtain it?

We deserve much more than crumbs and bare necessities.

The fruit of structural racism is the standardizing of white mediocrity and the suppression of black creative excellence. And we deserve full, equitable, inclusion into the society we have helped to shape, build and sustain. Until that goal is achieved, we must obtain and maintain a maladjustment to the injustice that continues to be normalized.

Mediocrity requires that we be content with basic, bare-minimum access and inclusion. Thus, we are asked to celebrate incremental improvements in wages, minority contracting, access to public funding for education and healthcare. Meanwhile, poverty rates, infant mortality rates and wage gaps remain amongst the highest in the country.

We deserve better.

The foundational principle we must embrace to obtain what we deserve is the full-throated demand and support of black empowerment. We deserve to thrive. And Memphis (nor this country) will ever be all it can be until we embrace the full affirmation of those who make up the majority of Memphis and Shelby County.

Race. Still. Matters.

I recall the evocation of Dr. King’s name in 2018 during the events surrounding #MLK50. What I do not remember hearing is that we must reclaim in 2019 King’s phrase from his famous, “I Have A Dream” speech.

Said King: “The sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.”

Ida B. Wells once wrote, “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”

Here’s the truth: our discontent is legit.

This is not a denial of any accomplishments. This is the acknowledgment of their inadequacies.

King, Wells and other venerable ancestors did not dismiss the factual plight of people of color despite certain forms of social and political advancement. Nor did they revoke the cries of the poor and disenfranchised as race-baiting ingrates. Their demand is that we obtain and maintain what we deserve.

This is what I commit to demand and work towards in 2019 and 2020.

When it comes to matters of truth, love and justice, I am an unapologetic extremist. This year – 2019 – cannot be the year of piecemealed, milquetoast appeals for more gradualism. Not if we hope to be great.

And I believe our greatness – the fullness of our potential – is what we deserve.

Let’s get to work.

Clearly, it’s now or never.

This article originally appeared in The New Tri-State Defender.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Cory Booker Reportedly Close to Announcing White House Bid

Don't Miss

Retirement signals new phase for Judge Dorse

Oakland Post

Click to comment

#NNPA BlackPress

IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, activist Ramona Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.
The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Once upon a time, Black Americans were simply known as colored people, or Negroes. That is until Ramona Edelin came along. The activist, renowned for her pivotal roles in advancing civil rights, education reform, and community empowerment, died at her D.C. residence last month at the age of 78. Her death, finally confirmed this week by Barnaby Towns, a communications strategist who collaborated with Dr. Edelin, was attributed to cancer.

Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.

Edelin’s contributions to academia and activism were manifold. She was pivotal in popularizing the term “African American” alongside Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in the late 1980s.

Jackson had announced the preference for “African American,” speaking for summit organizers that included Dr. Edelin. “Just as we were called Colored, but were not that, and then Negro, but not that, to be called Black is just as baseless,” he said, adding that “African American” “has cultural integrity” and “puts us in our proper historical context.”

Later, Edelin told Ebony magazine, “Calling ourselves African Americans is the first step in the cultural offensive,” while linking the name change to a “cultural renaissance” in which Black Americans reconnected with their history and heritage.

“Who are we if we don’t acknowledge our motherland?” she asked later. “When a child in a ghetto calls himself African American, immediately he’s international. You’ve taken him from the ghetto and put him on the globe.”

The HistoryMakers bio noted that Edelin’s academic pursuits led her to found and chair the Department of African American Studies at Northeastern University, where she established herself as a leading voice.

Transitioning from academia to advocacy, Edelin joined the National Urban Coalition in 1977, eventually ascending to president and CEO. During her tenure, she spearheaded initiatives such as the “Say Yes to a Youngster’s Future” program, which provided crucial support in math, science, and technology to youth and teachers of color in urban areas. Her biography noted that Edelin’s efforts extended nationwide through partnerships with organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Education.

President Bill Clinton recognized Edelin’s expertise by appointing her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1998. She also co-founded and served as treasurer of the Black Leadership Forum, solidifying her standing as a respected leader in African American communities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Edelin dedicated herself to numerous boards and committees, including chairing the District of Columbia Educational Goals 2000 Panel and contributing to the Federal Advisory Committee for the Black Community Crusade for Children.

Throughout her life, Edelin received widespread recognition for her contributions. Ebony magazine honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, and she received prestigious awards such as the Southern Christian Leadership Award for Progressive Leadership and the IBM Community Executive Program Award.

The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

Posts by Stacy M. Brown

#NNPA BlackPress

Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.
The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its board, a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance.

Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

Posts by Stacy M. Brown

#NNPA BlackPress

Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy

May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …
The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.