Taking center stage this week was Governor Nikki Haley, who announced on her Facebook page, “It is a new day in South Carolina, a day we can all be proud of, a day that truly brings us all together as we continue to heal, as one people and one state.” Eclipsing Haley in the news headlines was fellow Republican and State Representative Jenny Horne, who declared tearfully, “I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds.”
“I think it is extremely important,” said Cullors. But only “as long as we are making clear that this movement is ‘leader-ful,’ and that there are many many heroes.” There is a danger that in focusing so strongly on Newsome’s impressive background, we end up demanding purity from all others. For example, African-American victims of police brutality have especially been routinely examined under a microscope, while the barest whiff of anything less than perfection has been turned into justifications of violence upon their person: Dajerria Becton was “no saint,” Mike Brown was “no angel,” and Trayvon Martin was an “aggressive” pot smoker. Cullors asserted that “we can’t allow for ‘respectability politics’ to dictate how we have this conversation” on race and racism.
In fact, contrary to the glorified history of the civil rights struggle, many activists have begun reviving the idea of armed self-defense. While that was popularized by militant black liberation movements like the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, there are roots in earlier Black American history, as demonstrated by a recent book by Akinyele Omowale Umoja entitled, “We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement.”
“Every human being has the right to defend themselves. Do I think they should defend themselves with a gun? We have our own rights so folks can make those decisions but really, at the end of the day, our communities have to think about self-defense,” she said. “We have also seen some of the most powerful non-violent actions around the country that have also be part of defending ourselves.”
Activists, tired of waiting for politicians to really take on their issues, have worked hard to agitate from below. They have done as much with intense organizing in cities like Ferguson, Baltimore, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and others. As we come upon the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Mike Brown by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, there is much to mourn and celebrate. However, the only changes thus far have been symbolic, or cosmetic, rather than real.
It is up to citizens and social movements to organize and push for meaningful and significant transformation of American society that dismantles institutionalized and structural racism in the country.
Sonali Kolhatkar is the host and executive producer of Uprising, a daily radio program at KPFK Pacifica Radio. She is also the Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission, a U.S.-based nonprofit that supports women’s rights activists in Afghanistan and co-author of “Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence.”
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.
Donate
1 Comment
Al Jazeera ran a recent article about members of the Huey Newton Gun Club (Black Panthers) conducting organized armed maneuvers in Dallas TX. The members are encouraging everyone to LEGALLY purchase and carry a weapon. The organization has explicitly stated that the purpose of this arming is resistance against oppressive law enforcement. I have posed the question many times, “If a 280 pound cop is beating a 120 pound woman to death, is shooting the cop considered self defense?”. I think the Huey Newton Gun Club has come up with an answer.