Civil Rights Movement 2.0
"Without contraries is no progression." William Blake
Once upon a time, not so long ago, Black folks---and Latinos and Natives and Asians were stuck. In the game of life, they could never pass Go and never collect $200, because they could not vote. When the nation tried to give them the vote, in the aftermath of the Civil War, enterprising whites came up with ways to keep them from casting their vote or to keep their vote from counting if it was cast. Poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation---these were the tools white men used to maintain their white privilege.
In World War II, U.S. Blacks were asked to die for their country, to defend the right of other people to participate in a democratic form of government. But when they came home, their country still denied them the vote. They were voiceless in the arena of politics. And so, they opened a new dialogue, in the streets, in the nation's newspapers, on the evening news. They stood their ground when police turned fire hoses on them. The endured attacks by police dogs. They were attacked, beaten, killed---
And the human face of their suffering awakened a sense of recognition among people far away, who had never (in their own lifetimes) been subject to such oppression but who could well imagine what it would feel like. And once people all across the country and world developed a sense of solidarity with the oppressed, once their voices were heard, then they got the vote.
We've lost our vote again. The same folks whose great grandparents trampled on the 15th Amendment to the Constitution are now spitting on the Voting Rights Act. Three of the last five presidential elections in this country have been stolen. If this continues, we will back in the days of Jim Crow faster than you can say "Make America Great Again."
Do not count upon anyone in the government to protect our vote. Elected politicians have themselves to think of. They have careers in office and after they retire. A few of them---say, a handful who represent safe minority districts---will speak out. But by themselves they will not be able to set the wheels of government back on the right path. No one in the Department of Justice is going to intervene. They have careers to think about. Almost anyone in a position of power to actually do something about this voting crisis has too much to lose---
Meaning that we, who have been stripped of almost everything by the greed of the Banksters are the only ones who can save ourselves. It's time to take to the streets again. Time to stage national strikes. Time for some creative street theater. Keep it peaceful, but keep it real. Do not let up the pressure. Do not take your eye off the prize. Ignore the terrorist distractions they will wave in our faces. Refuse to be divided and conquered along lines of race, age, gender, sexuality, religion. Be the Contrary that will allow our nation to Progress. Do it for our white brothers and sisters who have been duped. Do it for ourselves and for our children.
The holiday season is coming up. Consider a road trip to DC. Take the whole family. Occupy our capitol city the way we occupied Wall Street. If the news does not want to cover it, make them cover it----get creative. Get on YouTube. Get political.
"Opposition is true friendship." WB
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