Bernie Sanders
In reply to the discussion: If you are willing to hear the BLM grievances [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)The BLM demonstration could have been much more productive had it been given more time and not taken time from the speeches of the candidates. I never got to hear what O'Malley said about other issues, and there are other issues.
I say this as one who learned how to organize and solve social problems first from my father who was a social worker and minister and second from, and you will find this ironic, working with African-Americans, especially my boss, an African-American woman who was an expert at organizing and non-profit management and winning support for the fight against racism.
Also, the BLM movement has demonstrated a lot. I think it needs to make its list of concrete, actionable proposals clearer and begin to focus more energy on that.
Expressing frustration is important, but it won't change anything unless it is turned into a plan for action and then once there is a plan for action approaches of various kinds to the people who can make the plans reality -- politicians now serving and politicians running for office.
Sanders and O'Malley did not cause the racism in this country. And at this time, while they are in a position to take a stance on racism and I'm sure they would appreciate positive input from BLM and other Black groups on how to frame their stances, they are not in a position to do anything about it.
BLM needs to put much more pressure on Congress and the sitting President, and they need to have positive proposals to present. That takes schmoozing and not just screaming.
BLM is good at protesting, but I have not seen them selling a message that is positive well.
Essentially if you want change, if you want to get people to support your project and help make solutions to your problem the reality, you have to approach it like a salesman would or like a grant-writer would. (I did grant-writing for a project that mostly served black, homeless men. My boss was a Black woman who was great and effective at activism.)
You state the need clearly. BLM does that well. And then you state your general goal, your plan and programs or policies that will help reach that goal. And then you set out measurable specific very concrete goals you plan to meet and set forth precisely how you will measure your progress toward those goals. These steps can be modified to fit the current BLM issues.
BLM is defining the needs very well. But it is vague when it comes to proposing how to meet those needs.
People on DU have some good ideas. But BLM needs to propose how to change things and then present those proposals to the candidates in its own voice but in a manner so that the rest of us can hear the response.
I think that a lot of African-American movements have done this well. I learned as an adult from African-Americans. The proof that the BLM demonstration was not very effective was that it clearly was perceived as not quite the right thing at the right time by so many DUers.
I wish the BLM group good luck in their work, but they need to learn from experienced organizers. I read a post today on DU by Luminous Animal that was excellent. She has a great background in organizing.
If you are offending people who are on your side but may not be fully aware of your issues and ideas, you are doing something wrong. Strengthen you ties with your friends and enlist them to help you fight the wrongs. Don't offend potential allies until you know they are working against you. The BLM people probably did not offend Bernie or O'Malley, but they risked offending other potential friends and provided ammunition to racists although that was not their goal. Creating the appearance of a rift between your group and groups that could support you, could be your allies, is not a good idea. You need all the friends you can get. Don't sacrifice principles. Win potential friends to your principles. You want to have a voice in case either O'Malley or Bernie win the White House and either of them could.
And yes, as I said, I learned a lot from my African-American boss. She was a really effective saleswoman. I sometimes was amazed watching her in action. Fortunately, I allowed myself to be talked down to and taught by someone with more experience who happened to be wise and of another race. That is a good thing for all of us to do. We need to learn from each other and not be offended when others with more experience tell us how to do things better.