Why Saying Black Lives Matter Is Not Enough
Had a really hard time picking four paragraphs:
Read more: http://www.forharriet.com/2015/10/black-women-and-bernie-sanders-why.html#ixzz3p31PWHm6
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Danielle Stevens is a California-raised, D.C.-based educator, cultural producer, and Contributing Writer for For Harriet. She has been featured on Elixher Magazine, has been heard on KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley Radio, and is the Co-Founder of This Bridge Called Our Health, a community forum for women and femmes of color of all genders to explore, develop, and imagine the infinite possibilities of healing. She is also the Director of Operations at Three Point Strategies, a Black women-led political & social justice strategy consulting firm based in D.C. You can find more about her work here and indulge in her #BlackFemmeSupremacy Facebook musings here.
To further illustrate the overlapping forms of erasure to which Black women are subjected, our sisters like 22-year old Kiesha Jenkins and 21-year old Zella Ziona continue to lose their lives to misogynist, transphobic, and gender-based violence in this country. Amongst these widespread modalities of violence and disempowerment, #BlackLivesMatter is not merely a rhetorical or theoretical concept. Uttering Sandra Bland’s name to appeal to Black voters does not make me feel like Bernie Sanders cares deeply about my livelihood as a Black woman. Ironically enough, Black women who advocate, agitate, or legislate on behalf of issues affecting our communities are often excessively scrutinized and perceived as aggressive and unrighteously self-interested, while Sander’s white liberalism affords him the social capital that rewards him for speaking on issues impacting Black women.
It is more urgent now than ever that we begin to trust and believe in the leadership and brilliance of the Black women in our communities—the same Black women who made it possible for Bernie Sanders to merely acknowledge the existence of Black people. Instead of desperately clinging to the hope that one of the all-white Democratic presidential hopefuls will validate the lives of Black women by merely uttering the phrase Black Lives Matter without any other extensive, substantive, long-term shifts in the impact of anti-Blackness in this nation and government, it is time for us to continue to trust in our ability to create strategic and effective solutions to our communities. It is time to activate our collective power and agency in making significant decisions and leading national conversations about our self-determination as Black women living in the U.S. It is time to absolve ourselves of the minimal expectations we have for elected officials and utilize our communities’ power to honor the social and political needs of Black people. It is absolutely time to support elected officials we know will prioritize our issues; it is time to see more Black women elected officials in our country.
As a Black woman, I am not fully pleased with any of the current presidential candidates, and I firmly believe I deserve more than to settle for the lesser of two evils. However, Kamala Harris and Donna Edwards are both running for Senate in 2016, and if elected, will be the first Black women United States senators in 17 years. With their current candidacies confirmed, alongside visions of more Black women stepping into our political power, I am hopeful for a day when it is not a rare, life-shattering reality for an elected official to express, act on, and embody the declaration that Black Lives Matter.
She makes good points - and is pushing us to take matters into our own hands. Case in point - see what happens when a few disrupters interfered at NRN this summer?
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Nothing but the truth. I do give him credit for mentioning her name during the debate but I do find it simply BEYOND odd that so many of our dear friends in GDP were "in tears" over this just a few months after savaging a young, black woman for daring to interrupt Sanders during an event. And by "savaging" I mean literally calling this woman every sickening, racist, revolting name their simple minds could think of.
She was literally called "subhuman" and a "thug." There were repeated comments about her mental health. You would have thought she'd burned down a child care center at nap time the way these "people" were acting which made all of the lip quivering over Sanders saying Bland's name during the debate ever so curious and politically expedient.
It is more urgent now than ever that we begin to trust and believe in the leadership and brilliance of the Black women in our communities—the same Black women who made it possible for Bernie Sanders to merely acknowledge the existence of Black people.
Works for me!
politically active and liberal, but also very pragmatic and not insanely leftist wild like me 
He finally ran for city council in a rather large and important city in his state, and he won.
He won by walking his ass off all day everyday for months knocking on doors.
He just recently sent me a copy of a letter he got from a group of teapartiers, hell bent on ending a tax that has tremendous benefits but they dont care about the benefits, only that they can stop a tax so that is what they will do.
He says they are the most ignorant and selfish people on the planet.
Anyway, good luck, you can do it!
Last edited Mon Oct 26, 2015, 05:31 AM - Edit history (1)
I'm giving to two out of state Candidates this election . . .
Edwards and Kamala Harris.
We need to be on the Councils, the School boards. The Town Clerk. The State House. The House. The Senate. Who knows - if Clinton wins - could the combo of Obama and Clinton pave the way for a Harris?
I just put someone on ignore because I realized - he's never engaged in local politics. Great passion and fervor - but no "here's how we accomplish this". I wonder - if perhaps the ability to be chameleons makes it easier for black women in America to understand "we have to flex when necessary in order to accomplish things.". IE because we don't "expect" to get things naturally - as a given right - we understand better how to actually get those things we focus on? We have to observe the dominant culture so we know what makes them tick? How to get around them? How to survive the dominant culture?
Something we've always seen from Edwards is her strong back bone when she needs it - her willingness to compromise when she get a concession or two from the other side. Could you imagine - two black women in the Senate for six years? 
I'm loving it!
